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Experts in the sports handicapping world are a dime a dozen. Just like in fantasy sports the talk of achievement does not necessarily come to show at season’s end. The month of February can be an arduous trouble-maker for professional handicappers and sports players. Football is officially over and that means dedicated betting squarely on hoops.

Unlike football the hoops schedule is a never-ending seven day a week grind. From now until mid-March teams are pushing for viable positions before their conference tournaments.

In the power conferences seedings won’t move around very much but in the smaller conferences anything can happen. Last year Cal Poly, Milwaukee and a few others made the tournament by getting hot at the right time and winning their respective conference tournaments.

Rather than think short-term players need to think long-term. Don’t be afraid to take days off during the week even if there is a big slate of games on a Wednesday or Thursday in the NBA/college hoops. You did not handicap football seven days a week so why do it in the NBA or NCAAB?

Take some of the big slate days off and choose to evaluate teams rather than ferociously scour game action for lines. By March you’ll be in better position to make a deeper run ATS and see the results in your bankroll growth.

Conference play is one of the more difficult periods to handicap. Coaches are sharper but players are hot potatoes. Free throw shooting could be poor on a certain night. The three pointer may be falling at a ridiculous rate for the other team. Stretches of no buckets can happen in a blink of an eye. Big leads may evaporate and cause a gut-wrenching loss ATS.

The biggest difference in handicapping college basketball is the overall level of play. In the NFL for example you know the range of the Jaguars on a given Sunday. On a weekly Sunday their variance on a scale of a 1 to 10 as a team did not wane all season between the range of a 3-6. A power team like the Denver Broncos was typically in the range of a 7.5 to 9.

In college basketball though a power team that you would expect to be in the range of 7.5 to 9 could have an off-night and give an output of a 4. You can’t handicap a poor night out of the blue. It happens and you have to just file it away as a mental note of a team’s possible bottom.

All of these things and ten other factors are not “bad beats”. This is basketball.

I myself love the evaluation part of handicapping college basketball. There is truly strong money line value each and every night on underdogs of 7-12 points. Great kick backs to earn a little extra during a tough conference month. In fact personally before January I had a 51-14 ATS record. Now I sit at 87-50. That’s the exact same amount of wins/losses during that duration.

But I know with full confidence the evaluation part of handicapping will pay off before the end of the 2015 college basketball season.

Stay patient with your selections and do not get caught up in the daily point spread grind. If your looking at numbers too much than you’re already in the trap of a forthcoming free fall. Evaluating teams does not happen that way.

Good luck with the rest of conference play and if interested in sports picks services click under today’s picks. Follow me on twitter@cimini

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Tonight in the ACC Louisville travels to Miami. This is the first time both have squared off as Louisville being a new member to the ACC. The Cardinal are four point road favorites after a tremendous come from behind win over North Carolina.

The come from behind win helped stop a possible three game losing streak to the Tar Heels. Last year Carolina had won and they had also won the first matchup of this season.

Does that win and Louisville being ranked in the top ten warrant a four point number against Miami?

It’s hard to say yes or no on this game. Usually one can look at a point spread and reason for justification on the number. But neither the Cardinal or Hurricane have been consistent enough to field a proper gauge on this game.

To me this game will be a permanent marker on both team’s seasons. Miami can reverse course on a mediocre season and get back into the thick of things for an automatic bid. A win over Louisville and already over Duke should put them in strong consideration.

Louisville on the other hand has had their struggles protecting leads all season long. Pitino is missing both the effective press he had for four years and a strong big man inside to protect the rim. Harrell is a big body but by trimming his weight he has left Louisville vulnerable inside.

In prior years offensively Louisville could co-depend on Luke Hancock or Russ Smith to carry their team. In fact last year they primarily went to both in second halves exclusively. This year they have not found their go to guy especially outside of twelve feet (Harrell).

Miami has the team defense to stay in this game against Louisville. The question is can they avoid mental miscues of poor offense? They’ve struggled with size all season because they lack interior strength offensively. Attacking the guards on the perimeter forces poor shots and quick transition points. That’s how Florida State and countless other teams have been able to defeat Miami, who shoots over 23 three pointers a game.

This game will likely draw the most action on the board tonight. In my opinion it’s one that should be scouted to see which direction either team will go. Past Pitino teams would elevate their play and carry it forward to March Madness. Miami is the unknown. The talent is there but will the execution be there at home in a must-win situation?

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Zack Cimini gives out three Super Bowl props. Catch them here and good luck with any wagers/pools on Sunday.

*** Note the prop on Chris Bosh is still a go even though Dwayne Wade has been officially declared out 2-3 weeks with him hamstring injury.

Super Bowl Props from Zack Cimini on Vimeo.

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Today one of the best games on the college basketball board comes from the Atlantic 10. Last year VCU and George Washington played a couple of intriguing matchups. This year should be no different as both teams have looked the part of a 1A and 1B top A-10 team along with Dayton.

VCU is coming off a neck and neck nationally televised win as 13 point favorites over Saint Louis. Saint Louis did a great job in dribbling against VCU’s press and limiting VCU’s inside the paint offense.

George Washington on the other hand has faced the easier portion of the A-10 schedule lately. They handled Fordham, Duquense, and George Mason. One has to wonder if they can come out with the proper aggression on the road against VCU after facing easy opponents.

Last year the teams split both matchups in the regular season before VCU defeated GW by 19 points in the A-10 conference tournament. Key contributors last year for George Washington are gone in Maurice Creek and big man Isiah Armwood. Armwood helped immensely by attacking VCU in the paint and with offensive rebound putbacks.

Pace should be frenetic in this one like the matchups last year. Besides George Washington going cold in the second half in the A-10 tournament the other two matchups featured a 76-66 final and a 92-75 final. Both teams went to the free throw line at a high rate as well.

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Sunday in the ACC the Louisville Cardinal will travel to Pittsburgh for their first matchup in the ACC conference. The two teams were opponents for the duration of their time in the Big East conference. Las Vegas handicappers, Jeff Saad, John Cranton, and Zack Cimini give their opinions from an ATS perspective.

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The Super Bowl is just over a week away. While talk is focused on Marshawn Lynch’s fine and Deflate-Gate for New England, soon the true conversation will shift to the all important aspects of the game. Zack Cimini, Jeff Saad, and John Cranton briefly discussed opening views ATS on the game on January 20th. See what their personal opinions are early on the Super Bowl.