College Basketball Betting – Gaels, Racers Meet In Crucial Mid-Major Tilt

While talk of the NHL trade deadline 2012 will dominate headline over the next 10 or 11 days, you should also have an eye on the world of college hoops, where there is an intriguing matchup brewing from the mid-majors. Saint Mary’s was rolling along, but have now dropped two of their last three as they prepare for Murray State, who was the last team in the country to lose a game and have already punched their ticket to the Tournament.

Saint Mary’s Murray State Odds – Saturday, 6:00 PM ET

The No.21 Gaels (23-4, 12-2 WCC) may have got caught looking ahead to Murray State, and a BetOnline.com review of their 75-60 home loss to Loyola Marymount shows that they were outscored by 10 in the second half and they couldn’t find the range from three-point land, where they were 6-of-28. Rob Jones had a huge night with 25 points and 15 rebounds, while Clint Steindl came off the bench for 12 points and five boards for the Gaels, who also turned the ball over 14 times to eight for Loyola Marymount. Saint Mary’s now has a lead of one game in the West Coast Conference, but their recent play can’t be encouraging to players that use price per head software.

The No.16 Racers (25-1, 13-1 WCC) jumped out to a 10-point halftime lead and then held on for a 75-66 win at Southeast Missouri State, and that was despite a poor game from leading scorer Isaiah Canaan, who was 2-of-11 from the field and finished with nine points. Donte Poole picked up the slack with a game-high 25 points, while Ivan Aska added 14 points and nine boards for the Racers, who were 22-of-28 from the foul line and free-throw shooting is a stat that March Madness betting players should really watch. It comes in handy in late-game situations, and the Racers made them when they needed to.

Murray State should be slight favorites at home in this contest, but they’re only 4-6 ATS at home this season, while the Gaels are 4-4 ATS on the road. These two have met twice, with Saint Mary’s taking both meetings: a 75-62 victory at home in December 2004, and then they romped to a 62-44 win in November 2006. The Racers have already booked their ticket to the Tournament as the win over Southeast Missouri State clinched the Ohio Valley Conference title for them, and now they’re just playing for momentum. A win over a team like Saint Mary’s would get some of the critics back on board, and the Gaels are extremely vulnerable right now. Take Murray State to pull out the college basketball betting picks win on Saturday.

College Basketball Free Pick: Washington State vs. Arizona

Arizona already disposed of the Cougars by 24 points at home earlier this year and with a double-revenger with the Huskies on tap Saturday, it’s more likely that Sean Miller’s men will be more interested in dogs than cats tonight in Pullman.

That would be a mistake as Ken Bone’s (shouldn’t he be the coach of the Bulldogs or Huskies?) boys are 10-2 SU and 7-2-1 ATS at Friel Court this betting season.

And despite the disaster in the desert, the Cougars have covered 13 of 20 in this series since 2002, including all four when they show up as home dogs.

The Washington State University men's basketball team (13-12, 5-8) returns to Beasley Coliseum this weekend for a three-game home series. The Cougars will first face Arizona (18-8, 9-4) Thursday, Feb. 16 at 6 p.m. in a nationally televised event on FSN

Washington State also makes amends nicely when they get handled in the first meeting between these two, posting a 7-2 ATS log with same-season revenge from a loss of 7 or more points.

They may not want it, but in tonight’s catfi ght we have no choice but to throw the Cougars a ‘bone.’ Grab the points but the feeling here is you won’t need ‘em. State, outright!

Free betting pick: Washington ST over Arizona by 7.

NHL Game Preview for Saturday February 18, 2012: Chicago Blackhawks vs. Columbus Blue Jackets

Online Betting Overview

The sports fans in Columbus, OH are spending much more time betting March Madness games than they are NHL hockey games. The Blue Jackets made some interesting moves in the off-season that were supposed to make the team more competitive. Columbus lured Jeff Carter away from the Philadelphia Flyers and then made sure that top players such as goalie Steve Mason and forward Rick Nash stayed with the team. But for all of its personnel moves and changes, the Blue Jackets are the worst team in the NHL by a long shot. The Blue Jackets trail the 29th team in the league, Edmonton, by 11 points. The only thing that the Blue Jackets can do at this point is try to play spoiler to any other team. But Columbus may not even be able to do that very well either.

A month before the All-Star break, the Chicago Blackhawks had everything under control. The price per head sportsbook experts were giving Chicago the nod as one of the top teams in the Western Conference. At one point, the Blackhawks were leading the league in the standings. But the Blackhawks suddenly collapsed and went into last week riding a five-game losing streak. Chicago’s inability to play defense is finally catching up with it and the fact that Chicago has not addressed its defense deficiencies since it broke up the Stanly Cup winning team three years ago is starting to show. Goaltender Corey Crawford is under siege every game and is starting to crack from the pressure. Chicago needs to learn how to play defense or it could find itself out of the playoff race.

Columbus Blue Jackets

A betting sports news review of the moves made by Columbus over the summer gave a lot of fans reason to hope. But everything that the Blue Jackets did right last year it is doing wrong this year. Steve Mason was a rock in goal last season, but this year the only thing he leads the league in is losses. The Columbus Blue Jackets should have been the perfect storm coming together to create a competitive team. But every one of the elements that the team was relying on to contribute has been a bust to this point. The Blue Jackets cannot salvage this season. But the team needs to perform better if it wants to generate any interest in next season.

Chicago Blackhawks

As the NHL trade deadline 2012 approaches, fans in Chicago are wondering if the Blackhawks will make any kind of move to improve the roster. The reality is that there is no one or two moves that Chicago can make that will significantly help the team. The Blackhawks need a defense, and that is something that will have to be built over the off-season. As for this game, nobody gives up more goals than the Columbus Blue Jackets. For an offensive team like the Blackhawks, that is the perfect scenario for a much needed win.

The Bottom Line

The Blackhawks are all offense and the Blue Jackets have no defense or goaltending. This should be a very one-sided game in favor of Chicago. But with the Blackhawks being so inconsistent lately, this one may actually be close.

Gambling Advisor blog Pick: Chicago Blackhawks