Monday, Monday

Another quality 2-1 day takes us to 19-7 against the spread the last 26 tries. For the Top Trend, we have a double angle in a game I personally don’t like. Slick Rick hopefully has another Free Play Winner and the Best System doesn’t quite qualify, yet is 5-0 this season. Good Luck

What I thought today – What a great weekend of sports! The best entertainment all weekend was on MSNBC of all places Sunday night, with the United States upset of Canada in hockey. It showed why when hockey is played at high level; it’s an outstanding sport, pulling in even novice fans.

I haven’t had time to look at any web information sites north of the border, but I really don’t have to, since today is truly a sad day in Canada, not only being beaten, but being outworked at key moments. It would normally be considered a fluke to be outshot 45-23 and win, nonetheless, Canada made numerous miscues and goalie Martin Brodeur looked like an imposter with his name on the back of his red uniform, allowing four goals in 22 shots, while Ryan Miller of the U.S. was like an octopus, stopping all but three attempts.

Can Canada come back and win the gold, undoubtedly, but for those that had the red, white and blue on the money or puck line, congrats.

What the Bracket Buster proved

The Colonial Athletic Conference is normally a dependable league; with above average teams for a so-called mid-major, but after this past weekend, the conference has as many long faces per capita as Canada. The CAA was 3-9 SU and 4-8 ATS among its membership. The really bad news was the seven teams with a .500 or better in league play were 2-5 and unfathomable 1-6 ATS. In each case, when the game was on the line, none of these teams stepped up and the only club that looked like they could win a NCAA Tournament game was Virginia Commonwealth, who has a big man in Larry Sanders and a pressing defense that could make runs in games.

Playing at Butler is hardly a fun trip for any team (ask Ohio State), nevertheless when you are presented with opportunity, you have to make the most of it. Siena did not and was completely outclassed in the second half, being outscored 42-22 in 17-point loss. The Saints are a nice team at 22-6 and 14-10-2 ATS, however they lack the skill and athleticism to be considered a team that could pull a first round upset should they make the tournament.

Utah State and Northern Iowa both looked capable, however they would need to be matched against teams without superior athletes who tend to play out of control to win a NCAA game or two.

Big Ten beat goes on

The Big Ten Conference has returned to prominence this season, with four teams that are an absolute lock to make the field and two others that still have to do a bit more work. One aspect clear in this league, the contenders put so much effort into beating one another; they have little energy to keep it going.

It started with Illinois, after upsetting Michigan State and Wisconsin, the tank was empty against Ohio State and was throttled at home 72-53. The Buckeyes were nearly perfect at Champaign and returned home to face Purdue. Except for about 10 total minutes, the Buckeyes were outplayed by Purdue and lost as favorites at home 60-57.

The Boilermakers played brilliantly at Columbus, but made Illinois look like Elite 8 team for 30 minutes on their home floor. Senior Keaton Grant kept Purdue in the game and in the end, Robbie Hummel and E’Twaun Moore started to score, as the Boilers won but failed to cover. Michigan State was starting to look like they had their house in order after winning and covering on the road against Penn State and Indiana and they return to East Lansing ready to…..shoot 41.3 percent, be outrebounded by six and fall 74-67 to Ohio State as four point home favorites. Go figure.

Random mumbling

Vanderbilt was a popular play against Kentucky, but 2-20 from beyond the arc closed the door on the Commodores bid to take down No. 2. It was really the first time the Wildcats played like youngsters for prolonged periods, but John Wall and Patrick Patterson were money when it counted.

I wouldn’t discount Vandy as being a good tournament team however; they have weapons to score despite bad shooting night and proved they can D-it up also.

UTEP is 20-5 (11-10 ATS) and has 10-game winning streak. Their worst loss of the season was at Houston, at least by team’s ability and they have a number of ways to score along with quickness and size.

According to my sources, there is no truth to the blog rumor that the top two teams from the Pac-10 will be involved in the Tuesday plan-in game before for the NCAA tourney.

On Twitter at: www.twitter.com/3Dailywinners

Free Basketball System -1) Play On all teams like UConn when the line is +3 to -3, who are solid defensive team holding opponent to 40 percent or less shooting, against an average defensive team (42.5-45%) after 15+ games, and they are average ball handling team (14.5-17.5 turnovers) against a poor pressure defensive team forcing 14.5 or less turnovers. This system has been around since 1997 and is 55-19 ATS, 74.3 percent including 5-0 this year.

Free Basketball Trend - 2) If you like the Pacers, here are two more reasons to like them. Indiana is 10-0 ATS off a double digit win as a road underdog of six more and Dallas is 3-12 ATS as a home favorite of 6.5 to 12 points this season.

Free Basketball Pick -3) Slick Rick is 33-19 the last eight days and is on Utah tonight.

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