craig davis
20 Dime --- TULSA
10 Dime --- DODGERS (With Padilla and Hamels as listed pitchers)
TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE (If your line is -7 1/2 or -7, be sure to buy the half-point down. If it goes up to -8, obviously you do nothing) ---- Top play of the day on the Tulsa Golden Hurricane to win and cover at El Paso rather easily. Let's call a spade a spade... this UTEP team is rebuilding and, quite simply, isn't very good. Many UTEP backers will point to the Houston win as the biggest reason why El Paso can get the win tonight. Although I understand where they are coming from, I believe they are dead wrong. Look every once in a while it happens that a team with clearly inferior talent beats a team they shouldn't beat. Last week Purdue beat Ohio State as 14-point dogs... shouldn't happen and probably wouldn't happen again if they played 9 more times. A few weeks back Maryland beat Clemson as 12-point dogs... shouldn't happen and probably wouldn't happen again if they played 9 times. Washington beat USC, BYU beat Oklahoma... you get the point. Big time favorites occasionally look past inferior opponents and it comes back to haunt them. That's exactly what happened to Houston... and looking back... I can't really say I blame them for looking past UTEP.
The Cougars had just come off back-to-back wins over Big 12 powers Oklahoma State and Texas Tech and were looking ahead to the following week at SEC up-and-comer Mississippi State. So here sits little UTEP as a "bump in the road" in the middle of a very tough schedule. Before you know it, UTEP has racked up 58 points and over 300 yards rushing in a 17-point win. Believe me when I say Tulsa won't be looking past UTEP tonight. After last week's disheartening 28-21 loss to Boise State, Tulsa has regrouped this week and knows they must have a good showing against a team that is more than capable of "sneaking up on them" and pulling off the upset. Naysayers will point to the fact that Tulsa has NOT lived up to pre-season, offensive expectations and just aren't blowing teams out like they did last year. So what? They've had to replace half the offense from a year ago, so it's not like anyone close to the program actually expected them to score as many points per game as they did a year ago. The good news, though, is the fact the defense has actually outperformed expectations, allowing just 18 PPG and a little over 100 yards per game on the ground (just 83 YPG on the road). And let's be honest... the only way UTEP did any damage to Houston is because they were able to run the ball down the Cougars' throats. Not tonight. Tulsa has too much pride left and they are simply a better, all-around team. UTEP likely keeps it close in the first half, but Tulsa will make the necessary halftime adjustments to pull away in the second half. Aside from the win over Houston, UTEP's biggest win of the season was against lowly New Mexico State... and there are a few high school teams out there who could possibly run with New Mexico State. This one favors Tulsa tonight.
LA DODGERS (With Padilla and Hamels as listed pitchers) --- I'm well aware of the fact the Phillies have won 10 of their last 11 home playoff games and pretty much knocked the wind out of the Dodgers' sails with that improbable, 9th inning come-from-behind victory Monday night. And while the Dodgers might be "down" they're definitely not "out" as they send their hottest pitcher to the hill in Vicente Padilla. It's amazing to think this guy was imploding right in front of our eyes as a member of the Texas Rangers... but it's as if he found the fountain of youth in Los Angeles. Since coming to the Dodgers in late August, Padilla has an ERA of 2.52 and a perfect record of 5-0. Not only that, but the Dodgers are 8-1 in his 9 starts... meaning when he takes the hill, the Dodgers are fairly confident they'll win. Over his last three starts, Padilla is 2-0 with a 0.93 ERA and a 0.72 WHIP. He's pitching the best baseball of his long career right now and seems to get better with pressure... and it doesn't get much more pressure-filled than this.
On the other side we have Cole Hamels --- who's done a complete 180 since last season's post-season. In 2008, Hamels was absolute money, dominating his opponents en route to winning the NLCS MVP award. This year, he's lost complete control of his pitches and he lacks the confidence to get the job done. And this didn't start in the post-season either... he's been struggling for quite some time. Many experts thought Hamels would come around when the playoffs arrived, but it hasn't happened. His ERA this post-season is 7.20 and he has virtually the same exact linescore in both games. Why should I think it will change tonight? Hamels hasn't gone past the 5th inning in any of his last three starts and hasn't allowed fewer than 4 runs in a game since September 17th. The Dodgers got to him for four runs in their last meeting and I can't see any less than four tonight. The Dodgers, who are fighting for their playoff lives, will find a way to get it done on the road, bringing this series back to California.
