College Basketball Picks: Connecticut Huskies vs. Syracuse Orange

It’s been a dizzying fall for all Expert Golf Picks last year’s national champs. UConn was the nation’s No. 5 team in preseason polls with four starters back from its 32-win squad but it's looking more and more like the Huskies (7-8 in conference play) will need a strong run in the Big East tournament to even have a chance at mounting a title defense.

That being said, there’s still a ton of talent on this team and they’d love nothing better than to ambush hated Syracuse here. The Huskies' 85-67 loss in the Carrier Dome on February 11 was closer than the score indicates, as UConn was within a bucket before a late surge by the Orange put the game away.

In fact, three of the ‘Cuse’s last seven games have been decided by 1, 3 and 2 points while they’ve eked out a 3-7 ATS mark of late.

Our college basketball betting picks database suggests that the No. 2 team in the country may just limp out of here with a SU and ATS loss.

Ready? Boeheim’s bunch is a pitiful 1-7 SU and ATS on the road in this series, including a bankroll-busting 0-6 ATS if their win percentage is greater than .820.

They’re also just 4-10 ATS as chalk versus a conference foe with same-season revenge from a loss of more than 17 points. On the fl ip side, Connecticut owns a solid 8-3 SU and ATS mark with same-season revenge from a loss of 13 or more points, including 3-0 SU and ATS as a dog.

Oh yeah, the Huskies are a perfect 5-0 ATS as home pups of 2 or more points, too. All things considered, we see no reason not to ‘collar up’ and bare our teeth with the home team today.

NCAA Basketball Betting: Colorado State vs San Diego State Preview

Just call Colorado State the ‘Arkansas’ of the Mountain West Conference.

Heading into the final three games of the regular betting season, the Rams have won every one of their conference home games and have lost all of their NHL Betting Strategy league road contests.

Yes, CSU is an intimidating 12-1 SU at Moby Arena after shocking mighty New Mexico last Tuesday – but its only road wins came way back in December against the likes of Northern Colorado and UTEP.

The Aztecs were the MWC leaders entering the UNLV game on February 11 but after dumping three of their last four contests, they’re now tied for second place with Las Vegas behind New Mexico.

Steve Fisher’s team should be red-faced and ready here. San Diego State got thrashed by CSU, 77-60, as 2-point road chalk a month ago (arguably the Rams’ most impressive win of the season) but they’ll be back in their comfort zone for the rematch.

That’s because SDSU has won 50 of its last 55 games SU at Viejas Arena, plus the hosts are 7-0 SU and 5-2 ATS versus CSU on this court of late. The sun worshippers are also a sparkling 23-7-1 ATS (9-1 ATS the last ten) in SU revenge wins as a college basketball betting picks favorite.

Those are hand-in-glove numbers matched against Colorado State’s lowly 0-7 SU and 1-6 ATS mark away versus winning foes this year.

SDSU guards Chase Tapley and Xavier Thames combined to hit a horrid 5 of 28 shots in the earlier loss at Fort Collins, a fl uke that won’t be repeated today. Aztecs blister the Rams in a bonafi de blowout.

NBA Betting: L.A. Clippers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves Preview

The first post-All Star game venture takes us (Gambling Advisor blog) out to the Staples Center where the visiting Timberwolves have apparently been invited to a sleepover by their L.A. hosts.

Kevin Love and company may want to pack their sleeping bags during this betting trip as they won’t have to leave the building with the Lakers on tap the same time tomorrow.

And if our NBA Predictions database is correct, expect Rick Adelman’s men to have a few nightmares after this one is over.

That’s because the T-Wolves are just 4-15 ATS before lamenting with the Lakers, including 1-8 ATS on the road. And to complicate matters for Minnesota backers, the Wolves handed the Clippers one of their few losses at home (12-4 SU, 10-6 ATS) earlier this year.

Don’t expect the Clips to take kindly to that setback as they are 15-6 ATS with same-season revenge when Minny owns a win/ loss percentage of less than .590 on the season.

That number also tightens to a tidy 9-1 ATS when L.A. arrives playing better than .333 ball of its own.

With that being said, we’re not about to head west with the young T-Wolves. Lay it and play it.

