February 12th, 2009 Picks

After a rough start yesterday with Albania failing to score against Malta things took a turn for the better. Spain defeated England 2-0, while A.J. Price hit 4 three pointers helping him along in defeating Jonny Flynn. Oklahoma had a tough time breaking away from Baylor, but in the end were not to be stopped. And now, onto the picks.

1) Davis Love III vs. Hunter Mahan – Davis Love III
2) Paul Goydos vs. Joe Ogilvie – Paul Goydos
3) Burton Albion win @ Ebbsfleet United win or draw – Ebbsfleet United
4) Temple @ St. Joseph’s – Temple
5) Albany @ Stony Brook – Stony Brook
6) Terrence Williams + Earl Clark vs. Luke Harangody – Harangody
7) UCLA @ Arizona State – Arizona State
8) Illinois @ Northwestern – Illinois
9) Brandon Roy vs. Stephen Jackson – Jackson
10) Calgary @ Los Angeles – Los Angeles
11) Gonzaga @ St. Mary’s – 137 points or fewer

I’m thinking Ebbsfleet, since they have only lost at home 4 times, to some of the better teams in the league. Then Luke Harangody, since Notre Dame is at home I’m hoping he gets some free throws. Williams and Clark are poor free throw shooters and only average FG shooters (~42% apiece). Then Illinois (hey they’re due for one on the road) or Arizona State (ASU is a good defense, they won’t let UCLA blow them out) and hopefully with the Gonzaga game on the same channel they’ll delay the matchup allowing us to pick Gonzaga @ St. Mary’s. The Gaels are missing their top scorer, but should still play hard with the winner being that much closer to the conference title. That should lead to a low scoring affair, so I’ll go with 137 points or less. Of course, I may change my mind before then. It’s best to keep ones options open. =]

February 11th, 2009 Picks

Well, yesterday was my worst day thus far as I went only 3-7-0. The three victories came with Michigan State and Michigan going for 96 total points, 37 points below the over/under, Seton Hall downed DePaul rather easily, and Golden State was a winner with 144 points! Every other pick I made was a total bust, though Cunningham came awfully close to winning that prop. Ah well, onto today’s picks.

1) Poland win vs. Wales win or draw – Wales
2) Albania win @ Malta win or draw – Albania
3) Argentina win @ France win – France
4) England win or draw @ Spain win – Spain
5) Mexico win or draw @ USA win – USA
6) Xavier @ Dayton – Dayton
7) Jonny Flynn pts. vs. A.J. Price pts.+ast. – A.J. Price
8) Terrance Woodbury pts. vs. Tennessee winning margin – Woodbury pts.
9) North Carolina @ Duke – North Carolina
10) Oklahoma @ Baylor – Oklahoma
11) Texas Tech @ Kansas State – 154 points or more
12) Montreal @ Edmonton – Edmonton
13) Calgary @ Anaheim – Anaheim

Now, going by yesterdays results you would do best to pick opposite these picks. As for my actual picks I’m thinking Albania, Spain, A.J. Price, and Oklahoma.

February 10th, 2009 Picks

3-2-0 yesterday, 31-36-1 overall. I really seem to be stuck at around .500. I wonder how my quick picks would do if I just flipped a coin. Leeds won their match 2-0, Blair scored more points 8-4, Florida A&M and Norfolk state score 165, the Lady Tar Heels won by 15, Carroll scored more points 22-9 and Alabama State made twice as many threes as MSVU 10-5. And now, on to todays picks.

1) Tranmere win or draw @ Colchester United win – Colchester United wins
2) Providence @ South Florida – South Florida
3) Old Dominion @ Hofstra – Old Dominion
4) Michigan State @ Michigan – 133 or under
5) Wesley Matthews vs. Dante Cunningham – Cunningham scores more
6) Oklahoma State @ Texas – Oklahoma State 3-pointers
7) Florida @ Kentucky – Florida
8) Clemson @ Boston College – Boston College
9) Seton Hall @ DePaul – Seton Hall
10) New York Knicks @ Golden State Warriors – Golden State

Lot of upsets here, let’s see if the day ends up as wild as I’m predicting. =D

February 9th, 2009 Picks

Today started out so well with my first 5 picks being correct, but quickly took a turn for the worse with my final 9 being wrong for a grand total of 5-9-0. Got my soccer pick correct which means I’m 11-3-1 in my last 15 soccer picks, but dang it! I should be doing better at basketball, a sport I’ve spent my entire life watching. Ah well, on to todays picks:

1) Millwall @ Leeds United – Leeds wins
2) Da’Sean Butler vs. DeJuan Blair – Blair scores more points
3) Florida A&M @ Norfolk State – 135 points or fewer
4) Duke @ North Carolina – North Carolina
5) Sherron Collins vs. DeMarre Carroll – Carroll scores more points
6) Mississippi Valley State @ Alabama State – Mississippi Valley State more 3’s

Good luck to everyone!

February 8th, 2009 Picks

Yesterday was a terrible day for me, while my picks for the day were 6-8-0 overall I ended up picking five losers for my streak. All told my 4 day total is 23-25-1. Since I’m feeling like these analyses are just rationalizations, I’m going to skip the reasoning behind picks and just throw ’em all out there.

