San Antonio (3) vs. Dallas (6)
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Key to series: The benches. There are a lot of miles on the starters for both teams. Drew Gooden gives the Spurs some toughness which they lacked.
Portland (4) vs. Houston (5)
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Key to series: Stamina. This series should go 6 and could go 7, and Houston’s starters will have to log huge minutes which could be costly in the end.
Los Angeles Lakers (1) vs. Utah (8)
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Key to series: Pace. The Lakers can’t lose if this becomes a showtime series. Utah would prefer to play on mud.
The NFL has announced its 17-week, 256-game regular-season schedule for 2009 and it will kick off on Thursday, September 10 when the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers host the Tennessee Titans.
Kickoff weekend also features 14 Sunday games, highlighted by the prime-time matchup featuring the Chicago Bears against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau. Sunday’s action also includes the NFC champion Arizona Cardinals hosting NFC West rivals the San Francisco 49ers.
After yesterday’s Eastern Conference preview, we switch gears to the NHL’s Western Conference, which boasted four teams with 100 or more points. Here’s a look at who NHL odds are favoring in the first round of the playoffs, plus below we pick the NHL winners!!
We had to wait for the final Sunday on the final day of the 2009 NHL season, but we now know all of the playoff matchups for both the Western Conference (Preview tomorrow) and the Eastern Conference. Below we pick the NHL winners! The NHL’s second season begins this week!
The MLB Picks baseball season rolls into it’s second full week of action and as is typically the case has started with a few surprises. In the American League East both of the front runners (Red Sox and Yankees) sit towards the bottom of the MLB Picks division with Baltimore and Toronto at the top.
Line Movement
The oddsmakers opened North Carolina as a 7-point favorite on Saturday night after the semi-final games were complete and the early money has since pushed the line to -7½. The Over/Under line opened at 153 total points and was quickly bet down to 152, before settling at 152½ when the majority of sportsbooks posted a line on Sunday.
2009 NCAA Tournament Final Four Action
Saturday April 4, 8:47 PM ET
Detroit, MI Ford Field
Villanova is 3-1 ATS in this year’s tournament. They are getting fantastic guard play out of Scottie Reynolds. In this matchup UNC will have the size advantage. Because of this, the perimeter shooting for Villanova must be on.
2009 NCAA Tournament Final Four Action
Saturday April 4, 6:07 PM ET
Detroit, MI Ford Field
Michigan State has won ATS in all 4 tournament games this year. They have played great defense allowing only 61.3 points per contest. However, they haven’t shot over 50% from the field in any of their 4 games.
While Basketball Bettors will be going ga-ga over the grand finale of March Madness this weekend, Baseball Bettors will be focusing their attention on the opening day of the MLB season.
But before the World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies host the Atlanta Braves to open the 2009 Major League Baseball season Sunday night (8 pm ET, ESPN2), bettors can lock in their pre-season picks for World Series champion and League Championships at betED.com.
Some playoff teams are still jockeying for position (a.k.a. how can we avoid the Cavaliers or Lakers in the first round?), but for the most part during the final week or so the members of the Association will partake in a macro version of garbagetime.
Baseball fans in Kansas City and Pittsburgh know what we’re talking about here.
Three important Kentucky Derby preps at tracks across the country on Saturday will decide the fate of many 3-year-olds hoping to make the 135th Run for the Roses.
It’s strictly a money situation. For example, Imperial Council must upset probable odds-on favorite I Want Revenge in the $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct to guarantee a trip to Louisville.
Odds to Win MLB’s American League West
The AL West has been dominated by the Los Angeles Angels the last several seasons, winning their division four out of the last five years and in 2008 by a whopping 21 games. I do not see things being that easy for them in 2009 as the rest of the teams in the West have worked hard this past off season to try and close the gap.
The AL Central should be the most wide open race in baseball as three maybe four teams have a legitimate shot to win this division. It will all come down to who has the best pitching late in the summer when there are those “must win” games on the line. Most likely there will be little margin for error, so every win becomes that more important.
The American League’s Eastern Division was extremely competitive last season with Tampa Bay shocking everyone by edging out Boston for the division crown. The Red Sox captured the Wild Card and four out of five teams finished with winning records. With some major off season acquisitions and some juggling of the line ups, 2009 is shaping up to be even more competitive and should be a thrilling race to the finish.