2012 College Basketball Betting: NCAA Basketball Weekend Picks for February 25-26

Game 1: Oklahoma Sooners @ Baylor Bears - Saturday, February 25

Sports betting experts are continuing to lose faith in a Baylor team that’s gotten whacked by the top schools in the Big12 Conference, the Missouri Tigers and Kansas Jayhawks. However, Baylor is still a very good team, a team that will get a top-5 seeding in the NCAA Tournament. That’s not chopped liver. The Bears have been exposed at a high level, but they’re still the kind of club that does take care of its business against mediocre opponents. Oklahoma would certainly qualify as a mediocre foe. The Sooners became the first Big 12 team to lose to lowly (last-place) Texas Tech this season, and by 18 points at that. The Sooners have definitely made forward strides this season under first-year coach Lon Kruger, a man who has taken several schools to the NCAA Tournament (Kansas State, Florida, Illinois, UNLV) in a highly distinguished career. However, this is just the beginning of the rebuilding process for Oklahoma, whose best days lie in future seasons. Baylor has the horses this season, and the Bears should definitely be able to win on their home court in the second meeting between the two squads in 2012.

College Basketball Betting Pick: Baylor

Game 2: Saint Mary’s Gaels @ San Francisco Dons - Saturday, February 25

When you do your homework and assess your best betting sites on this game, you should realize that San Francisco has a legitimate chance to knock off Saint Mary’s. The Dons were picked to finish third in the West Coast Conference before the season started, due to the belief that they possessed the quickness and athleticism on the perimeter to score at a high rate against the defenses of both Saint Mary’s and WCC powerhouse Gonzaga. San Francisco has underachieved this season, falling to the middle of the conference while Brigham Young and Loyola Marymount have stepped into the third and fourth slots in the conference, but the Dons – playing at home – will be very dangerous in a single-game context. San Francisco wants to ruin the Gaels’ season and force Saint Mary’s to hope for a Gonzaga loss in order to clinch the outright WCC championship. Expect Saint Mary’s, though, to draw a line in the sand and play just enough defense to escape with a victory on the road.

College Basketball Betting Pick: Saint Mary’s

Game 3: Purdue Boilermakers @ Michigan Wolverines - Saturday, February 25

The college basketball betting experts who follow the Big Ten Conference know that Michigan has been exceptionally good at home this season. These same analysts are also aware of the fact that Purdue no longer has the studs in the stable that carried the Boilermakers to the Sweet 16 in 2010 and to a No. 3 NCAA Tournament seed in 2011. Purdue still has a really good shot to make the NCAA Tournament this season, but the Boilers are likely to be a double-digit seed. This is Michigan’s game to lose, and few pundits would disagree with such a claim.

College Basketball Betting Pick: Michigan

NHL Game Preview for Saturday February 25, 2012: Washington Capitals @ Toronto Maple Leafs

Sports Betting Overview

The sports fans in Toronto are not betting March Madness games like their counterparts in the United States. What the people in Toronto are much more concerned with is whether or not the Toronto Maple Leafs will be making the NHL playoffs. If the season were to end right now, the Leafs would get the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot because it has one more win in regulation than the Winnipeg Jets. But there is a long line of teams that are chasing Toronto and, unfortunately for the Leafs, the season does not end at this point. But Toronto is showing significant signs of improvement and has gone from being a conference basement dweller last year to a playoff contender this year. Now the question is whether or not the Leafs can seal the deal and make the post-season.

One of the teams chasing Toronto is the Washington Capitals. The price per head sports experts point out that Washington has had several chances in the past few weeks to put together a string of wins and jump into the top eight in the Eastern Conference, but each time the Caps have come up short and have been unable to take advantage of its opportunities. If the goaltending is solid in one game then the offense lets the team down. If the offense is scoring goals then the goaltending in Washington allows the opposition to stay close and eventually win the game. The Capitals have been sticking with a formula for several years now and it looks like it may be time to start over.

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Leafs are not doing itself any favors by going 4-5-1 in the last 10 games and dropping into a fragile hold on eighth place in the conference. There are two teams within one point of the Leafs in the standings and one of them is the Winnipeg Jets who are on a three-game winning streak. The other team within striking distance of the Leafs is the Washington Capitals and that is what makes this game so important to both teams. The Leafs are very strong at home with a 16-9-4 record and are very fortunate that this game is being played in Toronto. The Leafs are a weak road team with a 13-15-2 record and can use all of the home ice advantage that it can get right now.

Washington Capitals

For all of its short-comings this season, the Washington Capitals are 19-8-2 at home. Unfortunately for the Capitals, this game is being played in Toronto. The Capitals are 10-16-4 on the road and have not played very well away from Washington, DC in quite a while. It looks like the days of Alex Ovechkin and Bruce Boudreau combining to chase a Stanley Cup dream are over. The Capitals need to start building another winning team and it needs to decide which players from the current roster will stick around.

The Bottom Line

Sportsbook reviews of the Leafs’ and Capitals’ seasons show two teams that cannot win consistently on the road. Even if one or both of these teams makes the playoffs, there is not much chance of either team going very far. But in this game, the Leafs can use home ice to its advantage and pull away a little in the playoff race.

Gambling Advisor blog Free Pick: Toronto Maple Leafs