Los Angeles has been two different teams this season. The Clippers have played some good basketball on their home court where they are 14-13 with some big wins over the elite teams in the NBA. But on the road, the Clippers have been terrible as they are just 3-13 away from home with 10 of their 13 losses coming by more than tonight

NC State is in a terrible scheduling spot for this game tonight. The Wolfpack just played on Sunday afternoon, and that wasn

San Antonio comes into tonight

These two teams just met two weeks ago with Southern Illinois pulling out a close 4-point (63-59) home win over Illinois St. That game was tied at the half and it was close throughout. It showed that despite being on a current 8-game losing streak, Illinois St is just as good as Southern Illinois and possibly a better team because they were able to take the Salukis down to the wire on their home floor.

Illinois St has been close in a lot of their games, and in fact, the Redbirds have held at least a 5-point lead in six of their recent eight losses. Going back further, they

Los Angeles comes in off a bad loss at Dallas on Wednesday night. The Lakers lost that game 109-100 after getting out-scored 30-17 in the third quarter. Off that loss, we expect the Lakers to bounce back strong tonight in Denver, especially since they blew their last game against the Nuggets. Back in early November, the Lakers took an 8-point lead into the fourth quarter in Denver, but the Nuggets out-scored them by 14 points (33-19) over the final 12 minutes of the game to hand them a loss. And since they come off a similar game in which they lost a fourth quarter lead, the Lakers will be extremely focused for this game.

The Lakers can also put all they have into this game since they do not play another game until next Tuesday. They also do not want to head into three days of practice off back-to-back losses so tonight

Arizona is a supremely deep and talented team that has one of the best players in college basketball. Derrick Williams will be a certified NBA lottery pick when he comes out, and anytime we can get this many points with a player of his caliber, it

Dallas snapped their 6-game losing streak last night after beating the Lakers 109-100. But off that big spotlight win, the Mavericks find themselves in a terrible scheduling spot for tonight. Last night

This is certainly the marquee game in college basketball tonight as #10 Texas A&M takes on #11 Texas. Since A&M comes into this game at 16-1 and Texas is

New York was one of the hottest teams in the NBA from mid November through early December when they ran off eight consecutive wins and also won 13 of 14 over that particular stretch. But since that impressive run, the Knicks have played mediocre basketball at best as they

Washington has won their last two games; they beat Toronto 98-95 and Utah 108-101. But don

Utah comes into tonight

Kentucky is the class of the SEC, and not by a little, by a long mile. The Wildcats are simply the most dominate team on both ends of the court and they are loaded with talent. When facing the mediocre teams of the conference, Kentucky just has too much offensive firepower and too much defense for these teams to stay close. And that

The set-up for this game coincides perfectly for a high-scoring game tonight. Michigan St comes into this game off back-to-back overtime grinders against Northwestern and Wisconsin. Both of those games had minimal scoring, but they were against the two slowest teams in the Big 10. Michigan St will face a completely different pace scenario tonight as Illinois has played at a fast tempo all season, and head coach Bruce Weber is looking for an even faster game tonight.

Oklahoma City is one of the hottest teams in the NBA right now. The Thunder have won and covered four straight games, and we don

Orlando and Boston both come into tonight

Washington

Los Angeles comes into tonight

Washington comes into tonight

Both teams played last night so we can expect tonight

Los Angeles comes into tonight

UNLV head coach Lon Kruger is one of the best in the country. Kruger doesn

Saint Louis is a difficult to team to play because of the system they run under head coach Rick Majerus. The Billikens run complex offensive sets that just frustrate opponents into half-court games. And Saint Louis is most effective when they are playing a team that loves to run up and down the court at a frenetic pace. Majerus is too smart of a coach to allow his team to get caught-up in a running game tonight, and he

These two teams match-up perfectly for a high-scoring game. NC State and Boston College like to get up and down the court at a good pace and they both are free-wheeling on the offensive end of the court. Neither team puts much stock into defense as they would much rather out-score their opponent than win a half-court, defensive type of game. We expect a lot of possessions in this game and those possessions will also lead to a lot of points.

