Daily Three 1/31

  Hello,

    It is the last day of the month, and we are flying into February. A 3-0 night yesterday got us over 100 units, and we will look to build on that tonight. The NHL is back from its all-star break, so we will jump into some action there, as well as an NBA game and a college basketball game.

 NCAAB
Ohio Bobcats -1.5 at Western Michigan Broncos

 To be completely honest, I do not know much about either of these programs. I do remember the great D.J. Cooper, and how he helped send the #13 seed Bobcats to the Sweet Sixteen a few years ago. They pulled off a huge upset of #4 seed Michigan and then a minor upset over #12 South Florida. Outside of this, I am not that up to date. This pick is strictly a Kenpom and recent activity pick. Ohio is currently ranked at #101 in the Kenpom, while the Broncos are all the way down at #223. Also, the Bobcats defeated the Broncos earlier this season by a score of 89-58. The spread being so low does scare me a little bit, but I cannot ignore the Kenpom or their earlier meeting. Go with the Bobcats tonight in Kalamazoo.

NHL
Winnipeg Jets at St. Louis Blues Over 5.5 goals

 I don't usually mess with over/unders in hockey, especially if the total isn't set at five goals. This game matches up a team that has been a sieve no matter who has been manning the cage against a goalie that has been sieve for the past month now. In Winnipeg's last nine game, there have been over five and a half goals seven times, and the two games it hit the under were against the Ducks and Kings, who have been playing grinding, low-scoring games all seasons. The Jets have tried to fix their defensive issues by calling up goalie, Ondrej Pavelec, but he has not been much help as the recent results have shown. The Blues are going to send out Jake Allen, who has been the worst goalie in the league this month. He has lost four straight, including getting pulled in his last three games, and during that span has a 6.05 GAA and .797 save percentage. I really don't think I ever seen worse numbers from an NHL goalie over any span of games in my life. The struggle got so real, the Blues literally sent him away from the team, so he could get his straight. Maybe the all-star break helped him, but I'm guessing it is going to take a while to clear the mental hurdle in front of him. Also adding to the over side, the two teams played about a week ago and combined for eight goals. I am really liking the over in St. Louis tonight.

NBA
Charlotte Hornets at Portland Trail Blazers -3.5

It has been a while, but bang bang. Bang bang. Bang bang. We got ourselves a late night hammer. Tonight, we head to Portland where we discuss probably one of the more obvious nicknames, the Trail Blazers. When the team entered the NBA, they held a fan contest to decide the name of the franchise. The most popular name in the contest turned out to be the Pioneers. However, a local college already had sealed up the name (not surprisingly, it was Lewis & Clark University), and the NBA franchise was forced to look for another name. After being spurned by the Pioneers, the team held a drawing between other names that were voted and got the Trail Blazers, which received 172 votes. According to executive VP at the time, Harry Glickman, the name helped "reflect both the ruggedness of the Pacific Northwest and the start of a major league era in our state" (Thank you old Blazers website). It was also the first time that the Blazers had been used by a professional sports team. Honestly, the name is tremendous as it does perfectly describe what the average person thinks about when they hear or see Oregon (Oregon Trail, hiking, forests). Also, it does perfectly describe how this sports franchise was ahead of its time in the Pacific Northwest and opened the door for other professional sports teams to locate in the Washington/Oregon area. So, props to the great people of Oregon, who were able to perfectly demonstrate pride in their state. In the game tonight, the Hornets have really struggled, losing four straight. The Blazers have been playing good ball recently, winning three of four, with the one loss coming by a couple points to the Warriors. Add to the Hornets struggles that they are flying cross-country to play this game, and I just think Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum will be too much for this downtrodden Hornets squad. Let's blaze the trail for a successful January and get a win in our last game of the month.

Yesterday: 3-0
Overall: 42-29-4 (+118 units)