Basketball Predictions - 28 Dec

Upset picks are in italics.

NBA

LA Lakers at Charlotte - Hornets by 15
Atlanta at Indiana - Pacers by 4
New Orleans at Orlando - Magic by 6
LA Clippers at Washington - Clippers by 1
Brooklyn at Miami - Heat by 10
Toronto at Chicago - Raptors by 1
Milwaukee at Dallas - Mavericks by 8
Minnesota at San Antonio - Spurs by 17
Philadelphia at Utah - Jazz by 15
Cleveland at Phoenix - Cavaliers by 4
Sacramento at Golden State - Warriors by 16

College Basketball

UC Riverside at Morgan State - Highlanders by 5
Nicholls State at Houston - Cougars by 21
Kean at Boston U - Terriers by 30
Monmouth at Army - Hawks by 1
UNC Greensboro at (7) North Carolina - Tar Heels by 31
Bethune-Cookman at Brown - Bears by 8
Middle Georgia State at Gardner Webb - Bulldogs by 32
IUPUI at (9) Butler - Bulldogs by 34
Stony Brook at NJIT - Seawolves by 5
Sacred Heart at Hofstra - Pride by 17
Drexel at Iona - Gaels by 17
Chicago State at Oakland - Golden Grizzlies by 27
UMass Lowell at Rutgers - Scarlet Knights by 3
Penn at (17) Villanova - Wildcats by 38
Methodist at High Point - Panthers by 37
Cairn at Longwood - Lancers by 20
Rio Grande at Winthrop - Eagles by 27
Detroit at Eastern Michigan - Eagles by 8
Cornell at Saint Peter's - Peacocks by 9
Green Bay at Morehead State - Eagles by 8
Howard at Columbia - Lions by 13
Prairie View A&M at Louisiana Tech - Bulldogs by 29
Elon at (15) Duke - Blue Devils by 22
New Mexico State at Wichita State - Shockers by 11
Delaware State at TCU - Horned Frogs by 28
Campbell at UNC Wilmington - Seahawks by 15
Florida Gulf Coast at South Dakota - Coyotes by 1
Valparaiso at Belmont - Crusaders by 1
Brescia at Western Kentucky - Hilltoppers by 33
Texas A&M-CC at Austin Peay - Governors by 3
Hannibal-LaGrange at Eastern Illinois - Panthers by 22
Grand Canyon at SIU Edwardsville - Antelopes by 1
Coppin State at Creighton - Bluejays by 29
Davidson at California - Golden Bears by 11
Multnomah at Weber State - Wildcats by 36
College of Idaho at (24) Utah - Utes by 42
CSU Bakersfield at Arizona State - Sun Devils by 15
UC Davis at Seattle - Redhawks by 6
Utah Valley at Saint Mary's - Gaels by 30
Pacific Union at Sacramento State - Hornets by 35
UC Santa Barbara at Washington - Huskies by 14

Pick of the Day

Saint Mary's

The Gaels are starting off strong again, with a 10-1 record, losing only at Cal by 4 earlier this month. They've got Utah Valley coming to town late in the evening, and I don't see the Wolverines giving them any trouble.

Prediction Results

NBA: 3-1 (.750) 289-168 overall (.632)
College Basketball: 11-1 (.917) 1775-468 overall (.791)
Upsets: 0-1 (.000) 29-52 overall (.358)
Pick of the Day: 42-1 (.977)

Basketball Predictions - 27 Dec

Upset picks are in italics.

NBA

LA Lakers at Memphis - Grizzlies by 10
New York at Boston - Celtics by 10
Denver at Oklahoma City - Thunder by 14
Portland at Sacramento - Kings by 1

College Basketball

Fairfield at Bucknell - Bison by 6
Presbyterian at Marquette - Golden Eagles by 24
Texas Southern at Syracuse - Orange by 18
Central Penn at Radford - Highlanders by 30
Harris Stowe at SE Missouri State - Redhawks by 19
Pacific Union at Fresno State - Bulldogs by 31
Marshall at (4) Maryland - Terrapins by 21
Liberty at VCU - Rams by 27
Middle Tennessee at South Dakota State - Jackrabbits by 10
South Carolina State at Ohio State - Buckeyes by 22
Loyola (MD) at Northwestern - Wildcats by 25
Carroll at Stanford - Cardinal by 39

Pick of the Day

There was only one game yesterday, and I had already picked both of the participants earlier in the season, so today I am picking 2 teams to make up for it.

VCU

Marquette

VCU is hosting Liberty tonight, and the Rams are looking to get back on track after ending a 3-game losing streak earlier in the week, and the Flames are just the team to do it against. Marquette has won 8 straight and is hosting Presbyterian in a few hours, and the Blue Hose are really not a team that will frighten the Golden Eagles.

