Ultra Sports Bet

There’s not much basketball action tonight, and even less that is interesting. Taking a day off is bad for karma, though, so there’s one game I think is worth a look tonight.
Harvard (+7) at Columbia – I like Columbia here for several reasons:

They beat Harvard by nine on the road two weeks ago.
They are an impressive 10-4 ATS, and 6-2 ATS in the last eight.
John Baumann, the Columbia forward who is the only real scoring threat on either team, is in fine form recently and he will be able to feast on the truly pathetic Harvard D.
I hate Tommy Amaker, …read more

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The action on Friday night is a slim as we would expect, but there is one game that is interesting and which provides a decent amount of value in my mind.
Davidson (-3) at Winthrop – Off the top I’ll say that I like Davidson here. The Wildcats are playing well, especially on the road, and they match up well. Winthrop is at the top of the Big South, but that doesn’t mean too much. Of course, Davidson has faced only marginally better competition in the Southern conference. It comes down, then, to three things;
1) Non-conference competition – Winthrop has played …read more

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There are four games in tonight’s holiday college basketball action that stand out for me as providing some value:
Xavier (+2.5) at Rhode Island – Xavier has struggled a bit lately, but they have still won seven in a row even if the margin hasn’t been as big as it could be. This is a battle for A-10 supremacy, and I truly believe that Xavier is the better squad. That makes them attractive here.

Austin Peay (+1) at Tennessee State – Austin Peay is the better team by a wide margin, and they are playing reasonably well. The edge isn’t huge …read more

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As I was writing about NBA Championship futures for a client this morning I found myself thinking that NCAA Futures were way more interesting. Maybe that’s because the tournament is much closer than the NBA playoffs, or maybe that’s because college basketball is about a million times more interesting than the NBA. Either way, there are some interesting values and some terrible prices on the board for the road to the Final Four.
Bargains
I’m not saying that these teams are a lock to win or anything, but I think that their chances are better than their price:
Stanford (35/1) – The Cardinal …read more

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Key Saturday games. As I write this it is Friday afternoon, so there are no lines out for Saturday’s games. There are, however, several games of interest that I will be keeping a close eye on when the lines come out. Here’s the cream of them:

Boston College at Duke – If the price is right I’ll be looking for a post-UNC letdown for the Blue Devils that could allow Boston College to stay close enough to cover what should be a pretty big spread.
USC at Washington State – The Cougs are in a freefall, and USC has covered six …read more

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It’s time to get back to some college basketball here on this site. It is a pretty light card for Tuesday night, but I nonetheless find two games interesting. It’s a bit of a unique night for me because I like the visitors in both cases:
Bradley (-1.5) at Wright State – Wright State is getting a lot of credit because they beat Butler last time out. They deserve some, but not much. They won, but Butler shot absolutely horribly and would win the game most days. Before that game, they had shown far less in losing to Valpo and getting …read more

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Last year the story in college basketball was all about two freshmen. Greg Oden at Ohio State had the spotlight early, but was held back by an injury that limited him until Christmas. In his absence, Kevin Durant stepped up for Texas and put together one of the greatest freshmen seasons in college basketball history. Oden came on strong at the end of the year, though, leading his team to the national championship game, while the Longhorns were knocked out in the second round. Both guys moved on to the pros and left the stage to the next class of …read more

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Three college basketball games that I’ll be following as I watch football today:
Brown (+13.5) at Michigan – The John Beilein era at Michigan started strong, and I expect that to continue. Michigan played with some solid tempo in their opening game, and I don’t expect Brown to be able to match it. Pick: Michigan.
Pepperdine (+9) vs. Western Michigan – I expect pretty good things for Western Michigan this year. A trip to the dance at the end of the year wouldn’t surprise me. That being said I think that this line is a bit optimistic. Pepperdine likes to run, and …read more

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I’ll mostly be watching football today, but I will continue to get my feet wet in basketball:
William & Mary (+22.5) at Georgetown – This is the first game for both teams, and the time the programs have ever met. Georgetown wants to win it all this year, and they will be looking to make a statement to get it going. Georgetown is better at every position and, if they want to, should run away with it. I’m betting that they will want to. Pick: Georgetown.
UPDATE: As I hoped, Georgetown pulled away in the second half. Unfortunately, they waited too long …read more

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We might as well wade into the season on the second day of play. If not now then when?
Maine (+1.5) versus Tennessee-Martin – Both teams lost yesterday in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. Maine lost 44-42 to Richmond, and Tennessee Martin lost 102-71 to Memphis. Tenn-Martin is coming back from a rough season, but they carried themselves well in the opener. They scored an impressive 71 points, they had the lead well into the first half, and they were surprisingly solid. Maine lost a close game, but it was very ugly. They turned the ball over 28 times, and …read more

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