Posts Tagged ‘Pittsburgh Panthers’

August 31st, 2010 By Andrew "Mr. Multi-Task" Ryan - Cappersinfo Contributor
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Here at Cappers Info, we are taking a weekly look at the teams that could be ones ripe to pull off some major upsets! Check out the potentially ugly dogs that could come up and bite you in the butt in you aren't careful for the first week of college football betting action!

Pittsburgh Panthers (+135 at Diamond Sportsbook) @ Utah Utes, Thursday, 8:30 ET: The Panthers are lined at +3 in a rematch of the 2005 Fiesta Bowl in which the Utes beat them down 35-7. With RB Dion Lewis ready to rock and roll, the Panthers could be a scary pick not only to win this game, but to capture the Big East crown and potentially even the BCS National Championship as well. The Utes don't know what is about to hit them in this one. There's more on this game coming later this week…

Toledo Rockets (+500 at Diamond Sportsbook) vs. Arizona Wildcats, Friday, 8:00 ET: QB Austin Dantin is ready to prove himself as a legitimate threat to be one of the best players in the MAC in this, his sophomore season, and there would be no better way to go about that than in the opening game of the year at home against the Cats. This is a long, long road trip for HC Mike Stoops' men, and traveling across the country heading into the Glass Bowl is never a fun task. Though several key pieces are gone from last year's team, this is still an offense that averaged 437.9 yards per game last year, the 13th best mark in the land. Ask Colorado how easy it is for a West Coast school to come over to Toledo and walk out with a win in a nationally televised game… The Buffs were blown out 54-38 here last year. We'll take our chances at +500 that the Rockets can strike twice.

Connecticut Huskies (+130 at Diamond Sportsbook) @ Michigan Wolverines, Saturday, 3:30 ET: Prepare for the Big House to burn! The Huskies are out to make a name for themselves and for the Big East, and they can do so by making Big Blue and their head coach Rich Rodriguez very uncomfortable with the start of their season. It appears as though Rodriguez is going to try to use both QB Tate Forcier and QB Denard Robinson to lead the Wolverines to victory in this one, but he should probably be focused in on trying to stop UConn RB Jordan Todman instead. This is a prospective 1,500+ yard rusher in the making, and Michigan's defense ranked 92nd in the land last year on the ground. Don't be shocked to find the Huskies winning this one and potentially winning it in big, big fashion.

Virginia Tech Hokies (+115 at Diamond Sportsbook) vs. Boise State Broncos, Monday, 8:00 ET: There will be plenty of discussion about this game from now until Monday night when these two behemoths kick it off at FedEx Field, but here at Cappers Info, we are promptly going to call for the upset of the boys from the Smurf Turf. Boise State has had no history whatsoever succeeding when on the East Coast, as their most recent visit against a BCS team here was at Georgia, where the Bulldogs absolutely smacked the Broncos down Between the Hedges. Virginia Tech is a big time defensive team, and with QB Tyrod Taylor playing in his senior season, this would be the biggest triumph in quite a few years for HC Frank Beamer.

 
February 28th, 2010 By Andrew "Mr. Multi-Task" Ryan - Cappersinfo Contributor

Cappers Info takes a look at the ten most significant upsets in the week that was in the sports betting world…

10: Monday – Connecticut Huskies 73 – West Virginia Mountaineers 62: At the outset of the week, the Huskies had to feel like they were left for dead and headed to the NIT. But a huge win at home against West Virginia helped set the stage for their dramatic return to the bubble. It wasn't that it was an upset of epic proportions, as the hosts were only 2.5-point pups, but without that win, we're still leaving UConn outside of the NCAA Tournament.

9: Wednesday – Notre Dame Fighting Irish 68 – Pittsburgh Panthers 53: Ditto here as well. Notre Dame's win over Pittsburgh was just a tad more significantly because it came without F Luke Harangody in the lineup. The slight 1.5-point upset won't be the only time that you see the Irish on this list…

8: Saturday - New Mexico Lobos 83 – BYU Cougars 81: The Mountain West regular season title was likely decided on Saturday afternoon when the Lobos marched into Provo and secured the season sweep of the Cougars. Though it probably won't ultimately end this way, New Mexico has earned the right to be in the discussion for a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament if it can run the table and win the MWC Tournament as well. The oddsmakers were off base quite a bit in this one, as the visitors were hefty eight-point underdogs.

