Monday was spent in the Tuley’s Takes home office, watching the Super Bowl line slowly get bet higher and doing a lot of research in preparation for the ever-growing lists of prop bets that will be available for the Big Game.
Later in the day, we followed the pro and college basketball action, including our best bet on West Virginia + 14 covering in an eventual 81-77 loss to Baylor. It was reassuring to have an unranked dog cover against a ranked team after losing three such places on Saturday. Sunday’s sweep of NFL underdogs was great, but we like to win our best bets every day!
Anyway, let’s do our usual recaps of the major sports in action on Monday night, plus let’s start a nightly update of the Super Bowl line before looking for another live dog for Tuesday’s best bet.
Monday’s recaps
NBA: Faves went 5-2 SU on Monday with the Clippers-Pacers game closing pick-'em, but faves were just 4-3 ATS as the Pelicans covered as 4.5-point road dogs in their 93-90 loss at the Cavaliers. The upsets were by the 76ers (+ 3.5 in 122-119 win vs. Grizzlies) and Thunder (+ 3.5 in 98-81 win vs. the Blazers). Unders went 4-3-1 with the push in the Kings-Knicks (212) game.
CBB: No. 8 Baylor rallied to beat West Virginia 81-77 on Monday night, but did NOT cover after closing as a 13-point home favorite. The game flew Over the betting total of 139.5 points. Earlier, No. 9 Duke beat Notre Dame 57-43, covering as 5.5-point road fave. The game stayed way Under the total of 144.5.
NHL: Dogs went 3-2 with the upsets by the Senators (+ 175 in 3-2 win vs. Oilers), Canucks (+ 105 in 3-1 win at Blackhawks) and Red Wings (-105 in 2-1 win vs. Ducks). Only the biggest of favorites won on the night with the Panthers (-300 at Blue Jackets) and Maple Leafs (-350 vs. Devils). Unders went 3-2.
Super Bowl odds update (11:30 p.m. PT Monday): Rams have been bet up to -4.5 vs. the Bengals at most Vegas books (the only books lower were -4 at South Point and Station Casinos, plus -3.5 -120 at Treasure Island). Over/Under has settled at 48.5 with only Wynn Las Vegas and Stations still at 49.
Tuesday’s Take
Providence + 3.5 at St. John’s: We don’t often get a ranked team as a road underdog vs. an unranked opponent, so we’ll gladly take the points here. Providence has gone off as an underdog six times this season and have pulled an outright upset each time, including last Monday when we had the Friars + 8.5 at Xavier. Providence is led by Al Durham (13.7 points per game) and center Nate Watson (13.5 points and 6 rebounds per game). The Friars also won the earlier meeting this season, 83-73, so I’m expecting a similar result here.
Good luck today (and every day!).