The 4 Divisional Playoff matchups this weekend are:
1/12 4:30 PM EST Seattle +8.5 (-120) VS Green Bay -8.5 (+100)
1/12 8:00 PM EST Jacksonville +13.5 (-110) VS New England -13.5 (-110)
1/13 1:00 PM EST San Diego +9 (-110) VS Indianapolis -9 (-110)
1/13 4:30 PM EST NY Giants +7.5 (-105) VS Dallas -7.5 (-115)
Pac-10 Powers Meet in L.A.
The #4-ranked Washington State Cougars might be from small-town Washington (Pullman, pop. 25,000) but Saturday they’ll be in front of the bright lights of the big city when they take on the #5-ranked UCLA Bruins. The Cougars have a perfect record so far and running the table in the suddenly extremely competitive Pac-10 Conference seems like a real long shot, but a win in L.A. would go a long way to making that happen. The Bruins meanwhile have suffered a loss only once this season (63-61 to #8 Texas) and could see themselves considered amongst the elite programs yet again if they can beat the Cougars and move into the top-3 ranked teams in the country.
ESPN NBA Double Header
Friday night brings us yet another two-scoop helping of NBA action and thankfully ESPN is going to put it all on television for us. In the first game (8:30 pm ET) the struggling Miami Heat are hoping for an upset as they take on the Hornets in N’Awlins. Shaq’s out of the line-up and apparently Dwayne Wade isn’t 100% healthy either but could that mean the Hornets overlook the Heat? Tune in to find out. The nightcap (10:30 pm ET) features Milwaukee Bucks superstar Yi Jianlian taking on the L.A. Lakers and mega-star Kobe Bryant. Okay, so the Jianlian superstar thing might be an embellishment but when you use a 10 man rotation it’s hard to find a superstar, right? Kobe only put up 27 points in the Lakers loss to the Bucks in December so look for the enigma to take advantage of the national spotlight yet again to put up big numbers.
Who needs home cooking?
The Phoenix Coyotes must hate the desert heat. How else do you explain their losing home record and winning road record? Sunday the Coyotes are in Minnesota to take on the suddenly entertaining Minnesota Wild. After years of playing a strict defensive style the Wild have let Marian Gaborik do his thing and he’s responded with 21 goals this season to lead the Wild to the best record in the ever-competitive Northwest Division. The Coyotes have lost to the Wild three times this season and have been outscored 9-5 during those games. What happens when these two teams collide?