1) Manchester United @ West Ham United – 2 goals or under
2) Seton Hall @ Rutgers – Seton Hall
3) Detroit Red Wings @ Pittsburge Penguins – Detroit
4) Tim Duncan vs. Paul Pierce – Duncan
5) Purdue @ Illinois – Illinois
6) John Rollins wins or not – John Rollins wins
7) Norm Duke wins or not – Norm Duke does not win
8) Creighton @ Northern Iowa – Northern Iowa
9) Wisconsin @ Penn State – Penn State
10) Los Angeles Lakers @ Cleveland Cavaliers – Cleveland
11) Kobe Bryant vs. LeBron James – LeBron James
12) Washington @ Stanford – Stanford
13) Phoenix Suns @ Detroit Pistons – Detroit
14) Utah Jazz @ Golden State Warriors – Utah

February 7th, 2009 Picks

Much better yesterday, went 6-2-1 with Villegas, Dartmouth, Buffalo, Jamison, Dallas, and Jackson all winning. Canisius and Chris Henry lost, while Hertha Berlin tied Arminia Bielefeld. That brings my overall total to 17-17-1. Today looks like a major day with the possibility for as many as six(!) picks, if the college basketball games finish quickly. Well, on to the picks!

1) Fulham win or draw @ Wigan Athletic win – Wigan Athletic
2) France @ Ireland – France
3) Luke Donald vs. Camilo Villegas – Villegas gets a lower 3rd round score
4) Texas Longhorns @ Nebraska Cornhuskers – Texas
5) Southern Illinois Salukis @ Missouri State Bears – Southern Illinois
6) Northwestern Wildcats @ Iowa Hawkeyes – Iowa
7) Connecticut vs. Davidson – Connecticut has larger margin of victory
8) Buffalo @ Ottawa – Buffalo
9) Butler Bulldogs @ Wright State Raiders – Butler
10) Colorado @ St. Louis – Colorado
11) Memphis Tigers @ Gonzaga Bulldogs – Gonzaga
12) Mac Danzig vs. Josh Neer – Josh Neer
13) Chicago @ Vancouver – Chicago
14) Pacific Tigers @ Long Beach State 49ers – Long Beach State

I’m picking Wigan Athletic since Fulham has only scored 3 goals in 11 road games. The tie is a danger, but I don’t think they have it in them to pull off another 0-0 tie.

France is the underdog against Ireland, but Ireland has had trouble with France lately.

I like Villegas to win again in golf, Donald has had rounds of -3 and -2 while Villegas has had rounds of -9 and -2. Villegas is the lead horse, so why switch?

Texas @ Nebraska should be a close matchup, though most of the sports books have Texas as a 3-4.5 point favorite.

Southern Illinois has already beaten Missouri State, and they’ve played well against the top teams in the conference.

Iowa has a 10-2 home record while Northwestern has a 2-5 road record.

Connecticut is playing a Michigan team that has been giving up 18 point losses lately; Charleston lost to Davidson by 4 last time they played this season.

Buffalo is hot lately, plus Ottawa has a worse record.

Butler and Wright State are rivals, with Wright State playing some great games against Butler and beating them. Still, Butler hasn’t gotten to where they are by not being good on the road.

Picking Colorado since they seem to be nearly unbeatable lately.

I like Gonzaga to defend their home.

Josh Neer has been winning more fights than Danzig lately.

The Blackhawks have had Vancouvers number this season.

Long Beach State is favored in the sports books, they’re at home, and they’ve already beaten Pacific on the road this season.

February 6th, 2009 Picks

Wow, well yesterday turned out to be a bit of a bust with my picks overall performing at 4-9-0, bringing my record for the past two days to an unenviable 11-15-0. Fortunately I ended up at 2-1-0 for my official picks with PSV Eindhoven scoring six goals, the Jazz thrashing the Mavs, and Alonzo Gee having a mediocre game to lose to A.J. Ogilvy in the points+rebounds prop.

Today is a new day and so on to the picks.

1) Camilo Villegas vs. Padraig Harrington – Villegas gets the lower second round score
2) Hertha Berlin @ Arminia Bielefeld – Hertha Berlin wins
3) Fairfield @ Canisius – Canisius
4) Brown @ Dartmouth – Dartmouth
5) Montreal @ Buffalo – Buffalo
6) Carmelo Anthony vs. Antawn Jamison – Antawn Jamison more points+rebounds
7) New York @ Dallas – Dallas
8) Chris Henry vs. Yusaf Mack – Chris Henry
9) Stephen Jackson vs. Amare Stoudemire – Jackson gets more points

Villegas is 8 strokes ahead of Harrington so I say go with the better performer there and expect Villegas to do at least as well as Harrington. Hertha Berlin is riddled with injuries but they’re still a much better team than Bielefeld. Fairfield has two of their top guys out and Canisius is at home. Dartmouth is also at home, and since I don’t know much about Brown either I’ll go with the home crowd. Jamison is a beast and is liable to go for 40+, I’d be surprised if Carmelo got over 30. The Stars have been playing well lately and went down in a tough one against Colorado, while New York has been struggling lately. I’m looking for the home team to pull one off here tonight. Chris Henry is ranked a bit ahead of Yusaf Mack, but it’s difficult to tell who has the advantage without doing some in-depth research, so I went with the fan favorite here, Henry. Finally we have Jackson vs. Stoudemire. In their game on Wednesday Jackson went off for 30 points compared to Stoudemires 13. Stoudemire is capable of winning this but with trade rumors flying around he may be distracted.