7: Tuesday – Phoenix Suns 104 – Oklahoma City Thunder 102: This was a significant road win for the guests, as it snapped Oklahoma City's long winning streak and moved the Suns into a lot sturdier ground for the playoff chase in the Western Conference. It was also a significant game for the psyche of F Amare Stoudemire, who went off for 30 points just a week after not being traded at the NBA trade deadline as requested.

6: Saturday - Oklahoma State Cowboys 85 – Kansas Jayhawks 77: Any time the #1 team in the land takes a tumble, it's noteworthy. But the fact that that 'W' secured up a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the Pokes, it became that much more relevant. The Cowboys really took it to the Jayhawks from wire to wire and won their biggest game of the season as 5.5-point underdogs in Stillwater.

5: Sunday - Ohio State Buckeyes 74 – Michigan State Spartans 67: It's hard to tell if this was a bigger win for Ohio State or a bigger loss for Michigan State. The Spartans have totally fallen down the brackets in recent weeks, and a home loss to the Buckeyes as short favorites didn't help matters any. It was loss #4 in their L/6 games. For the Buckeyes, they moved one step closer towards the regular season Big Ten title, and considering the fact that Purdue is now without F Robbie Hummel for the rest of the year, they could be on track for a #1 seed in the tourney as well. All it's going to take is a Big Ten Tournament title and it'll probably happen, but none of it would've been possible without the upset in East Lansing.

4: Saturday - New Jersey Nets 104 – Boston Celtics 96: Without a doubt, this is the lowest point in the season for the Celtics. Yes, the C's were playing without G Paul Pierce in the lineup, but there just isn't any excuse to lose at home to one of the worst teams in NBA history when you're as good as Boston is. The hosts have had a miserable time playing at Boston Garden all season, but not even the fans in Beantown saw this one coming. HC Doc Rivers has his work cut out for him to get the Celtics in playoff shape.

3: Saturday - Notre Dame Fighting Irish 78 – Georgetown Hoyas 64: As promised, the Irish are back for their efforts on Saturday in our nation's capitol. The Hoyas laid a total egg for the second time this year at home, and though it won't cost them a spot in the NCAA Tournament, it's going to leave them with a sour taste in their mouths and a significantly more difficult matchup. The Irish are almost certainly on the inside of the field right now, and they proved once again that they have the ability to win without Harangody. When the big man comes back, Notre Dame could be a real force to be reckoned with.

2: Friday - Dallas Mavericks 113 – Atlanta Hawks 103: For the second time in the L/2 weeks, the Mavericks traveled half way across the country and took out one of the big boys in the Eastern Conference. This was a show of grit and character for the Mavericks, who have been sending a big notice to the Lakers and Nuggets in the Western Conference of late. They're here, and they're ready to take over as the new bosses of the West with F Caron Butler, C Brendan Haywood, and G DeShawn Stevenson now in tote.

1: Sunday – United States of America 5 – Canada 3: For the Americans' sake, this will hopefully only be the second biggest upset of the Olympics. The USA dominated the Canadians from the get go, and save a few hairy moments when Team Canada staged a huge comeback in the third period, the Americans really looked to have the better side. All will be settled today in the gold medal game, where the stars and stripes will go in search of their first gold medals in hockey since the 1980 Miracle on Ice.

 
February 2nd, 2010 By Andrew "Mr. Multi-Task" Ryan - Cappersinfo Contributor
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Take a look at the NCAA Tournament bracket from the '09 Dance for a second… The Louisville Cardinals, Connecticut Huskies, Pittsburgh Panthers, and North Carolina Tar Heels were all #1 seeds in that field, while the Michigan State Spartans, Duke Blue Devils, Memphis Tigers, and Oklahoma Sooners were #2 seeds. No one is doubting just how good the Spartans and Blue Devils are this year; after all, you can find these two teams as the seventh and eighth choices on the board right now at 5Dimes Sportsbook. 

