Philadelphia 76ers +6.5 (-110)
Mon March 10 ’08 7:05p
In case you have not noticed, the Philadelphia 76ers are playing some excellent basketball right now, and they offer some nice value as home underdogs vs. the Boston Celtics Monday night.

The Sixers are coming off of a 119-97 rout of the Bucks at Milwaukee yesterday afternoon, and they have been absolutely on fire at home, winning eight consecutive games here by an average margin of +18.9 points! They are currently on a 15-3-1 run against the spread overall, and they are 10-1 ATS in the lest 11 home games. Philadelphia seems to be in a nice position here to get double revenge for two previous losses to Boston this season.

Now the Celtics still have the best record in basketball at 49-12 straight up, and they are also a profitable 36-23-2 ATS. They had a statement win over the Detroit Pistons last week, and followed that up with a home blowout of the Bulls and a road rout of Memphis. However, we think they will finally face some resistance here from a 76ers team that is looking to solidify its playoff positioning.

The end result should be a hard fought battle that may not be decided until the final buzzer, making this red-hot home underdog worth backing.

NBA Free Pick: 76ers +6.5

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New York Rangers -105.0
Mon March 10 ’08 7:05p
The Buffalo Sabres prepare to host a red hot NY Rangers team that is 9-0-3 in their L12 games. The Rangers have owned the Sabres this season, winning all 3 meetings, with their top goalie Henrick Lunqvist , posting a 1.67 GAA. With that said lets ride the momentum of the Rangers at a value price. Final notes & Key Trends: NYR are 7-2 L9 road games. Sabres have lost 8 of their L10 against Atlantic division foes. Play on the Rangers

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Northern Illinois +8.5 (-110)
Sun March 9 ’08 2:00p
The Northern Illinois Huskies may be just 6-20 straight up, but they have managed to go 12-11-1 against the spread and this seems like a lot of points for the Eastern Michigan Eagles to be laying.

After all, the Eagles are just 12-16 SU themselves, and while they are 9-4 at home, they are only winning those games by an average of +4.5 points, not nearly enough to cover a spread like this. Due to Eastern Michigan’s shortcomings, they have not been the best of favorites in recent years, going just 11-14 ATS the last 25 times they were cast in this role including 3-5 this season. They have lost outright as chalk to Brown, Detroit and Texas A&M-Corpus Christie this season, and the only time they were favored by more than six points, they nipped SE Missouri State 86-82 as 12-point favorites.

Now Northern Illinois may be a sentimental favorite followed the tragic campus shootings recently, but they are 0-3 SU since resuming play. That said, all three losses have been by seven points or less, and the Huskies are actually a nice 8-5 ATS on the road this season. If this game is close late, which we feel is an excellent possibility, UNI could use the inspiration of going for their first win since the tragedy to their benefit.

Finally, Northern Illinois is 8-3-1 ATS in the last 12 head-to-head meetings, and they have won three of their last five visits here outright.

CBB Free Pick: Northern Illinois +8.5

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San Antonio Spurs @ Phoenix Suns u203.0
Sun March 9 ’08 3:30p
San Antonio no matter who they are playing, almost always seem to be able to set the pace of a confrontation. The Suns used to be able to dictate the tempo against all comers, but with big Shaq Oneal now slowing them down, an up tempo assault against this type of physical opponent will not come easily. Bottom line: Look for both teams to partake in a play off style affair, that will have its speedy moments, but for the most part , be fought and decided on the inside and under the glass, rather than the perimeter ,making for a lower scoring tilt than the pundits might expect. Play UNDER

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San Jose SaberCats -10.5 (-110) vs. Grand Rapids Rampage
Mon Mar 10 ’08 7:00p
The defending ArenaBowl Champions got off to a rough start last week in Chicago in a game that was a tail of two halves. Chicago busted out of the gates to grab a quick 14-0 lead, but the Sabercats stayed calm, cool, and collected and got themselves right back into the game. After Rodney Wright hauled in a 6-yard TD pass from QB Mark Grieb at the 10:50 mark of the second quarter, the Sabercats astonishingly found themselves up 21-14. The All State Arena seemed to be a more tranquil place after that, but the Rush weren’t going to go down quietly. The 2nd quarter expired when K AJ Haglund nailed a 45-yard FG, and the Sabercats went into the break down a point at 28-27. They were right in it, and Head Coach Darren Arbet demanded his men got more physical in the second half to allow them to steal a win.

It didn’t happen however as they were outscored 14-7 in the third quarter and 28-13 in the final quarter. There was a very questionable call made that went against the Sabercats on what was a perceived fumble by WR James Roe, but replay made it clearly apparent that his knee was down before he lost control of the pigskin. Thankfully for the Rush, there is no instant replay in this league. Mark Grieb completed 35-of-46 passes for 353 yards and 5 TDs, but Chicago’s relentless stop unit coaxed him into throwing some errant passes that were picked off three times. They lost the turnover battle 5:2 and only converted 2 of their 6 3rd down tries. All in all, the defending champs got beat up pretty bad and will no doubt take the field against Grand Rapids in search of atonement.

