Good morning dimers,
Today we have a massive slate of sports game throughout the entire day. We have some picks that will have you glued to the TV for the better part of the day as you watch your bank account shoot up. Sit back, grab a cup of coffee while some of you recover from a fun Friday night, and let us do the thinking for you with our Saturday lineup.
- College Basketball – ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI -9 -110 2U
The #17 Illinois Fighting Illini (7-2) look to defend their home court against the Penn State Nittany Lions (6-3). Illinois comes into this game winning three out of their last four with their only loss coming on the road to a well rounded Maryland team for an in conference loss. Illinois is currently undefeated this season at home posting a 5-0 record with their only losses coming on the road and at neutral site locations. Illinois have been dominant on their home floor winning those five games by an average margin of 33.6 points. With their last game being a big win against then #2 Texas by a margin of 7, look for Illinois to win in convincing fashion against a conference foe to stay in the mix for a shot at a conference title.
This game tips off at 12PM EST.
- College Basketball – ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS -4 -105 3U
The #9 Arkansas Razorbacks (8-1) travel to a neutral site location to take on the Oklahoma Sooners (7-2). Winners of their last four, which includes an OT thrill against then #17 San Diego State, Arkansas looks to keep their momentum against a shoddy Oklahoma squad. Even with the loss of their forward Brazile to a season-ending ACL tear, the Razorbacks just have more talented players than their opponents today. Even with a high-scoring effort from their star Sherfield against Villanova, the Sooners still ended up dropping that game because they just don’t have the supporting cast around him to really take that next step. Look for Arkansas coming into this game with revenge on their minds as they look to wipe the memory clean of the upset that happened on the same grounds as last year against Oklahoma.
This game tips off at 1PM EST.
- College Basketball – ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE +8 -110 3U
The #8 Alabama Crimson Tide (7-1) travel on the road to take on the #1 Houston Cougars (9-0). This is easily the game of the day that has all the makings of a thriller with two top-10 teams duking it out. Houston comes into today with an undefeated record at home posting a 6-0 record. The Cougars are a forced to be reckoned with for sure, however this looks to be their first real test of the year with Alabama playing very good ball. Alabama has had more notable wins this year coming against then #1 North Carolina in a 4OT thrilled back in November, as well as a convincing double digit victory coming against then #12 Michigan State. We believe this game does not have the makings to be a blow out and should be close throughout with both teams showing a lot of talent to begin the season. Eight points is just too many points to cover against an Alabama team who have shown they can hang with the giants of the basketball world so far this season.
This game tips off at 3PM EST.
- College Basketball – SAN DIEGO STATE AZTECS PK -105 4U
The #22 San Diego State Aztecs (7-2) travel to a neutral site location to take on the Saint Mary’s Gaels (7-3). After losing in a close OT matchup against Arkansas, SDSU has bounced back in a big way winning their last three games coming into today. Meanwhile on the flip side, St. Mary’s are losers of three out of their last four games. The wheels for the Gaels really came off after losing an OT thriller against Washington where the encores of that performance were losses to New Mexico and Houston. SDSU currently have St. Mary’s number where they have won the last three meetings against them. Look for that trend to continue while St. Mary’s continues to find their stride early in this season. With the Aztecs owning a top-25 defense in the nation, the Gaels have shown they can’t score enough to close out games. Even with St. Mary’s holding a top-25 defense as well, in their three losses they held those teams to under 70 points but failed to produce offensively. Take the team with the better offense in this one, which belongs to the San Diego State Aztecs.
This game tips off at 3PM EST.
- College Football – ARMY BLACK KNIGHTS +3 -110 5U MAX BET
The Army Black Knights (5-6) travel to a neutral site to take on their rivals the Navy Midshipmen (4-7). There is nothing like this game where every year we get to see America’s finest square off in a gladiator matchup that rewards bragging rights. Navy currently leads the all-time series against Army with a record of 62-53-7. Even though Navy holds the all-time record, Army has won this game four out of the last six years. Matchup predictors actually have Army owning a 51.2% chance of winning this game, however Vegas is giving a -3 spread in favor of Navy. Both teams have a tremendous rushing attack with the edge going to Army where they are averaging over 300 yards a game, 60 more than their Navy counterparts. This game, as it has been historically, will be a low scoring affair that won’t harbor a blowout. Army started the week as the favorites to win this game in Vegas, but by Tuesday everything flipped in favor of Navy. Look for Army to cover three points against their rivals in today’s matchup.
This game kicks off at 3PM EST.
- RIDE WITH THE BOYS PICK: GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS +3 -115 1U
The Golden State Warriors (13-13) look to defend their home court against the surging Boston Celtics (21-5). The Warriors have been sensational at home this season posting an incredible record of 11-2 at home. On the other note, the Celtics haven’t been slacking on the road where they hold an impressive 10-3 record as the away team. The Warriors haven’t been living up to expectations after winning the Finals last season. Speaking of the finals, this is the long awaited rematch the Celtics have been waiting for to prove they are ready to take the reins from the Golden State Warriors. If Kerr decides to play his stars in this game it will be a personal one to try and keep the dominance they own over the Celtics. Look for this to be a shootout between prominent scorers Steph Curry and Jayson Tatum, who are both averaging over 30 points a game. The boys are riding with Golden State covering here because of how tough it is to win against the Warriors in the Chase Center. Celtics are playing amazing basketball, mix that with how tough it is to win at Golden State the boys are taking +3 Golden State. If the Celtics do win, it’ll be by a low margin at the end of the game.
This game tips off at 8:30PM EST.
-NJ Calls