Prediction Results

NBA: 9-4 (.692) 286-167 overall (.631)
Upsets: 0-1 (.000) 29-51 overall (.363)
College Basketball: 0-1 (.000) 1764-467 overall (.791)
Upsets: 0-1 (.000) 126-134 overall (.485)

NBA Rankings - 26 Dec

For 24 hours this week, the San Antonio Spurs actually took over the #1 spot from the Golden State Warriors, but they promptly lost to Houston on Christmas to fall back into line at #2. Currently, the Warriors are on pace to finish tied for the best record in league history, and the 76ers are on pace to tie the worst record of all time, so it will be interesting to see whether either record is broken this year, since both have a good chance of falling. Here are this week's full rankings:

				Rec		Proj
TW	LW	Team	Rating	W	L	W	L	PO Seed
1	1	Golden State	-12.05	28	1	72	10	W1
2	2	San Antonio	-11.62	25	6	67	15	W2
3	3	Oklahoma City	-7.194	20	10	58	24	W3
4	5	Cleveland	-4.842	19	8	56	26	E1
5	6	Boston	-4.801	16	13	52	30	E2
6	4	Indiana	-3.779	16	12	50	32	E4
7	8	Toronto	-3.145	18	12	51	31	E3
8	7	Charlotte	-2.648	15	13	48	34	E5
9	15	Atlanta	-1.691	19	12	47	35	E6
10	12	Orlando	-1.425	17	12	45	37	E8
11	14	Utah	-1.329	12	15	44	38	W5
12	11	LA Clippers	-1.274	17	13	45	37	W4
13	9	Chicago	-1.076	16	11	46	36	E7
14	13	Detroit	-1.075	17	13	45	37
15	10	Miami	-0.903	17	11	44	38
16	18	Dallas	0.5195	16	13	41	41	W6
17	19	Sacramento	1.6727	12	17	36	46	W8
18	20	New York	1.8432	14	16	36	46
19	16	Portland	1.9101	11	20	33	49
20	17	Phoenix	1.9314	12	19	34	48
21	23	Washington	2.1396	13	14	37	45
22	25	Houston	2.3324	16	15	36	46
23	22	Memphis	2.8254	16	15	38	44	W7
24	21	Minnesota	3.023	11	18	32	50
25	24	New Orleans	3.1121	9	20	32	50
26	26	Denver	4.421	12	17	30	52
27	28	Milwaukee	5.1795	12	18	28	54
28	27	Brooklyn	5.7017	8	21	24	58
29	29	LA Lakers	10.396	5	25	15	67
30	30	Philadelphia	12.086	1	30	9	73

Playoff Picks

First Round

(1) Cavaliers over (8) Magic
(2) Celtics over (7) Bulls
(6) Hawks over (3) Raptors
(5) Hornets over (4) Pacers
(1) Warriors over (8) Kings
(2) Spurs over (7) Grizzlies
(3) Thunder over (6) Mavericks
(5) Jazz over (4) Clippers

Second Round

(5) Hornets over (1) Cavaliers
(2) Celtics over (6) Hawks
(1) Warriors over (5) Jazz
(2) Spurs over (3) Thunder

Conference Finals

(5) Hornets over (2) Celtics
(2) Spurs over (1) Warriors

NBA Finals

(2) Spurs over (5) Hornets

Predictions - 26 Dec

Upset picks are in italics.

NBA

Washington at Brooklyn - Wizards by 1
Toronto at Milwaukee - Raptors by 6
Memphis at Charlotte - Hornets by 8
Miami at Orlando - Magic by 3
Houston at New Orleans - Hornets by 1
New York at Atlanta - Hawks by 6
Boston at Detroit - Celtics by 1
Indiana at Minnesota - Pacers by 5
Chicago at Dallas - Mavericks by 1
Denver at San Antonio - Spurs by 18
LA Clippers at Utah - Jazz by 2
Philadelphia at Phoenix - Suns by 12
Cleveland at Portland - Cavaliers by 5

College Basketball

(16) Louisville at (12) Kentucky - Cardinals by 7

Prediction Results

NBA: 3-2 (.600) 277-163 overall (.630)
College Basketball: 3-1 (.750) 1764-466 overall (.791)
Pick of the Day: 41-1 (.976)

Basketball Predictions - 25 Dec

Upset picks are in italics.

NBA

New Orleans at Miami - Heat by 6
Chicago at Oklahoma City - Thunder by 10
Cleveland at Golden State - Warriors by 10
San Antonio at Houston - Spurs by 13
LA Clippers at LA Lakers - Clippers by 9

College Basketball

New Mexico vs. Washington State - Lobos by 7
BYU vs. Northern Iowa - Cougars by 3
Auburn at Hawaii - Warriors by 2
Harvard vs. (3) Oklahoma - Sooners by 16

Pick of the Day

Oklahoma

The undefeated #3 Sooners are taking on Harvard in the championship game of the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu on Christmas evening, and as the only team expected to win by a decent margin tomorrow, I have to take them as my pick.