20 Dime --- TULSA
10 Dime --- DODGERS (With Padilla and Hamels as listed pitchers)
TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE (If your line is -7 1/2 or -7, be sure to buy the half-point down. If it goes up to -8, obviously you do nothing) ---- Top play of the day on the Tulsa Golden Hurricane to win and cover at El Paso rather easily. Let's call a spade a spade... this UTEP team is rebuilding and, quite simply, isn't very good. Many UTEP backers will point to the Houston win as the biggest reason why El Paso can get the win tonight. Although I understand where they are coming from, I believe they are dead wrong. Look every once in a while it happens that a team with clearly inferior talent beats a team they shouldn't beat. Last week Purdue beat Ohio State as 14-point dogs... shouldn't happen and probably wouldn't happen again if they played 9 more times. A few weeks back Maryland beat Clemson as 12-point dogs... shouldn't happen and probably wouldn't happen again if they played 9 times. Washington beat USC, BYU beat Oklahoma... you get the point. Big time favorites occasionally look past inferior opponents and it comes back to haunt them. That's exactly what happened to Houston... and looking back... I can't really say I blame them for looking past UTEP.
The Cougars had just come off back-to-back wins over Big 12 powers Oklahoma State and Texas Tech and were looking ahead to the following week at SEC up-and-comer Mississippi State. So here sits little UTEP as a "bump in the road" in the middle of a very tough schedule. Before you know it, UTEP has racked up 58 points and over 300 yards rushing in a 17-point win. Believe me when I say Tulsa won't be looking past UTEP tonight. After last week's disheartening 28-21 loss to Boise State, Tulsa has regrouped this week and knows they must have a good showing against a team that is more than capable of "sneaking up on them" and pulling off the upset. Naysayers will point to the fact that Tulsa has NOT lived up to pre-season, offensive expectations and just aren't blowing teams out like they did last year. So what? They've had to replace half the offense from a year ago, so it's not like anyone close to the program actually expected them to score as many points per game as they did a year ago. The good news, though, is the fact the defense has actually outperformed expectations, allowing just 18 PPG and a little over 100 yards per game on the ground (just 83 YPG on the road). And let's be honest... the only way UTEP did any damage to Houston is because they were able to run the ball down the Cougars' throats. Not tonight. Tulsa has too much pride left and they are simply a better, all-around team. UTEP likely keeps it close in the first half, but Tulsa will make the necessary halftime adjustments to pull away in the second half. Aside from the win over Houston, UTEP's biggest win of the season was against lowly New Mexico State... and there are a few high school teams out there who could possibly run with New Mexico State. This one favors Tulsa tonight.
LA DODGERS (With Padilla and Hamels as listed pitchers) --- I'm well aware of the fact the Phillies have won 10 of their last 11 home playoff games and pretty much knocked the wind out of the Dodgers' sails with that improbable, 9th inning come-from-behind victory Monday night. And while the Dodgers might be "down" they're definitely not "out" as they send their hottest pitcher to the hill in Vicente Padilla. It's amazing to think this guy was imploding right in front of our eyes as a member of the Texas Rangers... but it's as if he found the fountain of youth in Los Angeles. Since coming to the Dodgers in late August, Padilla has an ERA of 2.52 and a perfect record of 5-0. Not only that, but the Dodgers are 8-1 in his 9 starts... meaning when he takes the hill, the Dodgers are fairly confident they'll win. Over his last three starts, Padilla is 2-0 with a 0.93 ERA and a 0.72 WHIP. He's pitching the best baseball of his long career right now and seems to get better with pressure... and it doesn't get much more pressure-filled than this.
