FOLLOW@CIMINI

The dog days of February have bit several teams on the offensive end of the floor. Teams with a non-powerful offense often sputter in the months of February for several reasons. Lack of rest, injuries, and most teams have the tougher part of their schedules to face. Often times this portion of the schedule of rust will leave many minds to believe that a team should be wrote off. But like Syracuse did last year and UConn a few years back it often boosts a teams preparation for March Madness.

Ohio State’s one of those teams that could make a run in March but it won’t be pretty. The same recipe of their regular season wins will likely occur in March if they are too succeed. They do it with tough hard nosed defense and have a group of upperclassmen with final four experience from two seasons ago.

While many people would frown on the first half deficits they’ve faced in their past few games against Minnesota and Illinois, for a team to overcome those deficits with dominating second halves speaks to the mental fortitude of the team.

Turning the corner from those type of performances has to happen sooner or later for this team to get the type of confidence one needs to have to make a tournament run.

Look for Ohio State to battle through their offensive issues and get a solid cover on the road in Penn State tonight.

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Today I have a six game NCAA/NBA hoops package. To purchase click on the picks page.

For a free play I’ll head to the AAC conference which has been one of my strongest conferences this season. One it is easy to dictate this conference as the Big East transplants such as Louisville and UConn have dominated. Newcomers such as Memphis, SMU, and Creighton haven’t been too shabby either. The disparity in the conference from the top teams to the bottom is by far the biggest gap of any conference. There have been a wide margin of blowouts from teams such as Houston, South Florida, Central Florida, Rutgers, and Temple.

Today two teams square off that have been down all season. Rutgers from a talent standpoint has not played to their capabilities compared to a Central Florida team that has rode the hot hand of their guard Sykes, who has been a dynamic player for them all season.

This is a game where the oddmakers have given Central Florida a generous 4.5 point home spread advantage. Their style of play running up and down the court and scoring at a high rate makes them intriguing quick trigger play. But I’ll fade them here as they’ve struggled to separate from teams as the pace they play at is just as detrimental as it is successful.

Rutgers hasn’t thrived this season not because of offense but because of their defense. In a free flowing game with better talent on the Rutgers side I like them to cover this line with a solid push in the final ten minutes to overtake Central Florida.

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The Syracuse Orangemen head to Maryland today in what analysts and handicappers still consider a trap for Syracuse. I beg to differ. Syracuse is on a two game losing streak but it’s not like they’ve lost in head scratching fashion like analysts are making it out to be. One loss was in overtime, and the loss to Duke, Syracuse should of at least had a chance to play in overtime on CJ Fair’s bucket if the ref would of held the whistle in his mouth.

I can’t recall a team that doesn’t experience a stint during a season where their inexperienced talent hits a bit of a snag. That has happened with Syracuse’s backcourt in Trevor Cooney and Tyler Ennis. Both have outdid expectations considerably this season. All season long both have had their ups and downs but when one seemed to be having an off night the other guard picked up his play. Against Boston College and Duke neither has been able to get on track from an offensive standpoint.

Facing a Maryland team that is not void of talent will be a challenge. But this talented Maryland squad has been extremely disappointing. They turn the ball over far too much and seem to not have any offensive flow. Maryland should have been the type of team to be without question a top five ACC team but guards Dez Wells and Nick Faust just have not played as well as last season.

Their biggest deficiency comes defensively. They lack foot speed at the center, power forward, and small forward position to cover a team as athletic as Syracuse. This is the type of matchup that should create the type of offensive performance outburst that Jim Boeheim and Syracuse need.

They’re should not be any problems getting points from CJ Fair, Rakeem Christmas, and Jerami Grant in half court sets. On top of that I think Syracuse will create a ton of turnovers against a Maryland team that struggles in normal half court sets let alone facing a zone. Look for the Cuse to get out in run and for balanced scoring all around from Syracuse.

Sometimes in a loss confidence can be found. Michael Gbinje played productive minutes against Duke and Syracuse will need him on the floor to spell Trevor Cooney and Tyler Ennis more. Likewise seeing Baye Keita comeback from injury and perform well has to be a big boost of confidence to the team.

The losing streak ends and Syracuse puts on a show in Maryland tonight.

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The ACC has shown to be a conference top heavy. Virginia, Duke, and Syracuse have taken care of business while the rest have struggled with inconsistent play. The stage Pittsburgh is in now is where North Carolina was just a few weeks ago. With the conference lacking its typical balance it has allotted for some teams to get on win streaks against poor competition. North Carolina is right in the middle of the conference in terms of their record for good reason as they have had a roller coaster season.

With a rescheduled game against Duke looming it would not surprise me to see North Carolina falter on the road against Florida State. This is the same Florida State team that ripped apart VCU and had a big lead over Michigan before faltering. The talent is there but their young roster has hit a bit of a wall.

Matchups can sometimes wake up on opponent and I believe that will be the case tonight for Florida State.

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As we near the All Star break the play on the court by teams in the NBA is regressing to the point that David Stern may have to consider un-retiring. Obviously certain teams are looking forward to the break.

An area sports bettors can capitalize on now is totals. Blowouts are abound and with that comes some easy side plays. The even easier area to dig a win during this time frame is via a total.

Totals have already been inflated due to the increased scoring the NBA has seen this year. Similar to the way the NFL faltered high totals to end the season, we are starting to see that as well in the NBA.

An opportunistic play tonight on an under is between the Mavericks and Bobcats. Dallas is a veteran team with the likes of Nowitski, Marion, Carter, and Monta Ellis. They are not a defensive team by any means but they are a bit underrated in that area as far as I am concerned.

Charlotte on the other hand has had a rigorous travel schedule, having played on the west coast recently. With key players such as Al Jefferson and Kemba Walker battling through injuries at different stretches but still remaining high contributors upon returning, I expect a look ahead towards All Star break type of game from both of them.

Play the under and lean towards Dallas if you’re looking for a side play.

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Just a little over a couple of weeks ago these two teams played in Memphis on TNT. It was a slower paced game that Memphis had full control of until midway through the fourth quarter. As Houston has done in numerous games this season, they were able to rally late and somehow cover. In that game they were heavier favorites on the road (-7.5) than they are at home tonight (-6). Of course at the time the Grizzlies were injury riddled playing without Marc Gasol.

The pace of that game would figure to get automatic heads to nod in favor of the over tonight. Instead look for the under to happen as it did a few weeks back. Memphis is going to slow things back down with Tayshaun Prince, Marc Gasol, and Zach Randolph all on the floor, and Houston has shown that they can slow things down if tempo is controlled by the other team.

A number close to 200 is too high in my estimation and a good number to take the under on.