Marc Lawrence

Playbook

Hoops

NCAA

MARQUETTE over Villanova by 7
The Golden Eagles tip off their Big East Conference opener at the Al
McGuire Court at the Bradley Center when they host highly-touted
Villanova this afternoon. The Wildcats handed Marquette a pair of losses
last season, including a boot from the Big East Conference tournament.
Noting Marquette’s 6-1 ATS success in this series and its 12-4-1 ATS mark
as a conference home dog, they get our attention here today. Villanova
dropped its only true road game this season in a 10-point loss at Temple last
month. Look for the Cats’ 1-5 SU and ATS mark as a visitor in conference
openers to take another hit here today. As the late, great Al McGuire once
said, “Winning is overrated. The only time it’s really important is in surgery
and war.” Marquette goes to war today.


PACIFIC over CS Northridge by 14
Yet another winning team seeking revenge from a Big West Conference
tournament loss last season, Pacifi c’s 71-66 setback to the Matadors denied
them a ticket to the Big Dance. That will certainly serve as a motivating
factor in today’s contest. After all, it has never failed them in the past as
the Tigers are 7-0 ATS at home when playing with conference tournament
loss revenge. Northridge checks in at 1-4 ATS against sub .666 opposition
this season and is just 1-6 ATS as conference road dogs versus avenging
foes. The Pac Rat’s poisonous 17-7 ATS mark at the Alex Spanos Center
against .461 or less conference opposition clinches. Wave bye-bye to the
Matadors.


Arizona St over USC by 7
We top off our three-pack of College Hoops Best Bets with another
conference tournament revenge-seeker when the Sun Devils take on the
Trojans at the Galen Center in Los Angeles. USC fi nds itself in transition
under new head coach Kevin O’Neill. The talent level on this year’s squad
is down dramatically from recent editions and the Trojans must face off
against no less than six foes seeking conference revenge from last season.
To make matters worse, USC upset ASU in the Pac-10 championship game
last season. With the underdog in this series 10-3 ATS, and the Sun Devils
a solid 25-15-1 ATS with revenge under head coach Herb Sendek, we’ll cap
off our conference tournament revenge hat trick call with this sou’wester.


NBA

Toronto over BOSTON by 1
The Raptors meet the Celtics in Beantown Saturday evening in what
appears to be an ideal spot for Toronto. It fi nds Boston returning home
off a same-season revenger at Phoenix Wednesday night with an even
bigger game for the Celtics waiting on deck against Miami. Noting the
Shamrocks’ rotten 12-33 SU and 13-32 ATS in games before taking on the
Heat, we also dig the fact that Toronto is 14-6 ATS in its last 20 games on
this fl oor. With the Raptors looking to avenge a loss suffered earlier this
season against the Celtics, look for ‘Les Habs’ to take advantage of this
schedule de le supreme tonight.