There’s a common phrase of “better late than never”, but it turned out that my picks yesterday would have been better off not arriving at all, as I ended up with a 1-3-1 mark for the evening, saved only by Chattanooga proving my earlier post right and shooting very well against Wofford. But Florida Gulf Coast couldn’t put North Florida away and Northwestern found a way to lose to Penn State at home, which sent that night down to defeat pretty handily.
The bad news is, it’s Thursday, and that means parlay day, so these are among the trickiest bets to hit. The good news is, there’s Big Sky action on Thursdays, so I’ve always got a chance, even if I’ve only got two games from my league in action tonight. Here are my best plays for January 6.
EASTERN HOOPS PARLAY: NEW HAMPSHIRE TTU 58.5, SACRED HEART -3.5, TENNESSEE STATE ML, +425
Earlier this week, I played Georgia Tech under in Cameron based on its history there, and I’m doing the same with New Hampshire. The Wildcats are one of the slowest-paced teams in the country anyway, and they’ve failed to top 58 in eight of their past 10 visits to Vermont, which plays excellent defense for an America East squad. Sacred Heart has drilled Central Connecticut State, winning 12 straight against the Blue Devils and nine straight by double digits, so I’m comfortable giving 3.5 points with the Pioneers. Finally, Tennessee State and Tennessee-Martin have seen the home team win the past seven meetings, so I’m backing the Tigers to win.
WESTERN HOOPS PARLAY: CAL TTU 60.5, MONTANA STATE TTO 77.5, EASTERN WASHINGTON +1.5, +600
If this doesn’t bust Montana State out of its offensive funk, nothing will. The Vandals are just pathetic on defense, giving up almost 80 points a game. The Bobcats shot horribly for the entire game against Weber State and the first half against Idaho State, ruining both plays for me, so if this doesn’t work, I’m not touching them for a while.
Everyone is still sleeping on Eastern Washington, even as the Eagles delivered two moneyline wins as a dog at Portland State and Northern Arizona. The Eagles have three straight wins over Montana and have won three of the past five meetings at Reese Court, so I like them here. There were only two Big Sky games today, so I needed a third western game, and USC specializes in making good offenses look bad. Against a bad offense in Cal, the Trojans should make the Golden Bears look awful.
NHL PARLAY: AVALANCHE ML, DEVILS ML, PENGUINS ML, +250
I’m just looking for a win on this one, and all three of these favorites make a lot of sense. The Penguins are sizzling, having won nine in a row, and the Flyers just aren’t playing very well. Columbus is a lousy road team and should give up a fair amount of goals in New Jersey, and even though the Jets have won three straight, they’re also on their third straight road game and facing an excellent Avalanche squad. I don’t like the Peggers’ chances in Denver.
