Free Pick: Detroit +1.5

The wrong team is clearly favoured in this matchup. The Nets have clearly packed their bags for this season, meanwhile the Pistons, who have almost all of their starters back in the lineup, are looking to solidify their playoff position. New Jersey has managed to win only 2 games out of its last 11 and looked absolutely pathetic in its 29 point blowout loss at home to Milwaukee last game. The Pistons have dominated the Nets as of late winning 6 out of the last 7 meetings between the teams. Don’t necessarily expect this one to be a blowout but Detroit will come away with the victory.

Check out all of our NBA picks.

Free Pick: Under 213.5

This total seems a little too inflated. The total of 213.5 points is rather high considering the fact that Utah is only allowing an average of 94.7 points per game to the opposition when playing at home this season. Additionally, the average point total for Utah’s last 9 home games is 190.6 points and none of the totals of any of these games were close to 213 points. The reason why the total is this high is because the public is overvaluing New York’s ability to score and underestimating its ability to stop the opposition.

Continue Reading »

The rivalry between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants is one that has been marked by some great moments. While many rivalries have a long history and some have great stories, the NFL’s best rivalries have the long standing matchup to go along with the incredible stories that always seem to happen when these teams get together.

The two teams first met in 1960 and since then, things have heated up. The single reason why this rivalry has gained so much steam is because the two organizations are so different. With the Giants being a northeastern establishment and Dallas being in the southwest, you couldn’t get two fan bases that were more different. This one is about more than the fans, though.

The two teams battled throughout the 1990s for prominence in their division, with Dallas claiming three Super Bowls, while New York won one of their own. As the division gets more competitive, these teams are becoming even stronger rivals.

The San Diego Chargers have a proud history that dates back well before the NFL and AFL merger, and they have seen their fair share of successes. The Chargers have had some great players, including Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts, to lead them into some of the greatest games in league history. For San Diego, the franchise history has been something of a roller coaster ride. They had great successes in the 1970s before falling into a lull and coming back to dominance in this decade.

For Dallas, everything has been big since they came into the league. They’ve had some of the league’s most famous players and they are always in the news. Dallas has won five Super Bowls, but their star has faded here recently. They have struggled to make the playoffs and win in the playoffs during this decade, having won their last playoff game more than eleven years ago. The match up between the Chargers vs Cowboys should be an interesting one this season.

Ask many fans of the NFL what the best rivalry in the league is and many of them will tell you that it’s the NFC East battle between the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins. Though these teams don’t have the historical context like Pittsburgh and Cleveland and they don’t have the geographic proximity like New York and Philadelphia, they do have two of the largest most competitive fan bases in the NFL.

Because the two teams have historically been very successful, with each winning five world championships, the fans of each side are used to and demand success. That is why when the two teams meet, whether it is in DC or in Dallas, the stakes are high.

The games between these teams have always been close, and this was the case in 2008, as well. Dallas dropped a Monday night contest in Texas Stadium early in the year by two, then knocked off the Redskins in Washington by four later in the year. The teams share something in common, being owned by two of the most notorious and famous owners in all of sports.

The New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins are not what you would call traditional rivals, but they do have the makings of what could be an intense rivalry over the next few years. While Miami has traditionally been one of the better franchises in the NFL, New England has only recently run into success. The Patriots have become something of a measuring stick for everyone in the AFC East, since they won three Super Bowl championships in four seasons.

The Miami and New England rivalry picked up some steam two seasons ago, when the Patriots threatened to become the second team to finish the year undefeated. Miami had been the only squad to do this, so some bad blood began to brew between the franchises. When New England lost to the Giants in the final game, cheers went up from South Beach, and even more hostility began to grow. As Miami tries to fight its way back to being a perennial playoff team, the Patriots will be their biggest challenge.

When we talk about competitive rivalries, the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets have to come up in the conversation. As long time members of the AFC East and two franchises with a history of winning, these two teams have often clashed with more than pride on the line. The Jets hold an all-time advantage of 46-40-1, a true testament to just how balanced this series has been.

The Jets won their first and only Super Bowl in 1968, but have been competitive since then. The Dolphins’ history is dominated by their 1972 team, which remains the only undefeated team in NFL history. They followed that up with another championship in 1973, and have not won it since despite appearing in three more Super Bowls.

Lately, the rivalry has heated up because of the Jets’ acquisition of formerly retired and currently retired quarterback Brett Favre. This allowed Miami to sign New York’s former signal caller, Chad Pennington, who led them to their 14th AFC East championship in 2008.

The Colts and Patriots have met 72 times on the field, but the true rivalry is a relatively new creation. Dating back to the days when the Colts played their football in Baltimore, New England holds a 44-28 advantage. More recently,t he rivalry has been renewed because the two teams have dominated the AFC and their respective quarterbacks have dueled a number of times.

The Colts have both the oldest and most recent championships won by the two teams, claiming the Super Bowl title under Johnny Unitas in 1970 and under Peyton Manning’s leadership in 2006. In between those, the Patriots went on one of the NFL’s most impressive runs, claiming Super Bowl championships in 2001, 2003, and 2004.

The rivalry between these two teams exists in large part because of the quarterbacks in place for each franchise. New England’s Tom Brady is a two-time Super Bowl MVP, while Indy’s Peyton Manning has put his name all over the NFL record books and claimed a title for his city, as well. The teams have played some of the most anticipated regular season football games in NFL history, most recently in 2007, when the 7-0 Patriots came into Indianapolis to meet the 8-0 Colts.

Free Pick: Villanova +2

Although there haven’t been many upsets in this NCAA tournament so far, I think Duke will be one of the big dogs to fall in the Big Dance.

It would be hard to argue that the Big East conference wasn’t the most competitive and talented conference in college basketball this year. Yeah, the ACC was pretty tough as usual, but the Big East has been full of NBA caliber players and solid teams.

One of the most impressive teams in the Big East that you really didn’t hear much about due to UConn and Pitt’s success this season has been the Villanova Wildcats.
Continue Reading »

Free Pick: Uconn -7

There has been no team in the NCAA tournament this March then the UConn. The Huskies may have had a rocky ending to the regular season with the loss to Pittsburgh and an early exit in the Big East tournament in the now famous six overtimes loss to Syracuse, but they have definitely come on incredibly strong in the first two rounds of the Big Dance.
Continue Reading »

Free Pick: Syracuse +1

There no more compelling game in the Sweet 16 this weekend than the Syracuse Orangemen taking on Blake Griffin and the Oklahoma Sooners. This game has everything a college basketball fan and avid sports bettor would want to see in the Big Dance.

There is the superstar appeal with the Sooners Blake Griffin. There is the underdog and somewhat of a Cinderella story with the Orangemen. And then there is the -1 point spread which shows how close the handicappers think this game will be.
Continue Reading »

Free Pick: Duke -7

These two teams have only played each other three times in this decade, but the Duke Blue Devils have gotten the best of them every time and not by just a small margin.

In each of the last three match ups between these two elite college basketball schools Duke has beaten the Texas Longhorns by at least 27 points each time they have taken the floor.

Continue Reading »