Final Plays of the Decade

We had a modest gain Wednesday as all of our teams won, but only 2 of 3 covered and only 1 of 2 total bets covered. Still, that makes it three positive days in a row. We go for four in a row with 20 Units in play. Here are the Streaky Silverback's final plays of the decade. Happy New Year!

Ohio State at Wisconsin (-6) O/U 129
The Buckeyes are still without Big Ten player of the year candidate Evan Turner, and travel to Madison to start conference play in a hostile environment.
The Badgers have already knocked off Duke at home this season and are 128-10 at home under Bo Ryan.
Defense will be featured in this early season Big Ten battle, as both teams rank in the top 50 in Ken Pomeroy’s defensive efficiency and also rank near the bottom of Division I in adjusted pace.
Both teams will look to be patient in their offenses and draw fouls on the opponent. As for as the spread goes, look for Jon Leuer and Trevon Hughes to take over in the second half and give the Badgers a solid start to the conference season.
Take Bucky for 3 Units and the under for 4 Units.

Tennessee at Memphis (-1)
The Volunteers are a hard team to figure out so far this season. They are ranked No. 14, but their best win is a home victory over DePaul. They also played Purdue close, but got run off of the court by USC a couple of weeks ago.
The Tigers meanwhile have played scrappy, disciplined defense, holding opponents to 58 points per game. Couple that with Tennessee’s shooting woes of late, and their inexplicable affinity for the three-point shot on a team with limited three-point shooting options and Memphis should come up with the upset here.
Elliot Williams is a great scorer and distributor and should match up well against Tyler Smith. Take Memphis for 3 Units.

Arizona St. at UCLA O/U 125
Both of these teams play tight man-to-man defense, and are still searching for consistent scoring after the departure of their talented scorers from last season.
The only chance the Bruins have of righting their season is by buying into Ben Howland’s defensive philosophy. If UCLA can limit the Sun Devils’ outside shooting, this one will be played in the 50s.
Take the under for 2 Units.

Oregon at Washington St. (-7)
The Cougars have not missed a beat under new coach Ken Bone, who seems to have opened up the offense a little bit and allowed Klay Thompson to showcase his full talents.
Oregon is 0-2 on the road this season, including a 106-69 drubbing at Missouri, and Pullman is no easy place to play.
The lack of experience and lack of a go-to scorer will hurt the Ducks, and Wazzou should win this one running away. Take WSU for 3 Units.

Arizona at USC (-8.5)
In Arizona’s last outing, it was embarrassed by BYU in the McKale Center. That is not a surprising result with a young Wildcats team.
The Trojans, meanwhile, have been much improved since the addition of Mike Gerrity at point guard. But Arizona point guard Nic Wise has a knack for disrupting opposing guards, and look for his defense to help keep Arizona in this road game.
USC is playing well, but this line is a little inflated based upon recent results. Take Arizona for 3 Units.

Oklahoma at Gonzaga (-8.5)
Neither team is playing up to its capabilities at this point. Gonzaga lost to Duke badly and Oklahoma lost to UTEP at home in the last couple of weeks.
Sooners stud Willie Warren has expressed frustration with the offense, and deservedly so with such a talented team.
OU began the season in the top 25, but has looked nowhere near that this season. Still, this is a team that includes Warren, Tony Crocker, Tiny Gallon and Tommy Mason-Griffin, and if they can put it together on defense, should be able to compete with the balanced Zags.
Nonetheless, I still need to see it to believe it, so only put 2 Units on the Sooners.