Let’s return to our premise from last week: Can you make a few bucks betting the top-rated teams in college basketball? And we’ll even mention our original answer. Maybe. And maybe not.
In the last week, one team stands out — No. 2 ranked Duke. After beating North Carolina, 87-70, the Blue Devils were what appeared to be prohibitive 17.5 favorites at Syracuse. An analyst at Covers.com advised taking the points. We agreed.
Annnd … we were both wrong. Duke smoked Syracuse 83-54, easily covering the 17.5. Is it that easy? Can you play a nationally ranked power team and win often enough to beat the vig?
Maybe not. The Blue Devils were -6 vs. Clemson on Saturday and lost outright, 77-71. For the record, however, Duke is still 14-9 ATS, according to Covers.
Regardless, here’s how the other Top Ten teams fared:
— No. 1 Auburn was upended by Florida, 90-81. It was the second time this season the Gators took down a No. 1 ranked team. Coach Todd Golden after the game to Gators Wire: “Just an incredible win for our program. I thought our guys were fantastic for 40 minutes tonight.
— No. 3 Alabama coughed up a huge lead that looked like an easy cover at -4.5 or -5 vs. Arkansas and had to hang on to win, 85-81. An analyst at CBS SportsLine liked the Razorbacks in that spot, so credit him with a cover.
— No. 4 Tennessee manhandled (personhandled?) Oklahoma, 70-52 and covered -5.5.
— No. 5 Houston beat Colorado, 69-59, but failed to cover -10.
— No. 7 Purdue drilled USC, 90-72, and covered -13.
— No. 8 Iowa State rolled over TCU, 82-52, easily covered -16.5. Maybe coach T.J. Oztelberger’s Saturday morning appearance on ESPN “Game Day” had something to do with it.
— No. 9 Michigan State recovered from a 14-point first-half deficit to defeat Oregon, 86-74, and cover -7.5.
— No. 10 Texas A&M, a 4-point underdog, beat Missouri outright, 67-64. Gig ’em!
MEANWHILE IN THE NBA, we noted last week the Portland Trail Blazers were on a tear and had won or covered eight straight games.
But they weren’t finished. After that post, the Blazers beat the Suns again, this time in OT, 121-119. They then proceeded to beat the Pacers and the Kings, respectively, by scores of 112-89 and 108-102, both times as underdogs.
Their remarkable 11-game cover streak finally came to a halt on Saturday when they lost to the Timberwolves on the road, 114-98. But if you rode the streak that started Jan. 19 for any or all of it, hope you enjoyed the rush along with cashing a few tickets.
For the record, TeamRankings.com notes the Memphis Grizzlies are the best in class ATS at 34-18-0. The Grizz are covering 65.4 percent of their games with a 7.9 point average margin of victory and beating the spread by an average of 5.4 points. Cleveland, Oklahoma City and Portland are the next most successful ATS teams.
And who, you wondered, is dead last? That dark distinction belongs to the Phoenix Suns, who have a woeful 35.3 percent cover rating.
THE VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS have improved from ice-cold to marginally warm.
Foley’s Finest had lost six of seven before beating the Devils, 3-1, as -119 favorites. They followed that up with a 4-3 win over the Bruins, closing as -155 favorites.
Those wins offered some redemption for bettors who had to tear up tickets or watch numbers head south in their digital accounts.
“We showed how good we could be,” Golden Knights center Tomas Hertl told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Sometimes you just have to stay with it because not every time the goals are coming, but I think the last two games have showed us we can play really good hockey.”
Is this the start of a new streak? Maybe. And maybe not.
After a two-week break, they next host the Canucks on Feb. 22.
OUR PICK FOR A WINNER went awry in our last post as Penn State gave up a comfortable first-half lead and lost outright to Minnesota, 69-61.
Undaunted, we’ll try again with a play on Clemson -5.5 vs. North Carolina later Monday.