Prediction Results

NBA: 10-3 (.769) 274-161 overall (.630)
Upsets: 0-1 (.000) 29-50 overall (.367)
College Basketball: 31-7 (.816) 1761-465 overall (.791)
Upsets: 4-0 (1.000) 126-133 overall (.486)
Pick of the Day: 40-1 (.976)

NFL Predictions - 24 Dec thru 28 Dec

Upset picks are in italics.

Thursday

San Diego at Oakland - Raiders by 5

Saturday

Washington at Philadelphia - Eagles by 1

Sunday

New England at NY Jets - Patriots by 5
Houston at Tennessee - Texans by 4
Cleveland at Kansas City - Chiefs by 20
Indianapolis at Miami - Dolphins by 3
San Francisco at Detroit - Lions by 7
Dallas at Buffalo - Bills by 7
Chicago at Tampa Bay - Bears by 3
Carolina at Atlanta - Panthers by 11
Pittsburgh at Baltimore - Steelers by 11
Jacksonville at New Orleans - Saints by 1
Green Bay at Arizona - Cardinals by 9
St. Louis at Seattle - Seahawks by 15
NY Giants at Minnesota - Vikings by 7

Monday

Cincinnati at Denver - Bengals by 3

Prediction Results

NFL: 14-2 (.875) 137-87 overall (.612)
Upsets: 1-0 (1.000) 12-15 overall (.444)

NFL Rankings - 23 Dec

The Arizona Cardinals strengthened their hold on the top spot in this week's rankings after they set a new franchise record with their 12th win of the season when they beat the Eagles on the road Sunday night. The Cardinals have already clinched their division, but that doesn't mean they aren't worried about the red-hot Seahawks, who are coming up fast behind them in their quest for a third straight trip to the Super Bowl. Here are this week's full rankings:

				Rec		ProjRec		SOS
TW	LW	Team	Rating	W	L	W	L	Curr	Over	Seed
1	1	Arizona	-13.37	12	2	13	3	16	16	N2
2	2	Cincinnati	-11.81	11	3	12	4	14	14	A2
3	3	Seattle	-11.58	9	5	10	6	13	10	N5
4	6	Kansas City	-11.26	9	5	11	5	7	15	A3
5	7	Pittsburgh	-10.15	9	5	11	5	4	13	A5
6	4	Carolina	-9.988	14	0	16	0	29	32	N1
7	5	New England	-9.592	12	2	13	3	25	26	A1
8	8	Green Bay	-7.404	10	4	11	5	15	7	N3
9	9	Denver	-6.097	10	4	11	5	8	11	A6
10	11	Minnesota	-4.275	9	5	10	6	11	12	N6
11	10	NY Jets	-1.964	9	5	10	6	32	28
12	12	Buffalo	-0.619	6	8	7	9	18	18
13	13	Oakland	-0.12	6	8	7	9	10	9
14	15	NY Giants	0.2903	6	8	7	9	26	25
15	17	Detroit	0.3787	5	9	6	10	2	6
16	14	Chicago	0.5663	5	9	6	10	3	5
17	16	St. Louis	0.7111	6	8	7	9	6	3
18	20	Washington	1.9399	7	7	8	8	24	22	N4
19	18	Houston	2.1333	7	7	8	8	21	23	A4
20	23	San Diego	2.4142	4	10	5	11	9	8
21	21	Baltimore	3.1613	4	10	4	12	12	4
22	19	Philadelphia	3.216	6	8	7	9	19	19
23	25	Atlanta	3.8512	7	7	8	8	28	30
24	24	Dallas	3.9706	4	10	5	11	17	17
25	22	Jacksonville	4.6864	5	9	6	10	30	31
26	28	San Francisco	4.8537	4	10	5	11	1	1
27	27	Tampa Bay	5.8551	6	8	7	9	31	27
28	31	Cleveland	6.4787	3	11	3	13	5	2
29	29	Indianapolis	6.6435	6	8	7	9	20	21
30	30	New Orleans	6.6883	5	9	6	10	22	24
31	26	Miami	6.7231	5	9	6	10	23	20
32	32	Tennessee	8.3956	3	11	4	12	27	29

Playoff Picks

Wild Card

(3) Chiefs over (6) Broncos
(5) Steelers over (4) Texans
(3) Packers over (6) Vikings
(5) Seahawks over (4) Redskins

Divisional Round

(5) Steelers over (1) Patriots
(3) Chiefs over (2) Bengals
(5) Seahawks over (1) Panthers
(2) Cardinals over (3) Packers

Conference Championships

(5) Steelers over (3) Chiefs
(5) Seahawks over (2) Cardinals

Super Bowl

(5) Seahawks over (5) Steelers