Mr. East

The Nets got on the board with a win over the Knicks last night 107-105. The Pacers lost their first game in Milwaukee who was opening a new arena. There is a lot more proven talent on this Pacer team than Brooklyn, and off a loss I expect the Pacers come back big tonight. Brooklyn fits into a highly negative 8-45-2 ATS situation. Make the play on Indiana.

Scott Satterfield may be a name not readily recognized by most. he took over the Appalachian St. program the year before they joined the FBS and has quickly gotten traction having gone 34-10 in the last 3+ years. The Mountaineers are an elite team on any level, and their 4-1 record includes their opening game overtime loss at Penn St. Since that game they are 4-0 having out-scored those 4 opponents by 33ppg. A backdoor cover is not likely here as this is the 7th rated defense in the country, and they have not been scored upon in the 2nd half in those 4 wins. Offensively, this team is completely balanced and have the 11th ranked offense in the FBS. Lafayette has a good offense but against top defenses, they have really struggled. Last year the Mountaineers won 63-14. Special teams provide for another huge edge for App. St. as they have a kick return for a TD and a pair of punt returns for 62 and 59 yards, while they average 43.7 yards per punt. Mountaineers run out of the triple option at 6.49 yards per carry and have allowed just 6 sacks. UL Lafayette has a very poor defense and App St. should put up over 50 ere, and their defense allows just 288 yards a contest and 30.9% on 3rd down. They will have the advantage on every play on the field on both sides of the ball as well as special teams and their depth running the ball will keep points coming in the 4th quarter. A big number to take down for sure, but they are capable of easily beating it. Lafayette has averaged just 9.2ppg in the 4 meetings. Make the play on Appalachian St. 

The Tulsa Golden Hurricane and the Arkansas Razorbacks both enter this contest with just a single win. There are not many areas that either team shines in but what edges there is belong to Arkansas. Tulsa has been very strong against the pass and is very long and experienced. They have 5 DB's that average 6'2". Tulsa plays out of a 3-3-5 defense and that has made them vulnerable to the running game. Arkansas is very good at running the ball, and they will have success here. Arkansas does not pass well so the Tulsa strength is not as much of a factor here. Offensively, Tulsa is a running team and passes poorly. Seth Boomer completes an ugly 36.5% of his passes, and the weak part of the Arkansas defense is against the pass, and the Tulsa passing attack is just not strong enough to exploit it. Tulsa has run 310 times and attempted just 170 passes so there is little doubt what they will try to do here. Arkansas is above average vs the run so the Hogs have the advantage on both sides of the ball. Arkansas Coach Chad Morris made his entry in the FBS as OC of Tulsa so you know he wants this one badly. Arkansas is 35-0 SU at home in out-of-conference games vs a team that is not unbeaten and is 15-0 SU here since 1980 vs Tulsa. Both are coming off games where they blew 4th quarter leads, and Tulsa lost at home to S. Florida by a single point with a FG with; 22 seconds remaining. A team that is off a 1 point home dog loss and is now a road dog of more than 3.5 points, has a winning percentage of less than.333 and not facing a team greater than.750 is 3-28 ATS. Make the play on Arkansas.

The NCAAF playoffs look a bit clearer right now after 4 top teams bit the bullet last week. Things have a way of changing quickly however as we saw last week. Ohio St. has moved up to the #2 ranked team in the country, and this week they will head to W. Lafayette, Ind. to take on Purdue. Last year Purdue coach Brian Brohm too over a dead Purdue program that had 10 wins the previous 4 years, and immediately got them into a Bowl game against Arizona that they won. Brohm is an offensive genius and his teams have averaged 39.2ppg in his coaching career. he had returning QB Elijah Sindelar returning, and was hopeful things could get turned up a notch, but Sindelar struggled in 2 losses to start the season, where they averaged just 23ppg. David Blough who injured his leg last November and the offense took off. Blough has thrown 10 TD passes to 2 INT's, at 9.8 yards per attempt in his starts and the Boilermaker offense is averaging 38ppg, and is now a top 10 offense. Ohio St. is 7-0, and the line is over-compensating for their successful coach, and #2 ranking. The Buckeyes to this point of the season are not on the level defensively as all other Urban Meyer Ohio St. teams as they have been basically average. The running game is not as potent, but where they shine is in the air with Haskins at QB, but Purdue has been just as good with Blough. These teams are a lot closer than they look with Blough now at QB for Purdue, which displays hidden value. Urban Meyer coached teams are hard to bet against as they are 122-86-4 ATS. There is a weakness however as they are 5-18 ATS as a conference road favorite from -11.5 to -23, failing to cover by -6.28 points per game. Purdue is also in a momentum situation that is 100-45 ATS, one of my most predictive situations. Make the play on Purdue.