However, look at the NCAA Tournament resumes for each of those other six teams and play the judge for yourself about how well they're doing this year… 

 

Louisville Cardinals
Record:  14-8 
RPI: 43
Key Wins: vs. Connecticut, vs. Cincinnati, @ Providence
Key Losses: vs. Western Carolina, vs. Charlotte
Odds to win NCAA Tournament:  +7500 at BetUS Sportsbook
The Final Word: Things are only getting harder for the Cardinals, who are only at 5-4 in conference and falling fast, especially on the road, where they only have one win all year long. That win against UConn on Monday night probably helped push Louisville onto the right side of the bubble at the moment, but one would like to think that the Cards will have to go no worse than 3-1 at home and 2-3 on the road, and then take down a pair of games in the Big East Tournament to get some serious consideration to get into the Field of 65.

Connecticut Huskies
Record: 13-9
RPI: 49
Key Wins: vs. Texas, vs. Seton Hall, vs. Notre Dame, vs. William & Mary
Key Losses: None
Odds to win NCAA Tournament:  +4000 at Diamond Sportsbook
The Final Word: It's about time to turn out the lights on UConn's season. Yes, there really aren't any glaring losses on this schedule, but a poor conference record isn't going to help matters any. Barring finishing 6-3 or so in the regular season and making some noise in the Big East Tourney, it's NIT time for the Huskies.

North Carolina Tar Heels
Record: 13-8
RPI:  76
Key Wins: vs. MichiganState, vs. OhioState
Key Losses: vs. Virginia, @ Charleston
Odds to win NCAA Tournament:  +4000 at SportsBet Sportsbook
The Final Word: The only thing keeping UNC alive right now is its name on the front of the jerseys. The defending champs don't have a resume worth much, even though there are a couple of nice wins on the resume. However, none of them are in the ACC, and until and unless that happens, it's going to be hard to see how this team can make a case to get in the field over teams like FloridaState, Duke, Georgia Tech, Clemson, WakeForest, and Maryland.

Pittsburgh Panthers
Record: 16-5
RPI: 20
Key Wins: vs. Louisville, @ Connecticut, @ Cincinnati, @ Syracuse, vs. Wichita State
Key Losses: @ South Florida, @ Indiana
Odds to win NCAA Tournament:  +5500 at JustBet Sportsbook
The Final Word: This was the one team that was supposed to fall off the face of the earth after a solid '09 run in the tourney. However, Pitt's eye-popping start in the Big East has tapered off with losses in three of its L/4. Barring some bad home losses, the Panthers should get into the field, but it's very possible to think that this team could slip and finish up 4-7 in its L/11 games or so and be right back on the bubble.

Memphis Tigers
Record: 15-6
RPI: 78
Key Wins: @ Marshall
Key Losses: @ SMU, vs. UTEP, @ Massachusetts
Odds to win NCAA Tournament:  +11000 at BoDog Sportsbook
The Final Word: The only thing that the Tigers have going for them is that they may be able to steal Conference USA's automatic bid to the dance. There's no hope, even if the Tigers win out, that they can reach the NCAA Tournament without that automatic ticket.

Oklahoma Sooners
Record: 12-9
RPI: 85
Key Wins: vs. Missouri, vs. Oklahoma State
Key Losses: @ Nebraska, vs. UTEP, vs. Houston, @ San Diego, @ VCU
Odds to win NCAA Tournament:  +17500 at 5Dimes Sportsbook
The Final Word: If there's no hope for Memphis, there's even less for Oklahoma. The Sooners can't even compete in their own conference, and they're not even a shoe-in for the NIT this season. There are plenty of big names floating around that will be in the discussions for the Final Four when the regular season is finished. However, before you even remotely consider taking action on one of these so-called "big names" from a year ago, remember that you very well could be betting on a team that isn't even going to make the NCAA Tournament. Your money has to be better invested on teams that are certain to make the field and much more likely to make some noise when they get there.