12/19 VIP Picks
Losing night last night but we could have come out positive on the night if our hockey plays went the way there were supposed to. Jets lose and Blackhawks/Preds go way under 6. I’m really starting to wonder if the partnership between the NHL and MGM is affecting games. You look at some of the trends of some of these games and the results aren’t even close to what the trends have been showing, it just doesn’t make sense. We did recently have a nice NHL streak last week where we tied our season high win streak from last season with 7 straight. Our all time NHL winning streak is 15 in a row from back in 2016. We need to get one of those streaks going! It’s humpday and we need to turn this week around after a slow start.
NBA:
Warriors (-2.5) - The Warriors have been looking like themselves lately and they have had a nice streak where they have won 6 of their last 7. For some reason, the Jazz always play the Warriors tough at home. Last season, the Jazz beat the Warriors in all three games when they visited Utah and won by an average of 29.6 points per game. The Warriors snapped that streak earlier this season when they got a win in Utah but it was only by one point. This one tonight feels like one where the Warriors are due for a big win against the Jazz. The Jazz have lost 4 of their last 5 and they have been by an average of 8.5 points per game. All 4 of those losses came against teams behind the Warriors in the standings. Tonight, the Warriors get it done for us and they cover the 2.5.
Nets (-2) - Back to back alert but I don’t care because horrible opponent alert in the Bulls. The Nets have won 6 games in a row including wins against two of the top teams in the East Raptors and Sixers. Some may worry about the back to back and traveling an hour ahead to play in Chicago tonight but why worry when they are going up against a team who is just 7-24 and 4-11 at home? The Bulls have lost 4 of their last 5 by an average of 26.5 points a game. They lost one of those games by 56. I’ll take the bait on this one all the way to the bank. I don’t see the Bulls knocking off the Nets tonight.
NCAAB:
Auburn (even) - I guess the books believe in North Carolina State and their home court advantage tonight. Both of these teams come in with matching 9-1 records but NC State has played one of if not the easiest schedule in College Basketball which has allowed them to basically roll through their early games. They have only played one Top 25 team and lost to Wisconsin. Auburn has played a tougher schedule and they put up a fight against #1 Duke on 11/20 but came up short by 6 points. That’s still an impressive game to show the level of this Auburn team. Another reason the line is a pick em tonight is this is Auburn’s first true road game. Home court advantage looks great for NC State if you take value in beating teams like St Mary’s, Maryland Eastern-Shore, UNC Ashville, Saint Peter’s, and Western Carolina. NC State will face their first Top 10 team of the season tonight and Auburn should come out with the victory in this one.
NCAAF:
Let me start by saying that I’m not betting the Bowl game tonight and I’m not documenting this as a pick but I know a lot of you will be betting it so here is some info for you.
San Diego State has lost 4 of their last 5 games but they were only outscored by 17 in those 4 losses so they were in all of those games.
San Diego State has a win against a Top 25 team this season and Ohio has not faced a Top 25 team.
Ohio is averaging 41.2 points per game and allowing 26.7 ppg
San Diego State is averaging 22.3 ppg and allowing 21.8
Ohio will look to get the running game going where they averaged 262 rushing yards per game but San Diego State ranks 3rd in the country against the run allowing 98.3 ypg.
Who’s got the better conference? MAC vs Mountain West? MAC combined record 67-81 vs MW 77-72.
Lean is San Diego State.