The remaining three undefeated college basketball players are in action Wednesday. No. 1 Duke (16-0) will host North Carolina State (14-2) on ESPN at 7:00 ET. A win will match the best start in school history of 17-0, set by the 1991-92 team that opened 17-0 en route to a second straight national title. Duke has beaten NC St in 18 of the last 20 meetings between the schools and has won NINE straight home games, since losing 77-60 exactly 11 years ago today! Duke is favored by 11 points with a total of 145.
My bye is Wednesday’s NBA. Take the San Antonio Spurs over the Milwaukee Bucks at 8:35 ET. I’m ready to extend my current 5-2 CBB mini streak with another 15* CBB winner (4-1 in 2006), my first Las Vegas Insider at CBB for 2006 and my 10* MAC Game of the Month. In the NBA, I got my first 15* since the end of December! Pay AFTER you win!
No. 12 Florida (16-0) is off to its best start and hosts Savannah St in a game with no lines. You may recall that Savannah St went 0-28 last year. How are the Tigers doing this year? Well, they opened with a 63-59 win over Wilberforce (they didn’t make that name up!) but since then they’ve lost 17 straight games. Let’s make the Gators a 10 point favorite! The third undefeated team in the nation, Pittsburgh (14-0), is at Rutgers (12-4) at 8:00 ET.
The Panthers have started at least 10-0 in each of the last three seasons and own seven straight wins over the Scarlet Knights. Pitt is favored by 2 1/2 points with a total of 132. Another standout game on tonight’s 37-game CBB card is at 8:30 ET on ESPN2, where Wisconsin (14-2) is Ohio State (12 -two) . The Badgers (4-0) are the only undefeated team in the Big-10 and have beaten the Buckeyes in their last five meetings. However, Wisconsin hasn’t opened a 15-2 year since the 1929-30 season! Ohio St is a 4 1/2 point favorite with a total of 139 1/2.
ESPN televises the LeBron/Carmelo matchup at 9:05 ET. The Cavs enter a four-game losing streak (1-3 ATS) and have opened their six-game road trip season, 0-3. The Nuggets have won six of their last eight games (7-1 ATS) and are favored by five points with a total of 202 1/2. In five previous meetings between the top two players in the 2003 draft, the Cavs are 3-2 after beating the Nuggets 94-85 on Dec. 15 in Cleveland.
Interestingly, James is averaging just 20.8 PPG and Anthony just 18.2 PPG in those five games, totals well below the players’ season averages this year (James is 31.1 PPG and Anthony is 25.7 PPG). Tonight’s NBA card features 12 games and the NHL offers a three-game slate.
My NFL previews were supposed to start today, but I’m falling behind. WILL START TOMORROW.
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