Mike Bets #115

Today’s a busy one, so let’s pump out some picks and call it a day. Nuggets-Celtics and Nets-Suns should both be very interesting tonight. Boston is just 3-7 in their last ten, and they would drop below .500 with a loss. The Nuggets are coming off of a 3-1 homestead. Phoenix, meanwhile, has won nine of ten, and they’ll be hosting a Nets team that has won three straight. Brooklyn and Milwaukee, who plays Toronto tonight, are tied for the East’s 2 seed. Both would pull within a game of the Sixers with a win. In college, we have a key bubble game when Florida travels to Arkansas. Both teams are far from must-win mode, but they could still use some wins down the stretch. Missouri, a clear tourney team, will look to bounce back from a two-loss week when they face Georgia, a 12-8 team with nothing that even remotely resembles a signature win. Providence and UConn are in much more dire situations, and both could really use the win tonight when they battle in UConn’s building. Then there’s Michigan State and Dayton. MSU needs to go into West Lafayette and beat a strong Purdue team, or they’ll be 10-9 (4-9) on the season. That’s a very large hole to climb out of with three weeks left. Dayton can move to 12-6 (8-5) today, but they’ll need to beat Rhode Island to make it happen. That’s easier said than done, even though URI has fallen short of potential tournament expectations. Xavier v. St Johns is another bubble game to watch, while both Toledo (11-3 in MAC but two straight losses) and Akron (10-3) will look to pick up wins and keep themselves in the middle of the title race.

Today’s picks –

$11 for spread, $10 for ML

• Akron (-16) v. Northern Illinois

• Oklahoma State v. Iowa State (+11)

• UConn v. Providence (+5.5)

• Missouri (-3) v. Georgia

• Rhode Island v. Dayton (+140)

• Bowling Green (-1.5) v. Ball State

• Kent State (-9.5) v. Western Michigan

• Purdue (-5.5) v. Michigan State

• Arkansas v. Florida (+4.5)

• Tulsa v. Temple (+4)

• Toledo (-11) v. Miami OH

• Austin Peay (-6.5) v. SEMO

• Maryland v. Nebraska (+10)

• St Johns v. Xavier (+105)

• Illinois v. Northwestern (+12.5)

• NBA Picks:

Celtics v. Nuggets (+115)

Bucks (-6) v. Raptors

Suns v. Nets (+5.5)