NC State

Since Charlotte changed coaches, the Bobcats have gone 4-2. This team is playing with much more passion and desire under Paul Silas, and the whole team comes into each game with a winning attitude. They are playing at a much faster pace under Silas, and the players really like their new style of play. Charlotte has scored 101 points or more in four of the six games under Silas, and their scoring should continue tonight against a weak Memphis defense that allows 100 points per game on 44.9% shooting on the road this season.

Tonight is also a big revenge game for Charlotte after they were embarrassed in Memphis three weeks ago. The Bobcats lost that game by a whopping 33 points (113-80), and they

Missouri St was a much improved team last season as the Bears went 24-12 after winning just 11 games in 2009. They returned their top 7 scorers this season and Missouri St has picked up right where they left off. The Bears are already 12-3 this season and they come into tonight

St. John

Minnesota was feeling really good about their potential going forward heading into their last game against the Bobcats. And the Timberwolves were headed towards a nice win as they held an 8-point lead over Charlotte with just 2 minutes left to play in the game. However, they were forced into overtime and ultimately lost that game by 3 points (108-105). But instead of sulking about it, Minnesota got right back at it in practice and had a spirited team meeting in which head coach Kurt Rambis built his team up by telling them it

Charlotte

Many may knee-jerk to the Spurs in this game, but we think that may be a big mistake. San Antonio comes into this game as winners of 12 of their last 13 games, and they are facing a Dallas team without their best player, Dirk Nowitzki. The Spurs are also looking for revenge after the Mavericks beat them in San Antonio 103-94 last month. When you combine those factors, the Spurs appear to be the logical choice, but we

We played the Over in Charlotte

Toronto is not playing with their full compliment of players right now. The Raptors are without their best player, Andrea Bargnani, and Sonny Weems also missed last night

Charlotte fired their head coach Larry Brown after the Bobcats opened the season at 9-19. Replacing Brown is former player and coach Paul Silas, and he has made no secrets that he wants Charlotte to play a totally different style of basketball going forward. Under Brown, the Bobcats were a team predicated on their defense and a team that wanted to slow the pace and play a half-court game, but all that is about to change under Silas.

The Bobcats will now look to push the pace on offense as Silas wants to play a fast tempo game. In his opening press conference, Silas clearly stated that the Bobcats needed to change their stagnant offensive ways.

This game will be played at the Orleans Casino is Las Vegas so neither team has a home court advantage for tonight. Both teams played yesterday, but Northern Iowa has a couple of edges working in their favor. They played the early game while New Mexico played the night game which gives the Panthers some extra rest. Northern Iowa also played in a slow-paced, half-court game in which they won 67-61. They exerted little energy in that game as they led for double digits in the majority of the game.

New Mexico played in a fast-paced game against Colorado; the Lobos won that game 89-76. They spent a ton of energy going up and down the court in that game while shooting a high percentage from the floor. New Mexico shot 61.2% (30-49) from the field and 41.7% (5-12) from three-point land. They also made 24 of their 28 free throws. That

New Jersey comes into tonight

Dayton is a scrappy, veteran team that is just starting to their stride this season. The Flyers have a tendency to get better as the season progresses, and we see that happening again this year. Dayton caught fire in the post-season last year and they went on to win the NIT tournament, so when this team gets on a roll, they have proven to be a tough out.

The Flyers are catching a Seton Hall team at the perfect time. The Pirates lost their leading scorer Jeremy Hazell earlier in the season, and their best player, Herb Pope, is still not at full strength. Pope has been in and out of the lineup, and he really hasn

Kansas St is certainly on our play-against list right now. From our view, this team is one of the most over-hyped, overrated, and over-ranked teams in college basketball. The Wildcats were 9-1 heading into their last game on Saturday against Florida, but their luck ran out as the Gators cruised to a 13-point win (57-44) in that game for us. Despite their 9-2 record, Kansas St has struggled in many of their games against inferior opposition. This team has not won easy, and against strong opposition, we have no problems fading Kansas St.

