Cash in With A Multi-Sport Parlay
Diversify your Saturday card with a ML parlay combining NFL and college basketball.
Fourth-seeded Kansas City (10-6) hosts fifth-seeded Tennessee (9-7) today at 4:20 ET. The Chiefs are favored by between 8 and 9.5 points.
Playoff experience is invaluable. For instance, teams with a quarterback who made his playoff debut in last year’s wildcard round went 0-2 SU and ATS. In the divisional round they went 0-1 SU and ATS. Kansas City's Alex Smith makes his 7th career playoff start. Tennessee’s Marcus Mariota makes his first.
The key for Tennessee will be to establish its rush attack. The Titans are 6-0 SU when they rush for over 100 yards. However, the Titans’ run game has deteriorated recently, partly due to poor offensive line play and partly due to poor running back play. Derrick Henry will receive again the bulk of Tennessee’s carries because DeMarco Murray was ruled out of today’s contest. Henry is averaging 2.2 carries in his past 4 games. In his first game with 20+ carries against Jacksonville’s poorly-ranked run defense, he averaged 1.8 yards per carry. The Titans will miss having two running backs in the backfield. But perhaps even Murray wouldn’t achieve much behind an offensive line that has significantly regressed from last year. Tennessee’s run blocking ranks 23rd in power rate and 24th in stuff rate meaning that its running backs are struggling in short yardage situations and are often being met at or behind the line of scrimmage. Tennessee needs to be able to rely on its run game and not on its quarterback who has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns on the season.
The Chiefs come steamrolling into the playoffs with four straight wins partly thanks to an offense that has produced 26+ points in 5 straight contents. Alex Smith has become a more prolific quarterback. This year he achieved his first 4,000-yard season. His previous season-high was 3,502. And yet he’s still efficient, managing a 67.5% completion and 26:5 touchdown-to-interception ratio. He should continue to succeed against Tennessee’s 25th-ranked pass defense. The Titans will still have to respect KC’s run game, led by Kareem Hunt’s 4.9 yards per carry.
The Titans have been their worst on the road, 2-5 SU and 3-5 ATS, while the Chiefs are 6-2 SU and ATS at home. The Titans have only beaten one playoff team on the road, Jacksonville, which they match up extremely well against. The other playoff team that they faced on the road was Pittsburgh, which beat them 40-17. The Titans’ road woes include a desperate overtime win against Cleveland and a 57-14 loss at Houston. Expect the Chiefs to prolong those woes.
Syracuse (12-3) hosts Notre Dame (12-3) at 3:15 ET. The Orange are favored by 6.
This is a prime spot in which to fade Notre Dame, which misses its top two contributors, power forward Bonzie Colson and point guard Matt Farrell. This was already a good spot for Syracuse, which has beaten Mike Brey’s Notre Dame five times in a row at home in the Dome.
The main reason for ND’s recent struggles in Syracuse’s Carrier Dome is that Brey's team typically relies disproportionately on three-point shooting. However, visiting teams often struggle to shoot from three in the dome because of how its unique structure alters the shooter’s perception. This was most remarkably evident this season when the high-flying Hokies scored only 56 points, going 10-for-30 from three, and last season, when Duke scored 75 and went 10-for-33 from three in a loss.
This year’s Notre Dame is again at its best from three. Part of the success from three was due to Farrell, who ranks 374th in three-point shooting. Farrell was also easily Notre Dame’s best distributor, ranking 147th in assist rate. Notre Dame will miss his playmaking. Backup TJ Gibbs has started three games at point guard this season. Two of Notre Dame’s three losses came with Gibbs at point guard.
Colson was even more involved in Notre Dame’s possessions and took even more shots. While Farrell was the second-leading scorer and leader in assists, Colson led the team with 21.4 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. Like Farrell, he was also a solid defender, ranking 94th in block percentage and 69th in steal percentage. Notre Dame misses significant playmaking, rebounding, scoring and defending ability without Farrell and Colson.
Syracuse’s defense, which ranks 14th in KenPom’s defensive efficiency, is already difficult to score against. Syracuse’s length inside makes it difficult for opposing teams to create shots. When they do shoot from outside, they tend to miss in the Dome. Cuse’s interior presence is also strong, led by center Paschal Chukwu who ranks second in block percentage. Syracuse ranks 13th in opposing two-point percentage, 7th in steal percentage and second in block percentage.
Boston College (10-5) hosts Wake Forest (8-6) today at 4. The Eagles are favored by 4.
