Not a good start to the day yesterday, with Tennessee (-3.5) and Mississippi (+7) both failing to cover on the road. Arizona (-4), however, came up big, pulling away from Oregon in the second half. Then, as the crew mobbed Planet Hollywood last night we salvaged the day, hitting three more winners: UNLV (+5.5), Cal (-7) and Santa Clara (+5), who won outright by double digits (Incidentally, Planet Hollywood has a very underrated -- though small -- book, equipped with two large HD screens, about twenty other smaller TVs and comfy leather chairs. If it weren't so inconvenient to get there, the crew might frequent it more often).
JBP to date: 37-21 (63.8 percent)
Today's plays: No. Iowa -1.5 vs. Creighton; Georgia Tech -2.5 vs. Maryland;
Washington -1 @ Stanford; Lakers +5 @ Cavs.
That No. Iowa, who has been the class of the Missouri Valley Conference this season, is this short of an favorite at home is borderline absurd. JBP hasn't felt this strongly about a play in weeks.
Georgia Tech is playing better of late, especially at home, where they recently beat Wake. Maryland is all over the map. This line looks short to us.
Washington is more athletic and bigger inside that Stanford. Maples is usually a tough place to play, but the Cardinal have fallen back to earth after starting the season 10-0 and are under .500 in conference play. Washington is going the other way, 7-3 in conference and 16-6 overall after a shaky start to the season.
We know the Cavs are perfect at home. And we also know the Lakers are playing the sixth game of a six-game road trip. We don't expect LA to win the game, necessarily. This is, however, way too many points to give a team who is 40-9. We also have a hunch that Kobe has extra motivation to finish the trip 6-0 and prove a point to all his detractor that he, and not LeBron, is the best player in the NBA. We don't touch the NBA too often, but this one appears to be too good to pass up.
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