The Wildcats are taking another big step up in class tonight against UNLV. The Runnin

Dallas came through with an outright win for us last night in Miami, and we

Dallas has been one of the most consistent teams in the league so far this season. The Mavericks are 21-5 including an impressive 8-1 on the road. A key to their success this season has been a phenomenal defense that is allowing only 93 points per game on 43.5% shooting. The Mavericks have held 20 of their 26 opponents to less than 100 points which shows just how good their defense has played this year.

If Dallas

Milwaukee is on our play-on list right now, and tonight looks like another good spot to back the Bucks. This team just beat Dallas and came up 2 points shy at San Antonio, and there

Kansas St may be the most over-hyped, overrated, and over-ranked team in college basketball in recent memory. The Wildcats are 9-1 this year, but they

Utah has alternated wins and losses over their last six games. The Jazz won their last game, a 108-95 home blowout over Golden St. The Jazz covered that game, but it was just their second pointspread win in their last six games after covering their previous 7 games in a row. Tonight

When these two teams met last month, the Jazz won 105-87. That game had 192 points scored despite the Hornets only shooting 42% (29-69) from the field and 21.1% (4-19) from three-point land. But New Orleans got to the free throw line 32 times in that game which shows that they were aggressive on the offensive end of the court. They missed 7 shots from the line as well so they actually could

These two teams met three weeks ago, and the Celtics won 99-76. The teams only scored a total of 175 points in that game and we expect a similar type of game tonight, especially the way the Hawks and Celtics come into this game. Atlanta lost their last game by 23 points which means they

Milwaukee came through for us on Monday night as they went into Dallas and snapped the Mavericks 12-game winning streak. The Bucks won that game outright 103-99, and there

Atlanta has been a fortunate team ever since their top player, Joe Johnson, left the lineup. Johnson will miss a few months after elbow surgery, and since he leads the Hawks in scoring (17.1 points), assists (5.2), and minutes (35.5), Atlanta really figured to struggle going forward. And not only on the offensive end of the floor, but also the defensive end because Johnson is the leading rebounder among the team's guards (4.1). Johnson is also versatile on defense as he defends point guards, shooting guards, and small forwards.

The Hawks are 5-2 without Johnson on the court, but they

Wright St (5-5) comes in with a better record than Central Michigan (2-6), but that doesn

Milwaukee has been a disappointment so far this season; the Bucks come into tonight

Indiana has played a tough schedule, but the Pacers have held their own and they should hold some value going forward. And that certainly appears to be the case tonight as they are getting a handful of points from a team that they are better than. The Pacers have had their injury issues that have hampered their progression, but they are fully healthy now and they are playing up to their potential. The same cannot be said of the Hawks who are now going through their own issues.

Atlanta is 15-9, but the Hawks are not as good as their record indicates. And it looks like they are going to struggle for some time now that they lost their best player, Joe Johnson, who is out after undergoing elbow surgery. Johnson leads the Hawks in scoring (17.1 points), assists (5.2), and minutes (35.5), and he is also the leading rebounder among the team's guards (4.1). Johnson is also versatile on defense as he defends point guards, shooting guards, and small forwards.

Johnson

This game will be played on the home court of the Utah Jazz (Energy Solutions Arena) and not on BYU

Kansas St may be the most over-hyped, overrated, and over-ranked team in college basketball in recent memory. The Wildcats are 8-1 this year, but they

Portland has finally broken out of their offensive slump. The Blazers have scored 97 points or more in their last three games which is much improved from the 86 points they averaged in their previous seven games. The Blazers made some lineup changes and they have revitalized their offense as they are now getting production with their second unit. And we expect more improvement tonight against Phoenix because the Suns will speed-up the game and make Portland play at a faster pace.

