While there’s nothing more frustrating than doing everything right and watching a bet fall by the wayside (as happened with the under last night between Northern Illinois and Buffalo), there aren’t many better feelings than having a bet that appears dead come back to life from out of nowhere. Such was the case last night with Arkansas, who somehow turned a 79-78 lead into a 93-80 finish, covering the -12.5 point spread and making a winner out of this bet.
Thanks to that and some successful MACtion, Wednesday produced a 4-1 mark, with the lone exception being the Kings. It’s never easy to keep the momentum going on Thursdays, but we’ll give it a shot. Here are my best plays for November 18:
NATIONAL TV PARLAY: LOUISVILLE -20, PATRIOTS -6.5, MARQUETTE-OLE MISS U138.5, +570
The basketball game is likely to be a rock fight, as Marquette plays fierce defense and Ole Miss hasn’t really seen a defense like Shaka Smart’s Golden Eagles. Plus, this game is at a neutral arena in Charleston, which lends itself to unfamiliarity with the rims. New England is firing on all cylinders and should be able to handle Atlanta, and Duke appears to be checked out for the season. Louisville has to have this game, and I expect the Cardinals to take the Blue Devils out of the game early.
NHL PARLAY: DUCKS +1.5, RANGERS +1.5, BLUE JACKETS ML, +300
Anaheim has been incredible at covering this season, as the Ducks have either won or lost by one goal in 15 out of 17 contests. With the Hurricanes coming in, I’d rather take the Ducks plus the goal, even on home ice. The same holds with the Rangers, who are winners in four straight games and have played well away from home. I’m playing it conservative, but I don’t want to get too aggressive with New York playing in Toronto. I will, however, go for the win with Columbus in the desert, because Arizona is terrible.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL PARLAY: ALABAMA STATE +27.5, NORTHERN ILLINOIS-MISSOURI O137, WEST VIRGINIA -14, +500
Alabama State is going to get beat — a lot — but the Hornets are better than people think and Iowa isn’t quite the team it was a year ago. Alabama State has covered in all four matchups it’s played this year, and there’s good reason to think the Hornets can keep this under 25. Missouri cannot play defense whatsoever, and Northern Illinois managed to get 71 on Washington, so the Huskies should do their share of the scoring here. Finally, Press Virginia is back in business, and Elon is not going to shoot anywhere near as well as Pittsburgh did in a 15-point loss to the Mountaineers. If West Virginia could beat Pitt by 15 with the Panthers shooting 57.5 percent from the floor, they should be able to beat Elon by the same number.
