NCAA Basketball – Some Important Games This Weekend

The college basketball betting is getting intense as the teams start to jockey for position in the annual March Madness betting. Kentucky has managed to maintain the number one ranking in the country, but there are plenty of teams that are chasing the Wildcats in search of that top status. There are also several teams on the bubble for making the tournament that are in action this weekend as well. This could prove to be a very competitive weekend that is extremely fun to watch.

Saturday – (1) Kentucky @ Vanderbilt

These two SEC rivals are both trying to solidify their standing to make sure that they each make it into the NCAA tournament. Kentucky is having a great season and has posted a 24-1 record to this point. What really helps Kentucky is that it is 10-0 in the SEC and leads the SEC by a pretty good margin. The pay per head sports experts are more impressed with the way that Kentucky plays defense than offense. In Kentucky’s only loss, an earlier game in Indiana, the Wildcats only scored 72 points. It is defense that wins the day in Kentucky and that is how a team wins it all in March.

Vanderbilt has lost to ranked and unranked teams. There have been close games to go along with some losses that bordered on blowouts. The only win Vanderbilt has over a ranked team this year is a December win over Marquette. While Vanderbilt is game, it does not have the players it needs to pull this one off.

Pick: Kentucky

Saturday – Connecticut @ (2) Syracuse

Syracuse is still kind of hurting from its January 21st loss to Notre Dame. But the Orange have beaten both ranked teams it has played this year and is 10-1 in the Big East. A bodog review of the Syracuse season shows that the Orange started off strong enough to be considered the top team in the country. Syracuse had lost a little momentum in January, but it is quickly gaining that momentum back.

Connecticut is a shell of its former self. The Huskies have not beaten a ranked team all season and wound up splitting a two-game season series with Notre Dame. Connecticut just cannot score points, and that seems to be the one thing that holds this team back in every game.

Pick: Syracuse

Saturday – (6) Baylor @ (4) Missouri

Even the writers that post on an NBA blog have been keeping an eye on the Baylor Bears. The Bears were rolling right along in the Big 12 and then took two consecutive losses to two ranked teams. But even with that kind of hit, Baylor still stands as the sixth ranked team in the country. Baylor has been able to rise to the level of its competition most of the season. That is what will make this game so much fun to watch.

Mizzou’s win over eighth-ranked Kansas is what has pushed this team to the number four squad in the country. With its recent win over Oklahoma, it really looks like Missouri is on a roll that cannot be stopped. But do not count the Bears out of anything.

Gambling Advisor blog Free Pick: Baylor

NHL Game Preview for Saturday February 11, 2012: Winnipeg Jets vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

Sports Betting Overview

The sports fans in Pittsburgh were watching the Superbowl betting with some interest, but there would have been more interest if the Steelers had made it to the big game. The Atlanta Thrashers were not a playoff team, but many people felt that the Thrashers were only a few players away from being a playoff contender. When Atlanta moved to Winnipeg, many of those parts were picked up and the fans in Winnipeg feel that they have a good team. While there is a good team in Winnipeg, it is suffering from bouts of inconsistency. There are nights when the Winnipeg goaltending looks great and nights when the goaltending lets the team down. There are nights when Winnipeg can score and nights where the team is limited in its abilities to get the job done. If the Jets want to make the playoffs, they will need to become more consistent.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have suffered through just about every kind of adversity a team can go through. The team captain, Sidney Crosby, has been in and out of the lineup with an upper body injury. It was thought to be concussion-related, but Crosby recently announced that it is a spine issue that can be treated. Sportsbook reviews of the rest of the team’s performance shows that the Penguins have a lot of talent besides Crosby and they are using that talent to stay in the heat of the Eastern Conference playoff race. The strange part is that the Penguins are very adept at scoring goals, even though the team is missing its best goal scorer.

Winnipeg Jets

This analysis can start by pointing out that the Jets are 9-16-4 on the road. That is the third-lowest road win total in the Eastern Conference and is the main reason why the Jets are struggling to gain a playoff spot. The price per head sportsbook experts point to Winnipeg’s low goal totals as another reason why the Jets cannot seem to win. The Jets have one of the lowest goals-for totals in the league and the team’s scoring is especially shaky on the road. That is not something that Jets’ fans want to hear as the team prepares to play the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh Penguins

The Penguins are 15-7-2 at home and are tied for third with the highest goal scoring total in the conference. Where the Penguins seem to run into issues from time to time is in goal. Marc-Andre Fleury is 4-1-0 in his last five games, but he has given up bad goals that have cost the Penguins games this season. The Penguins play a very physical style and that sometimes gets the opposition to respond in kind. When the action gets rough in front of the Pittsburgh net, Fleury will sometimes go off his game. We will see if the Jets can cause enough commotion in front of Fleury to put some pucks in the net.

The Bottom Line

In order to move up the NHL standings and get in line for a playoff spot, the Jets need to win games like this one against the Penguins. Depending on which Winnipeg team shows up, this game could be very close. But if Pittsburgh starts throwing its weight around and the Jets cannot respond, then this could be a long night for Winnipeg.

Gambling Advisor blog Pick: Pittsburgh Penguins