Tonight’s game will be the first of the season for Grand Rapids as they were the lone team off last week. The new look Rampage have a new leader at the helm that goes by the name of Steve Thonn. He was the offensive coordinator for the Georgia Force, who averaged a whopping 62.9 PPG in 2007. They rebuilt their roster through Nashville and Austin folding. The secondary looks rather impressive, headed up by Ahmad Hawkins, who broke the AFL record with 13 INTs in 2007. The offense seems patchwork, but if anyone can build an offense from the ground up, it’s Steve Thonn.

San Jose is an 11-point road chalk with the ‘total’ set at 106 for this match-up. In the eight games played between these two clubs, San Jose has won 7 of them SU and gone 6-2-1 ATS. The Sabercats have won 4 of its L/5 road games SU, and they’re a solid 9-3-1 ATS its L/13 road contests.

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Utah Blaze @ Cleveland Gladiators u109.0 (-110)
Sun March 9 ’08 12:30p
The AFL kicked off in fine fashion last week in Cleveland when the franchise won its first game of the season over the NY Dragons in a game that saw 17,000+ pack the Quicken Loans Center to get a glimpse of Cleveland icon Bernie Kosar’s new team. The Gladiators franchise came over from Las Vegas where they turned into one of the worst franchises in the league the last couple seasons. Kosar wanted experienced vets to lead his team in its first year of existence in Cleveland, and that’s exactly what he got. He couldn’t have made a better choice at the QB position when he decided to bring in Raymond Philyaw who had a monster season in KC last year to help lead the Brigade to the post-season in just the franchises second year of existence. He also stacked the D-Line with AFL vets Silas Demary and Joe Minucci who made names for themselves while playing for Los Angeles and Nashville.

The Gladiators proved to be more of a smashmouth team last week when they gained 308 yards overall, but gained 68 of them on the ground. FB/LB Marlion Jackson set the pace on the ground, while QB Philyaw kept the Dragons defense honest by completing 18-of-23 passes for 248 yards and 5 TDs with 1 INT. They won the turnover battle 3:2 and outscored NY 21-14 to pull away for the 61-49 home win and cover.

Head coach Danny White’s Utah Blaze were one of the more entertaining teams to watch in the league last season. Their offense was simply sensational led by QB Joe Germaine who passed for a league record 5,005 yards last season. He picked right back where he left off last week against Arizona when he completed 19-of-31 passes for 236 yards and 5 TDs with 1 INT. The Blaze lost however by a 63-62 final count when K Steve Videtich’s last second FG attempt sailed wide left.

Oddsmakers installed the Gladiators as short 1-point home favorites, but the betting public has bought into Kosar’s team and the line now sits at (-3.5) with the ‘total’ set at 109. Utah failed to cover the spread in both of their meetings with the Gladiators last season. They won by a 57-47 final tally in “Sin City” as 10.5-point road chalks, and shockingly lost SU to the Glads at home in the rematch as 17-point favorites. The Under has cashed in 4 of Utah’s L/5 road games, and it’s also cashed in 6 of the Gladiators L/9 home games. Look for Cleveland to look to the control the clock with its ground attack while keeping the potent Blaze offense on the sideline in the process. The ‘Under’ looks to be an awfully tasty proposition.

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North Carolina Tarheels vs. Duke Blue Devils
Free NCAA Pick: North Carolina +1.5 (-110)
Sat March 8 ’08 9:00p
Games do not get much bigger than this one on Tobacco Road, as the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Duke Blue Devils battle for the ACC regular season title. Perhaps more importantly, the winner of this contest may be assured of a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Now Duke did win the first meeting between these schools handily this season 89-78 at Chapel Hill, but keep in mind that was the first came the Tar Heels played without their injured point guard Ty Lawson, and it showed in their performance. The Heels did improve without Lawson soon after that though, and he is now back and fully motivated after missing that first encounter.

North Carolina has won seven straight games since the Duke defeat, and after squeaking by without Lawson for a couple of games, the last five wins have all been by double-digits, with an average winning margin in those five contests of +18,4 points! Also, do not lose sight of the fact that the Tar Heels are 19-8, 70.4 percent against the spread this season with an overall AMOV of +17.2 points, this despite being a popular team among bettors, which generally results in inflated lines.

Now Duke has gone in the other direction since beating the Heels in the first go-around, going just 3-5 ATS in the eight games since then including shocking outright losses to Wake Forest and Miami Florida. Now granted, they are 15-0 straight up at home, but they are just 2-2 ATS here during this current eight-game swoon, and one of the covers came in a non-conference game vs. a thoroughly outclassed St. John’s team. They have obviously not hosted a team nearly of the caliber of North Carolina all season.

Besides, the Tar Heels do not mind visiting Durham, as they have won each of their last two visits here outright. In fact, UNC is 4-1 ATS in the last five head-to-head meetings with the Blue Devils. With Lawson now back in the lineup, we look for the better North Carolina team to get revenge for that first loss at home by winning here at Duke, locking up a one seed in the Big Dance in the process.

CBB Free Pick: North Carolina +1.5

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