The Suns come into tonight

The Knicks have played some good basketball over the last month. They

These two teams met last year, and that game came right down to the wire. Georgetown squeaked out a 46-45 win as they hit the winning layup with just 6 seconds left to play. And tonight

The Celtics beat the Nuggets last night 105-89 as they caught Denver without Carmelo Anthony who was a late scratch from the game. Boston played an outstanding offensive game as they shot 55.9% (38-68) from the field. The Celtics were also pretty aggressive in pushing the pace and that led to many whistles as they attempted 36 free throws. But off the highly efficient and fast-paced game, we expect Boston to play a totally different game tonight in Philadelphia.

Boston has a history of playing low-scoring games on the second night of a back-to-back set. The Celtics would rather play a solid half-court, defensive game in this setting as it helps them conserve their energy for future games. The Celtics have played in 5 such games this year and all five had 194 points or less scored in regulation time with an average of 186.8 points scored per game. And that includes a 207-point game that went into overtime.

Both defenses come into this game in terrific form. Over their last five games, the Celtics are allowing only 88 points per game on 41.3% shooting while the Sixers are allowing only 89 points per game on 42.4% shooting. Philadelphia is also off back-to-back high-scoring offensive games in which they scored 109 and 117 points. But they cannot expect the same type of offensive production tonight against the stingy Celtics

This is a heated rivalry game that brings out the best in both teams, and since we view Colorado as the superior team, we expect the Buffaloes to get a solid win and cover tonight. Colorado is a talented team that is certainly capable of playing in the NCAA tournament this year if they play up to their capabilities. Colorado St is a decent team, but they

We played against Cleveland last night and the Sixers came through for us with a 20-point win (117-97). And we

This is a very difficult spot for Purdue. This game against in-state Valparaiso is a much tougher game for them than it appears to be on the surface. Big 10 teams rarely ever schedule games at Valpo; their risk/reward is very minimal. The Crusaders play their home games at the Athletics-Recreation Center which is a small gym that only seats 5,000. And big-name teams like Purdue are not used to playing in such small gyms where the fans are right on top of the action. It

Cleveland just coasted through the first month of the season, waiting for their big showdown game with LeBron and the Heat. That was supposed to be Cleveland

Memphis is in a terrible scheduling spot for this game tonight. The Grizzlies just played in Denver last night and now they must play in a back-to-back to set in Utah which is another game in thin air and altitude. It

The Clippers are playing some good basketball right now; they are 3-3 SU and 5-1 ATS over their last six games. Prior to this mini streak, the Clippers were just 1-13 and 5-9 ATS which shows just how improved their play has been over the last two weeks. This young team has gelled nicely recently as their offense is averaging 100 points on 47.8% shooting over their last five games. And their defense is also playing better as they

Philadelphia has been a scrappy team this year. The Sixers are a young bunch that has been playing hard for their new head coach Doug Collins. Philadelphia is just 5-13 on the season, but they are covering pointspreads as they are 10-7-1 ATS including 9-5 ATS as an underdog. Five of their games have come against the elite teams in the league so their overall win/loss record isn

This has been the most anticipated game since the summer when LeBron James decided to sign with the Heat. Tonight was circled on every calendar in Cleveland, and this is the Cavs chance to get back at LeBron for leaving. There will be a ton of emotion and energy for this game, and most of it points towards the Cleveland side. This is

San Antonio is getting a lot of media attention now that they are 15-2 and 8-0 on the road this season. The Spurs have been playing a much different style of basketball this year as they are more willing to play at a faster pace. And that has shown on the scoreboard as the Spurs are averaging 108 points per game which is way above their previous averages. But along with playing fast, tired legs are soon to come. And since San Antonio is one of the oldest teams in the NBA, there will be spots to play-against this team.

