jeff benton
1-2 for the week 40 dime winner...40 dime AND 25 dime loser
Jeff Benton
Jeff Benton Wednesday's Action
30 Dime college basketball selecaion on New Mexico plus the points at BYU. As of 12:45 p.m. Eastern time, the Lobos are a conseensus 11-point underdog both here in Vegas and offshore. However, there is one outlet in Vegas that has the pointspread that was as high as 12½ earlier this morning, so make sure you shop around and get the best of the number.
There’s no question this has been a disappointing season for New Mexico, which is just 18-11 overall and 6-8 in the Mountain West Conference, just one year removed from a 30-win season and a Mountain West regular-season championship that earned the school a No. 3 seed in the Big Dance.
However, New Mexico’s fifth-place standing in the Mountain West is very deceaving if you review the Lobos’ schedule. To wit, here’s a look at the team’s eight conference defeats: there’s a pair of 10-point losses to San Diego State (at home) and Utah (on the road), plus a one-point loss at Wyoming, a one-point loss at UNLV, a six-point loss at Colorado State, a six-point loss at San Diego State, a two-point, buzzer-beating home loss to Utah and a three-point overtime home loss to UNLV.
That’s right: The Lobos haven’t lost a Mountain West game by more than 10 points all year, and if you take away the two 10-point losses to San Diego State and Utah, New Mexico’s other six league losses were by a total of 19 points. Throw in a three-point overtime loss at Dayton and a six-point loss at Northern Iowa back in non-confereence play, and 10 of New Mexico’s 11 losses this season have been by 10 points or less (the only team to blow out the Lobos was Cal, which rolled 89-64 at home back on Nov. 20, the third game of the season).
And yet here are the Lobos catching 11 to 12 points tonight against BYU, a team that A) has just two losses this season, but one of them was to New Mexico (86-77 in Albuquerque); B) is in a major flat spot, coming off Saturday’s 80-67 win at San Diego State (the last time they beat San Diego State – also by 13 points – they followed it up with the nine-point loss at New Mexico) and C) is 24 hours removed from the crushing news that starting forward Brandon Davies (11.1 points, team-high 6.2 rebounds per game) has been suspended for the rest of the season for violating the school’s Honor Code.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Hey Jeff, two words for you: Jimmer Fredette.” True, Fredette is a freaking stud. However, if you watched BYU’s senshtional win over San Diego State on Saturday, you know the Cougars are much more than just Jimmer. And the loss of Davies is a major, major blow. Besides, as great as Jimmer is, BYU has lost three straight and four of five to New Mexico (both SU and ATS).
So to recap:
BYU is coming off its biggest win of the season (and the last time that was the case, the Cougars lost by nine points at New Mexico; also, the Cougars are just 2-11 ATS in their last 13 games following a spread-cover).
BYU has lost three in a row and four of five to New Mexico.
BYU just lost its third-leading scorer and leading rebounder to a season-ending suspension.
New Mexico has played 26 games without losing by more than 10 points.
And New Mexico is, at minimum, an 11-point underdog in this game (and the Lobos are 4-0 ATS in their last four when catching between 7 and 12½ points).
One final point: The Lobos are tied with Utah for fifth place in the Mountain West standings, and because Utah beat New Mexico twice, the Lobos have to win their final two games and hope Utah loses once to get the No. 5 seed in the upcoming conference tournament and avoid UNLV (which hosts the tournament on its home floor) in the first round. In other words, this is a HUGE game for New Mexico.
Will the Lobos win it? I’m not willing to make that prediction (after all, BYU is 15-0 at home). But New Mexico has proven to be a very tough matchup for the Cougars, and I don’t see why that won’t be the case today (especially since BYU will be without one of its starters). Grab the points and watch the Lobos stay within this inflated pointspread wire to wire!
1-2 for the week 40 dime winner...40 dime AND 25 dime loser
Jeff Benton
Jeff Benton Wednesday's Action
30 Dime college basketball selecaion on New Mexico plus the points at BYU. As of 12:45 p.m. Eastern time, the Lobos are a conseensus 11-point underdog both here in Vegas and offshore. However, there is one outlet in Vegas that has the pointspread that was as high as 12½ earlier this morning, so make sure you shop around and get the best of the number.
ANALYSIS
There’s no question this has been a disappointing season for New Mexico, which is just 18-11 overall and 6-8 in the Mountain West Conference, just one year removed from a 30-win season and a Mountain West regular-season championship that earned the school a No. 3 seed in the Big Dance.
However, New Mexico’s fifth-place standing in the Mountain West is very deceaving if you review the Lobos’ schedule. To wit, here’s a look at the team’s eight conference defeats: there’s a pair of 10-point losses to San Diego State (at home) and Utah (on the road), plus a one-point loss at Wyoming, a one-point loss at UNLV, a six-point loss at Colorado State, a six-point loss at San Diego State, a two-point, buzzer-beating home loss to Utah and a three-point overtime home loss to UNLV.
That’s right: The Lobos haven’t lost a Mountain West game by more than 10 points all year, and if you take away the two 10-point losses to San Diego State and Utah, New Mexico’s other six league losses were by a total of 19 points. Throw in a three-point overtime loss at Dayton and a six-point loss at Northern Iowa back in non-confereence play, and 10 of New Mexico’s 11 losses this season have been by 10 points or less (the only team to blow out the Lobos was Cal, which rolled 89-64 at home back on Nov. 20, the third game of the season).
And yet here are the Lobos catching 11 to 12 points tonight against BYU, a team that A) has just two losses this season, but one of them was to New Mexico (86-77 in Albuquerque); B) is in a major flat spot, coming off Saturday’s 80-67 win at San Diego State (the last time they beat San Diego State – also by 13 points – they followed it up with the nine-point loss at New Mexico) and C) is 24 hours removed from the crushing news that starting forward Brandon Davies (11.1 points, team-high 6.2 rebounds per game) has been suspended for the rest of the season for violating the school’s Honor Code.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Hey Jeff, two words for you: Jimmer Fredette.” True, Fredette is a freaking stud. However, if you watched BYU’s senshtional win over San Diego State on Saturday, you know the Cougars are much more than just Jimmer. And the loss of Davies is a major, major blow. Besides, as great as Jimmer is, BYU has lost three straight and four of five to New Mexico (both SU and ATS).
So to recap:
BYU is coming off its biggest win of the season (and the last time that was the case, the Cougars lost by nine points at New Mexico; also, the Cougars are just 2-11 ATS in their last 13 games following a spread-cover).
BYU has lost three in a row and four of five to New Mexico.
BYU just lost its third-leading scorer and leading rebounder to a season-ending suspension.
New Mexico has played 26 games without losing by more than 10 points.
And New Mexico is, at minimum, an 11-point underdog in this game (and the Lobos are 4-0 ATS in their last four when catching between 7 and 12½ points).
One final point: The Lobos are tied with Utah for fifth place in the Mountain West standings, and because Utah beat New Mexico twice, the Lobos have to win their final two games and hope Utah loses once to get the No. 5 seed in the upcoming conference tournament and avoid UNLV (which hosts the tournament on its home floor) in the first round. In other words, this is a HUGE game for New Mexico.
Will the Lobos win it? I’m not willing to make that prediction (after all, BYU is 15-0 at home). But New Mexico has proven to be a very tough matchup for the Cougars, and I don’t see why that won’t be the case today (especially since BYU will be without one of its starters). Grab the points and watch the Lobos stay within this inflated pointspread wire to wire!