On the other side we have Cole Hamels --- who's done a complete 180 since last season's post-season. In 2008, Hamels was absolute money, dominating his opponents en route to winning the NLCS MVP award. This year, he's lost complete control of his pitches and he lacks the confidence to get the job done. And this didn't start in the post-season either... he's been struggling for quite some time. Many experts thought Hamels would come around when the playoffs arrived, but it hasn't happened. His ERA this post-season is 7.20 and he has virtually the same exact linescore in both games. Why should I think it will change tonight? Hamels hasn't gone past the 5th inning in any of his last three starts and hasn't allowed fewer than 4 runs in a game since September 17th. The Dodgers got to him for four runs in their last meeting and I can't see any less than four tonight. The Dodgers, who are fighting for their playoff lives, will find a way to get it done on the road, bringing this series back to California.
Payne Sports
UTEP +8 for 8 units; Many may ask why you even look at UTEP and want to play them, but my friend I am hear to tell you there are not too many teams from CUSA that would be much better than 2-4 with their schedule. Houston, Kansas, and Texas are 3 ranked teams and would destroy about every team in CUSA and these Miners beat Houston not only beating them but destroyed them. Similar to Texas is OU who destroyed Tulsa. The defense for UTEP is suspect but only allowed an average of 380 total yards against Buffalo, NewMex St, and Memphis, so the number be more because of the other 3 opponents. I believe this will be a shoot out and Tulsa will score, but I believe UTEP will stay right with them. UTEP is coming a bye week which gives them more adequate time to prepare and I look for Vittatoe to get back to his normal self from last year where he eclipsed 3300 yards of offense with 33 tds and 9 ints. Their schedule is very favorable the rest of the way as this is their hardest game the rest of the season so if they can win this they should be favored in 4 of their last 5 games only one being a dog is at SMU. You will see a lot of Tulsa love and rightfully so, but if you watched the Boise game they had to run trick plays and long completions to get in the end zone as they really only had one sustained drive. UTEP has a taste in its mouth from last year where Tulsa ran the score up amounting 790 yards of total offense and most of the team from last year is back and that doesnt site right. The Sun Bowl will be hopping and loud as UTEP plays this game close as they establish the run, which will open up Vittatoe and you will see him have a big game tonight as UTEP stays within the number with a possible outright victory.
UTEP +8 for 8 units; Many may ask why you even look at UTEP and want to play them, but my friend I am hear to tell you there are not too many teams from CUSA that would be much better than 2-4 with their schedule. Houston, Kansas, and Texas are 3 ranked teams and would destroy about every team in CUSA and these Miners beat Houston not only beating them but destroyed them. Similar to Texas is OU who destroyed Tulsa. The defense for UTEP is suspect but only allowed an average of 380 total yards against Buffalo, NewMex St, and Memphis, so the number be more because of the other 3 opponents. I believe this will be a shoot out and Tulsa will score, but I believe UTEP will stay right with them. UTEP is coming a bye week which gives them more adequate time to prepare and I look for Vittatoe to get back to his normal self from last year where he eclipsed 3300 yards of offense with 33 tds and 9 ints. Their schedule is very favorable the rest of the way as this is their hardest game the rest of the season so if they can win this they should be favored in 4 of their last 5 games only one being a dog is at SMU. You will see a lot of Tulsa love and rightfully so, but if you watched the Boise game they had to run trick plays and long completions to get in the end zone as they really only had one sustained drive. UTEP has a taste in its mouth from last year where Tulsa ran the score up amounting 790 yards of total offense and most of the team from last year is back and that doesnt site right. The Sun Bowl will be hopping and loud as UTEP plays this game close as they establish the run, which will open up Vittatoe and you will see him have a big game tonight as UTEP stays within the number with a possible outright victory.
craig davis:
confirmed:
20 Dime --- TULSA
10 Dime --- DODGERS (With Padilla and Hamels as listed pitchers)
TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE (If your line is -7 1/2 or -7, be sure to buy the half-point down. If it goes up to -8, obviously you do nothing) ---- Top play of the day on the Tulsa Golden Hurricane to win and cover at El Paso rather easily. Let's call a spade a spade... this UTEP team is rebuilding and, quite simply, isn't very good. Many UTEP backers will point to the Houston win as the biggest reason why El Paso can get the win tonight. Although I understand where they are coming from, I believe they are dead wrong. Look every once in a while it happens that a team with clearly inferior talent beats a team they shouldn't beat. Last week Purdue beat Ohio State as 14-point dogs... shouldn't happen and probably wouldn't happen again if they played 9 more times. A few weeks back Maryland beat Clemson as 12-point dogs... shouldn't happen and probably wouldn't happen again if they played 9 times. Washington beat USC, BYU beat Oklahoma... you get the point. Big time favorites occasionally look past inferior opponents and it comes back to haunt them. That's exactly what happened to Houston... and looking back... I can't really say I blame them for looking past UTEP.
The Cougars had just come off back-to-back wins over Big 12 powers Oklahoma State and Texas Tech and were looking ahead to the following week at SEC up-and-comer Mississippi State. So here sits little UTEP as a "bump in the road" in the middle of a very tough schedule. Before you know it, UTEP has racked up 58 points and over 300 yards rushing in a 17-point win. Believe me when I say Tulsa won't be looking past UTEP tonight. After last week's disheartening 28-21 loss to Boise State, Tulsa has regrouped this week and knows they must have a good showing against a team that is more than capable of "sneaking up on them" and pulling off the upset. Naysayers will point to the fact that Tulsa has NOT lived up to pre-season, offensive expectations and just aren't blowing teams out like they did last year. So what? They've had to replace half the offense from a year ago, so it's not like anyone close to the program actually expected them to score as many points per game as they did a year ago. The good news, though, is the fact the defense has actually outperformed expectations, allowing just 18 PPG and a little over 100 yards per game on the ground (just 83 YPG on the road). And let's be honest... the only way UTEP did any damage to Houston is because they were able to run the ball down the Cougars' throats. Not tonight. Tulsa has too much pride left and they are simply a better, all-around team. UTEP likely keeps it close in the first half, but Tulsa will make the necessary halftime adjustments to pull away in the second half. Aside from the win over Houston, UTEP's biggest win of the season was against lowly New Mexico State... and there are a few high school teams out there who could possibly run with New Mexico State. This one favors Tulsa tonight.
LA DODGERS (With Padilla and Hamels as listed pitchers) --- I'm well aware of the fact the Phillies have won 10 of their last 11 home playoff games and pretty much knocked the wind out of the Dodgers' sails with that improbable, 9th inning come-from-behind victory Monday night. And while the Dodgers might be "down" they're definitely not "out" as they send their hottest pitcher to the hill in Vicente Padilla. It's amazing to think this guy was imploding right in front of our eyes as a member of the Texas Rangers... but it's as if he found the fountain of youth in Los Angeles. Since coming to the Dodgers in late August, Padilla has an ERA of 2.52 and a perfect record of 5-0. Not only that, but the Dodgers are 8-1 in his 9 starts... meaning when he takes the hill, the Dodgers are fairly confident they'll win. Over his last three starts, Padilla is 2-0 with a 0.93 ERA and a 0.72 WHIP. He's pitching the best baseball of his long career right now and seems to get better with pressure... and it doesn't get much more pressure-filled than this.
On the other side we have Cole Hamels --- who's done a complete 180 since last season's post-season. In 2008, Hamels was absolute money, dominating his opponents en route to winning the NLCS MVP award. This year, he's lost complete control of his pitches and he lacks the confidence to get the job done. And this didn't start in the post-season either... he's been struggling for quite some time. Many experts thought Hamels would come around when the playoffs arrived, but it hasn't happened. His ERA this post-season is 7.20 and he has virtually the same exact linescore in both games. Why should I think it will change tonight? Hamels hasn't gone past the 5th inning in any of his last three starts and hasn't allowed fewer than 4 runs in a game since September 17th. The Dodgers got to him for four runs in their last meeting and I can't see any less than four tonight. The Dodgers, who are fighting for their playoff lives, will find a way to get it done on the road, bringing this series back to California.
confirmed:
20 Dime --- TULSA
10 Dime --- DODGERS (With Padilla and Hamels as listed pitchers)
TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE (If your line is -7 1/2 or -7, be sure to buy the half-point down. If it goes up to -8, obviously you do nothing) ---- Top play of the day on the Tulsa Golden Hurricane to win and cover at El Paso rather easily. Let's call a spade a spade... this UTEP team is rebuilding and, quite simply, isn't very good. Many UTEP backers will point to the Houston win as the biggest reason why El Paso can get the win tonight. Although I understand where they are coming from, I believe they are dead wrong. Look every once in a while it happens that a team with clearly inferior talent beats a team they shouldn't beat. Last week Purdue beat Ohio State as 14-point dogs... shouldn't happen and probably wouldn't happen again if they played 9 more times. A few weeks back Maryland beat Clemson as 12-point dogs... shouldn't happen and probably wouldn't happen again if they played 9 times. Washington beat USC, BYU beat Oklahoma... you get the point. Big time favorites occasionally look past inferior opponents and it comes back to haunt them. That's exactly what happened to Houston... and looking back... I can't really say I blame them for looking past UTEP.
The Cougars had just come off back-to-back wins over Big 12 powers Oklahoma State and Texas Tech and were looking ahead to the following week at SEC up-and-comer Mississippi State. So here sits little UTEP as a "bump in the road" in the middle of a very tough schedule. Before you know it, UTEP has racked up 58 points and over 300 yards rushing in a 17-point win. Believe me when I say Tulsa won't be looking past UTEP tonight. After last week's disheartening 28-21 loss to Boise State, Tulsa has regrouped this week and knows they must have a good showing against a team that is more than capable of "sneaking up on them" and pulling off the upset. Naysayers will point to the fact that Tulsa has NOT lived up to pre-season, offensive expectations and just aren't blowing teams out like they did last year. So what? They've had to replace half the offense from a year ago, so it's not like anyone close to the program actually expected them to score as many points per game as they did a year ago. The good news, though, is the fact the defense has actually outperformed expectations, allowing just 18 PPG and a little over 100 yards per game on the ground (just 83 YPG on the road). And let's be honest... the only way UTEP did any damage to Houston is because they were able to run the ball down the Cougars' throats. Not tonight. Tulsa has too much pride left and they are simply a better, all-around team. UTEP likely keeps it close in the first half, but Tulsa will make the necessary halftime adjustments to pull away in the second half. Aside from the win over Houston, UTEP's biggest win of the season was against lowly New Mexico State... and there are a few high school teams out there who could possibly run with New Mexico State. This one favors Tulsa tonight.
LA DODGERS (With Padilla and Hamels as listed pitchers) --- I'm well aware of the fact the Phillies have won 10 of their last 11 home playoff games and pretty much knocked the wind out of the Dodgers' sails with that improbable, 9th inning come-from-behind victory Monday night. And while the Dodgers might be "down" they're definitely not "out" as they send their hottest pitcher to the hill in Vicente Padilla. It's amazing to think this guy was imploding right in front of our eyes as a member of the Texas Rangers... but it's as if he found the fountain of youth in Los Angeles. Since coming to the Dodgers in late August, Padilla has an ERA of 2.52 and a perfect record of 5-0. Not only that, but the Dodgers are 8-1 in his 9 starts... meaning when he takes the hill, the Dodgers are fairly confident they'll win. Over his last three starts, Padilla is 2-0 with a 0.93 ERA and a 0.72 WHIP. He's pitching the best baseball of his long career right now and seems to get better with pressure... and it doesn't get much more pressure-filled than this.
On the other side we have Cole Hamels --- who's done a complete 180 since last season's post-season. In 2008, Hamels was absolute money, dominating his opponents en route to winning the NLCS MVP award. This year, he's lost complete control of his pitches and he lacks the confidence to get the job done. And this didn't start in the post-season either... he's been struggling for quite some time. Many experts thought Hamels would come around when the playoffs arrived, but it hasn't happened. His ERA this post-season is 7.20 and he has virtually the same exact linescore in both games. Why should I think it will change tonight? Hamels hasn't gone past the 5th inning in any of his last three starts and hasn't allowed fewer than 4 runs in a game since September 17th. The Dodgers got to him for four runs in their last meeting and I can't see any less than four tonight. The Dodgers, who are fighting for their playoff lives, will find a way to get it done on the road, bringing this series back to California.
