College basketball is now in the heart of conference action and the next two months will determine which teams go dancing in March. It is a large card in college basketball on Wednesday night, including three nationally televised games.

N.C. State makes the short road trip to face in-state rival Duke, while a pair of Big Ten battles take place between Northwestern/Michigan and Wisconsin/Ohio State. Below is a look at all three national TV matchups.

N.C. STATE at DUKE (-11, 144) (ESPN)

N.C. State will provide another tough challenge for the #1 ranked and undefeated Duke Blue Devils (16-0 SU). The Wolfpack are 14-2 SU this season with their only two losses coming at Iowa and at North Carolina. The Wolfpack have a strong defense which allows just 38 percent from the field (versus opponents that average 44 percent overall) and overall the Wolfpack is permitting just 61 points per game (versus opponents that average 71 ppg).

Duke is a long-term 63-47 ATS as a double-digit home favorite under head coach Mike Krzyzewski and beat Maryland last Wednesday 76-52 as a 13-point favorite. It appears the oddsmakers are finally making the proper adjustments as Duke’s most recent game on Saturday landed exactly on the closing number as the Blue Devils won 87-77 at Clemson as a 10-point favorite.

Duke has gone 3-1 SU/ATS in their past four meetings versus N.C. State; however Duke only won once in those four games by more than twelve points.

NORTHWESTERN at MICHIGAN (-10

Tags: basketball, bettin, handicapping, ncaab, procappers, professional handicappers league, sports, Steve Merrilbasketball, bettin, handicapping, ncaab, procappers, professional handicappers league, sports, Steve Merril

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TNT’s weekly double dip kicks off with a fantastic matchup when the Heat travels to the Lone Star State to take on the red hot Mavericks. Miami rides into this game on a 5-1 SU and 3-2-1 ATS run. This stretched puts them at 30-19 SU and 24-24-1 ATS on the season.

The Black and Gold are also 14-12 ATS on the trail but just 4-6 ATS as a road underdog. That said, MIA is 4-1 ATS as a road dog between +3.5 and +6. However, we should warn that the Heat are money burning 11-17 ATS vs. teams with a winning record.

Bad pun intended but the Heat will be facing the hottest team in the NBA tonight. Dallas rides into this game with the longest winning streak in the NBA this season at twelve games. During this stretch, the Mavs are also a whopping 10-2 ATS. This latest run has improved the Mavericks to a sweet 38-10 SU and 24-22-2 ATS overall. DAL also is now tied with divisional foe San Antonio with the second best record in the NBA.

And unlike their opponent, Dirk Nowitzki and Crew have had no problem stepping up in class. In fact, his team boasts a 15-4 ATS record vs. teams with a winning record. This includes an eye popping 9-3 ATS mark when hosting teams that have won more games than they have lost.

But before you go bet the Dallas ranch on the Mavs just note that it’s no secret to the oddsmakers that the Mavericks have won twelve straight. In addition, Dallas has notoriously struggled to contain the eighth wonder of the world, Shaquille O’Neil.

The second game of TNT’s telecast features Chicago and Sacramento colliding at Arco.
Both these team check in with identical 21-27 SU records and only one game separates them in the ATS standings. (Chicago is 21-27 ATS and Sacramento is 22-26 ATS).

While the Bulls are unprofitable overall, they do ride into this game on a 7-2 ATS run. In addition, they are 14-11 ATS on the trail, including 8-5 ATS vs. teams with a losing record. We should warn though that they are in game six of a hellacious seven game road swing so fatigue might be an issue. Not helping matters is the Bulls played in the thin air of Mile High yesterday against Denver and in the high Altitude of Utah in the prior game.

Sacramento for their part is playing much better basketball since trading for Ronald “Total Wack-Job” Artest. They ride into this game on a 3-1 run both SU and ATS. Since acquiring the talented but disturbed malcontent six games ago, the Kings are allowing seven less points per game and a mere 42 opponent field goal percentage. In addition, SAC is 5-0 ATS their last five home games.

That is all for now. Good luck with your bets!

William Foote is a documented member of the Professional Handicappers League.
Read all of his articles at http://www.procappers.com/William_Foote.htm.