This is a solid spot for guards Ky Bowman and Jerome Robinson and therefore Boston College. The two guards, BC’s most significant contributors, are from North Carolina but were not recruited by a single ACC school from their own state. They consequently have a chip on their shoulder whenever they face a team from North Carolina. Dating back to last season, Boston College is 6-1 ATS against teams from North Carolina. This trend applied to the victory against Duke, in which both guards combined for 54 points.
In four of BC’s five losses, both guards completed 33% or less from behind the arc. Both guards will get plenty of chances to shoot well from three against Wake’s poor perimeter defense, which allows the 10th-highest point distribution from three and the 306th-highest proportion of three pointers allowed. Wake ranks 320th, allowing 39.4 three-point percentage.
Both Robinson and Bowman will lead BC over this school from North Carolina.
For bettors who wish to increase their payout, I have a very solid spot play ATS for you. Colorado (9-6) hosts No. 14 Arizona (12-3) today at 2. The visiting Wildcats are favored by 9.5 points. Arizona is on the second leg of its Utah-Colorado road trip. Both Utah and Colorado play at higher altitude. So teams typically run out of gas in the second leg. Last season, teams in this spot went 1-5-1 ATS. The two covers came from teams who had lost decisively the game before and so didn’t give it their all. Arizona is coming off of a competitive win at Utah.
Pick: Kansas City ML, Syracuse ML, Boston College ML (and Colorado +9.5)
Diversify your Saturday card with a ML parlay combining NFL and college basketball.
Fourth-seeded Kansas City (10-6) hosts fifth-seeded Tennessee (9-7) today at 4:20 ET. The Chiefs are favored by between 8 and 9.5 points.
Playoff experience is invaluable. For instance, teams with a quarterback who made his playoff debut in last year’s wildcard round went 0-2 SU and ATS. In the divisional round they went 0-1 SU and ATS. Kansas City's Alex Smith makes his 7th career playoff start. Tennessee’s Marcus Mariota makes his first.
The key for Tennessee will be to establish its rush attack. The Titans are 6-0 SU when they rush for over 100 yards. However, the Titans’ run game has deteriorated recently, partly due to poor offensive line play and partly due to poor running back play. Derrick Henry will receive again the bulk of Tennessee’s carries because DeMarco Murray was ruled out of today’s contest. Henry is averaging 2.2 carries in his past 4 games. In his first game with 20+ carries against Jacksonville’s poorly-ranked run defense, he averaged 1.8 yards per carry. The Titans will miss having two running backs in the backfield. But perhaps even Murray wouldn’t achieve much behind an offensive line that has significantly regressed from last year. Tennessee’s run blocking ranks 23rd in power rate and 24th in stuff rate meaning that its running backs are struggling in short yardage situations and are often being met at or behind the line of scrimmage. Tennessee needs to be able to rely on its run game and not on its quarterback who has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns on the season.
The Chiefs come steamrolling into the playoffs with four straight wins partly thanks to an offense that has produced 26+ points in 5 straight contents. Alex Smith has become a more prolific quarterback. This year he achieved his first 4,000-yard season. His previous season-high was 3,502. And yet he’s still efficient, managing a 67.5% completion and 26:5 touchdown-to-interception ratio. He should continue to succeed against Tennessee’s 25th-ranked pass defense. The Titans will still have to respect KC’s run game, led by Kareem Hunt’s 4.9 yards per carry.
The Titans have been their worst on the road, 2-5 SU and 3-5 ATS, while the Chiefs are 6-2 SU and ATS at home. The Titans have only beaten one playoff team on the road, Jacksonville, which they match up extremely well against. The other playoff team that they faced on the road was Pittsburgh, which beat them 40-17. The Titans’ road woes include a desperate overtime win against Cleveland and a 57-14 loss at Houston. Expect the Chiefs to prolong those woes.
Syracuse (12-3) hosts Notre Dame (12-3) at 3:15 ET. The Orange are favored by 6.
This is a prime spot in which to fade Notre Dame, which misses its top two contributors, power forward Bonzie Colson and point guard Matt Farrell. This was already a good spot for Syracuse, which has beaten Mike Brey’s Notre Dame five times in a row at home in the Dome.
The main reason for ND’s recent struggles in Syracuse’s Carrier Dome is that Brey's team typically relies disproportionately on three-point shooting. However, visiting teams often struggle to shoot from three in the dome because of how its unique structure alters the shooter’s perception. This was most remarkably evident this season when the high-flying Hokies scored only 56 points, going 10-for-30 from three, and last season, when Duke scored 75 and went 10-for-33 from three in a loss.
This year’s Notre Dame is again at its best from three. