If the playoffs started today, the Jazz (38-22 SU, 37-21 ATS) and Suns (39-24 SU, 36-26 ATS) would be playing each other in the first round. These two teams will meet tonight for the second time this season, with tonight’s venue taking place from US Airways Center in Phoenix. Utah dominated Phoenix 124-115 on January 25th as a seven-point home favorite and the combined 239 points easily hit the Over. The home victory by the Jazz was the fifth straight for the host team in this head-to-head series.

When breaking down this game, most gamblers look at the point guard matchup between Steve Nash and Deron Williams. In the January game, Nash scored 15 points and gave out 15 assists, while Williams tallied 18 points and 11 assists, which most would consider pretty even. The key to Utah’s win was rebounding (48-31), plus Phoenix was fortunate to stay in the game with a 17-of-30 (57%) performance from behind the arc.

Phoenix is the hot team of late going 13-3 SU and 14-2 Agains The Spread in their last 16, which includes a 6-1 SU and Against The Spread mark at home. The Suns will be playing on zero days rest tonight after crushing the Clippers 127-101 in L.A. on Wednesday. The club have a 6-9 Against The Spread record with no rest this season, however, only five of those 15 games were played at home and the Suns have gone 4-1 SU and 3-2 Against The Spread in that span.

Utah has always played better at home, but the Jazz are an impressive 16-11 Against The Spread outside of Salt Lake this season. Utah was on a roll with seven straight wins and covers away from home, but recently they have suffered bad road losses to the Kings (99-103) last Friday and Clippers (104-108) on Monday.

Who covers the spread in this NBA basketball matchup?  It’s very easy to find out.  Try FiveStarPick.com tonight for just ($19.99) and see if our talent for picking college and pro basketball winners exceeds your expectations.  We are the only sports handicapping service in the business who documents wins and losses and displays them on our homepage for all to witness.  It’s because we have nothing to hide…we just win games against the spread.  Join our family today and start your winning streak tonight.

Rick Riley – FiveStarPick.com

The pros at FiveStarPick.com are looking forward to tonight’s Top 25 matchup between the Kansas Jayhawks and the Kansas State Wildcats.  Las Vegas sportsbooks list Kansas as 3.5-point road favorites.  The last time Kansas St. was in this situation, it knocked off then number one Texas, so the Wildcats will be looking to make it two straight home wins over top five teams this season.  Big wins like the one over Texas usually lead to big letdown games.  It was no different for Kansas State as they then suffered a home loss against Oklahoma St., but they came back and defeated the 24th ranked Baylor Bears on Tuesday by two.

The Jayhawks have won 25 of the last 26 games played in Manhattan and this is arguably one of the best Kansas teams ever to step foot in the Wildcat Arena. Kansas won its first rivalry game this week as it easily took out Missouri on Monday night to extend its home court winning streak to a national best 54 games. This will be the first quality road opponent since its first and only loss of the season at Tennessee three weeks ago. A victory here likely puts the Jayhawks back into the number one spot in the polls. Balance and depth have been the catalyst for Kansas through 20 games, nine different players have led the team in steals, seven in points and six in assists. The Jayhawks rank in the top three in all but three Big XII statistical categories.

The Wildcats are an attacking team that averages 15.8 offensive rebounds per game and they go to the free throw line 33.8 times per game (#1 in the nation). The Jayhawks meanwhile are sixth in the nation in rebounding margin and they allow only 19.2 free throw attempts by the opposition per game. Kansas also has a huge edge in assist/turnover ratio, 1.47 to 0.97.  Something’s gotta give tonight and FiveStarPick.com has the answer.

Who covers the spread in this Top 25 college basketball matchup?  It’s very easy to find out.  Try FiveStarPick.com tonight for just ($19.99) and see if our talent for picking college and pro basketball winners exceeds your expectations.  We are the only sports handicapping service in the business who documents wins and losses and displays them on our homepage for all to witness.  It’s because we have nothing to hide…we just win games against the spread.  Join our family today and start your winning streak tonight.

Rick Riley – FiveStarPick.com

The pros at FiveStarPick.com are looking forward to another winning day in the NFL postseason. Today we are hot on the AFC Championship game between the New York Jets and the Indianapolis Colts.  Las Vegas sportsbooks list the Colts as 7-point home favorites with a total of 39.

The Colts (15-2 straight up, 10-4-1 against the spread) held onto a 15-10 lead over the Jets in Week 16 with just over five minutes left in the third quarter when they decided to pull their starters. Backup quarterback Curtis Painter was sacked by Calvin Pace, fumbled, and Marques Douglas ran the ball back for the go-head touchdown. The Jets (11-7 SU, 11-7 Against The Spread) won the game as 4-point road ‘dogs, 29-15.

Oh the irony. If the Colts had kept in their starters and won that game, the Jets would have been virtually eliminated from the playoff picture.  Now, Peyton Manning has to beat the Jets to get to the Super Bowl.  So cool. 

New York has the best rushing offense in the NFL averaging 172.3 yards per game and Shonn Greene has been impressive in the playoffs with 263 rushing yards and two scores. The Jets have needed their rushing game to have a chance with Mark Sanchez under center. Sanchez has completed 63.2 percent of his passes for 282 yards and 2 touchdowns in the playoffs, but the rookie only had 23 pass attempts against the Chargers, completing 12 of them for 100 yards.  Sanchez has only five games this year where he has thrown the ball more than 30 times.

Sanchez should be pretty nervous today, because the Colts defese is playing with high intensity right now.  The Colts gave up just 87 yards on the ground and 183 through the air to Baltimore, winning 20-3 as 6.5-point home favorites.  Joe Flacco was picked twice in the final two minutes of the game.  The Colts are 14th in the league against the pass, giving up just 212.7 YPG.  Sanchez figured that out quickly as he only threw for 106 yards against them in Week 16. The Colt’s achilles heel is defending against the run. Indianapolis has the NFL’s 24th-ranked rush defense, allowing 126.5 rushing YPG.

What the Colt’s do have is the best quarterback the league has ever seen in Peyton Manning.  Manning has a relatively new receiveing corp since his last Super Bowl win, but he’s still getting major contribution out of Reggie Wayne (100 receptions, 1,264 yards, 10 TD) and Dallas Clark (100 catches, 1,106 yards, 10 TD).  He is also getting great performances out of second-year wideout Pierre Garcon (47 rec., 765 yards, 4 TD) and rookie Austin Collie (60 rec., 676 yards, 7 TD).

Indy needs the passing game to click because the Colts are the worst running attack in the NFL, gaining 80.9 YPG on the ground.  Joseph Addai has 828 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns and Donald Brown has 281 yards on the ground with three scores, but that’s it.

Success for the Colts on offense is definitely not a lock today. The Jets are giving up 312.5 YPG in the playoffs right now and Darrelle Revis anchors the best pass defense in the league with an average of 153.7 YPG during the regular season.

Recent history for the AFC Title Game shows the favorites have gone 4-3 Against The Spread in the last seven games. The ‘over’ has gone 5-2 in that stretch as well.

Who covers the spread in this AFC Championship game?  It’s very easy to find out.  Try FiveStarPick.com tonight for just ($19.99) and see if our talent for picking pro football winners exceeds your expectations.  We are the only sports handicapping service in the business who documents wins and losses and displays them on our homepage for all to witness.  It’s because we have nothing to hide…we just win games against the spread.  Join our family today and start your winning streak tonight.

Rick Riley – FiveStarPick.com

The pros at FiveStarPick.com are looking forward to another winning day in the NFL postseason. Today we are hot on the NFC Championship game between the Minnesota Vikings and the New Orleans Saints.  Las Vegas sportsbooks list the Saints as 4-point home favorites with a total of 53.

Both teams looked impressive in blowout victories in the Divisional Playoff round. New Orleans beat Arizona, 45-14, and Minnesota crushed Dallas, 34-3.

Minnesota was listed as an underdog twice this season, going 1-1 against the spread. The Vikings lost to Pittsburgh as six-point ‘dogs, while winning at Lambeau Field over the Packers as 3-point ‘dogs. 

New Orleans has seen some huge numbers this year. They are 4-7 Against The Spread laying at least a touchdown, but 5-0 Against The Spread as a favorite of six points or less.  Since 2008, the Saints are 10-1 Against The Spread as a favorite of less than six points. The one lone loss?  The Vikings on Monday Night last October.  Minnesota held off New Orleans, 30-27 as 3-point ‘dogs…And that was without Brett Farve.

This will be Favre’s fifth conference championship appearance in his career, going 2-2 with the Packers. Location didn’t matter, with Favre compiling a 1-1 record each at home and on the road in conference title games. Brees owns a 2-2 career playoff record, with three of those games coming at home.

The game kicks off at 6:30 PM EST and will be televised nationally on FOX.

Who covers the spread in this NFC Championship game?  It’s very easy to find out.  Try FiveStarPick.com tonight for just ($19.99) and see if our talent for picking pro football winners exceeds your expectations.  We are the only sports handicapping service in the business who documents wins and losses and displays them on our homepage for all to witness.  It’s because we have nothing to hide…we just win games against the spread.  Join our family today and start your winning streak tonight.

Rick Riley – FiveStarPick.com

The pros at FiveStarPick.com are looking forward to another winning day in the NFL postseason. Today we are hot on the AFC Divisional Playoff game between Baltimore Ravens and the Indianapolis Colts.  Las Vegas sportsbooks list the Colts as 6.5-point home favorites with a total of 44.

Baltimore (10-7 SU, 9-7-1 Against The Spread) went on the road to Foxborough and whupped up on the Patirots, 33-14, as a 3-point dog. Ray Rice busted an 83-yard touchdown run on the first play of the game and the Ravens never looked back.  As a matter of fact, the Ravens were up 24-0 before the end of the first quarter. The Patriots could get no closer than 14 points for the rest of the game.

The Ravens ground attack set the tone for this game.  Ray Rice finished the day with 159 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns on 22 carries, while Willis McGahee added 62 rushing yards and one touchdown.  Joe Flacco’s was kind of a non-factor completing only 4-of-10 throws for 34 yards and one interception.

Indianapolis (14-2 straight up, 10-5-1 Against The Spread) decided to rest its starters in the last two games of the regular-season after wrapping up home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.  The result was wins for both the Jets and Bills franchises; and a playoff birth for the Jets.

Manning had another incredible year capturing his fourth MVP trophy. For the season, Manning completed 68.8 percent of his passes for 4,500 yards and a 33/16 touchdown-to-interception ratio.

Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark are Peyton’s top two targets and both caught 100 balls with 10 touchdowns apiece. Wayne had 1,264 receiving yards, while Clark had 1,106 receiving yards. RB Joseph Addai racked 828 rushing yards and 10 TDs.

The Colts have covered the number in their last six head-to-head meetings with the Ravens. When these teams met earlier this year, Indy won on the road, 17-15, as a one-point favorite.

Indy is just 3-4-1 Against The Spread at home this year, but 7-3-1 Against The Spread as single digit favorites. Baltimore is 3-2-1 Against The Spread as a dog on the road.

CBS will broadcast the kickoff in this game at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

Who covers the spread in this AFC Divisional Playoff game?  It’s very easy to find out.  Try FiveStarPick.com tonight for just ($19.99) and see if our talent for picking pro football winners exceeds your expectations.  We are the only sports handicapping service in the business who documents wins and losses and displays them on our homepage for all to witness.  It’s because we have nothing to hide…we just win games against the spread.  Join our family today and start your winning streak tonight.

Rick Riley – FiveStarPick.com