Tags: basketball, Betting, handicapping, NBA, procappers, professional handicappers league, sports, William Footebasketball, Betting, handicapping, NBA, procappers, professional handicappers league, sports, William Foote

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I don’t know if any of you are as old as me (or FEEL as old) but about FOUR decades ago, Joe Garagiola (I guess if remember him you’re as old!) wrote a book titled, “Baseball is a Funny Game.” Well, the NBA can be pretty ‘funny’ too. Consider this. The Nuggets entered last night’s home game with the Clippers on a seven-game winning streak and had gone 11-2 in January. Marcus Camby, the league’s top rebounder had missed the team’s last 15 games (Nuggets were 11-4 without him) but was set to return for last night’s game.

So what happens? The Nuggets get OUTREBOUNDED 45-32 and lose, 105-87! Kobe should have been well-rested after his 81-point game on Sunday, as the Lakers had a four-day layoff before last night’s game with Golden State. However, the man who “never saw a shot he didn’t like or think he couldn’t make”, took just 12 shots through the game’s first three quarters last night! He made just TWO and entered the final quarter with a total of just FIVE points! Luckily for the Lakers (but NOT for LA bettors), someone must have reminded Kobe who he was, as he scored 25 points in the 4th quarter and overtime, as the Lakers escaped with a non-covering 106-105 win.

My free play for Saturday is in college hoops. Take Va Tech over Wake Forest at 3:00 ET. I have three HUGE CBB plays on Saturday, my first LEGEND Play in BKB since January 7 (LEGEND Plays went 14-4 in the FB season and are 3-1 so far in the BKB season!) plus two 20* plays. Since Jan 20, my 20* plays or higher in CBB have gone 5-1 or 83% ATS, so don’t miss my 20* Big-10 GOY or my 20* Big-12 Total of the Year. NBA fans check back at 9:00 ET.

The Artest/Peja deal caused two big line ‘moves’ on Friday night. The Cavs were in Indiana last night to take on the Pacers. With Artest gone for Peja (who wouldn’t play) and O’Neal out for up to eight weeks, the overnight line of Cleveland as a one-point favorite didn’t last long. The Cavs closed a four-point favorite and there were more than a few 4 1/2s around. Final score? Cleveland by FOUR!

Artest made his debut for the Kings last night in Boston against the Celtics. The Celtics also had big trade news, as a seven-player trade with Minnesota had sent Davis and Blount to the T-wolves for Szczerbiak and Olowokandi. Boston opened as a four-point choice in this one but the game ‘closed’ at about ‘pick’, with the Kings even moving to a favorite in some spots. Final score? Boston wins 84-74. Artest scored 15 points on 5-of-14 shooting.

Seemingly, the Pistons are ONE team you can count on these days, although Detroit bettors lost yesterday when the Pistons moved to 36-5 with a 95-89 win over the Grizzlies. Detroit became just the THIRD team in the last 20 years to start the same five players in EACH of its first 41 games. The 1999-2000 Pacers did it and so did the 2002-03 Golden State Warriors.

An interesting contrast of those two teams shows this. The Pacers went 56-26 in the regular season that year, making it all the way to the NBA finals where they lost to the Lakers (first title for Shaq and Kobe). As for the Warriors, they finished 38-44 in ‘03, once again missing the postseason (last made the playoffs in 1993-94 season).

College basketball dominates the Saturday sports landscape. ESPN and ESPN2 and ESPNU will combine to televise NINE games on Saturday, beginning with Cincinnati at Georgetown (ESPN2) and Kansas at Iowa State (ESPN) at noon ET. Saturday’s coverage ends with Texas at Oklahoma on ESPN2 at 9:00 ET. CBS gets in on the action with Arizona visiting North Carolina at 1:00 ET (Tar Heels are favored by 3 1/2 points with a total of 150).

Last Saturday’s action saw Duke, Florida and Pittsburgh all lose, leaving us with no remaining unbeaten teams. Long winning streaks still in tact, are of the ‘home’ variety. Southern Illinois owns the nation’s longest current home winning streak (33 straight) but the Salukis play at Illinois State on Saturday. However, both Gonzaga and Illinois (each with 32 straight home wins) play home games on Saturday, Gonzaga (a 19 1/2-point favorite) hosting 8-12 Portland and Illinois (a 22-point favorite) hosting 7-11 Purdue.

Ness Notes is available Monday through Friday by 1:00 ET and on Saturday and Sunday at 9:00 ET.

Larry Ness is a documented member of the Professional Handicappers League.
Read all of his articles at http://www.procappers.com/Larry_Ness.htm

Tags: Betting, college basketball, Larry Ness, NBA, ncaab, procappers, professional handicappers league, sportsBetting, college basketball, Larry Ness, NBA, ncaab, procappers, professional handicappers league, sports

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