Tonight

Dallas has played some good basketball so far this season, and the Mavericks have been on a nice little run recently. They

Xavier has been a team that loves to get up and down the court and play at a fast pace over the last few seasons. Their offense is much more effective when able to get out in transition and get easy buckets. But there

Saint Louis is a difficult to team to play because of the system they run under head coach Rick Majerus. The Billikens run complex offensive sets that just frustrate opponents into half-court games. And Saint Louis is most effective when they are playing a team that loves to run up and down the court at a frenetic pace. Majerus is too smart of a coach to allow his team to get caught-up in a running game tonight, and he

This game is part of the ACC-Big 10 challenge, and will be played on Florida St

New Orleans started this season on fire as they were a perfect 8-0 SU/ATS after the first two weeks of play. But since then, the Hornets are just 3-3 SU and 0-5-1 ATS. Their fast start was attributed to their strong defensive play in which they held all eight of those opponents to less than 100 points. However, their defense is non-existent right now as they

The Lakers are 13-2 on the season, but they

This game is part of the Maui Invitational out in Hawaii so neither team has the advantage of their home court. We played Connecticut last night in their 70-67 win over Michigan St and we

This game is being played at Madison Square Garden so neither team has the advantage of their home court. Both teams come in undefeated; UCLA is 3-0 and Villanova is 4-0. Neither team has faced much in the way of competition so tonight

Dallas is one of the best defensive teams in the NBA, so getting the Mavericks plus a handful of points is something that cannot be passed up. Dallas is 9-4 on the season and three of their four losses have come by 5 points or less. The Mavericks are not allowing many teams to extend leads or winning margins on them because of their defense and we certainly expect another tight game that comes right down to the wire tonight in Oklahoma City.

The Thunder struggled early on as they opened the season at just 3-3. They are currently on a 5-game winning streak; they

After opening the season at just 1-6, the Bobcats have turned things around recently. Charlotte is 4-2 over their last six games with their two losses coming against Utah by a single point and against Miami by 8 points. Two of their four wins have also come on the road so it

This game is part of the Maui Invitational out in Hawaii so neither team has the advantage of their home court. The Big East conference has been tremendous in non-conference play so far as 9 of the 16 teams are unbeaten and the league owns a cumulative record of 50-10. Connecticut is one of those unbeaten teams at 3-0, and based on what the league has done against non-conference opponents, there

Orlando has been the forgotten team in the NBA so far this season. With their in-state rival Heat getting all of the attention, and the hot starts of New Orleans, San Antonio, and Boston, the Magic have become a second-tier commodity. The Magic are just going about their business quietly as they are currently 9-3 on the season. One of their losses was by 26 points to Miami in the second game of the season so maybe that game alone soured the thoughts of this Orlando team some. Whatever the reason, the Magic are undervalued right now, especially in tonight

Kentucky lost a world of talent from last year

Dallas may find it tough to get up for tonight

Denver is catching Portland at the right time. The Blazers will be without Brandon Roy once again tonight as his knee still isn

This game will be played in New York City at Madison Square Garden for the 2K Sports Classic so neither team has the benefit of the home court tonight. The Big 10 is widely regarded as the best conference in college basketball this season, and Illinois takes a backseat to no team in terms of talent so the fact that they are a smallish favorite against Texas in this game is somewhat of a surprise.

The Illini are loaded this season and they

These two teams just played on Monday night with the Mavericks coming back in the fourth quarter for a 98-95 win. New Orleans and Dallas have played some of the best basketball in the league so far this season; the Hornets are 8-1 while the Mavericks are 7-2. Both teams are playing ferocious defense with New Orleans holding opponents to just 91 points per game on 43% shooting while Dallas is holding opponents to 92 points per game on 42.2% shooting. And we expect more of the same tonight in what should be a half-court, low-scoring, defensive battle.

The pace in Monday night

Missouri St was a much improved team last season as the Bears went 24-12 after winning just 11 games in 2009. They return their top 7 scorers this season so Missouri St should match last year

San Diego St had a terrific season a year ago as the Aztecs went 25-9 and made an NCAA tournament appearance. This team should pick up right where they left off as they return all five starters from last year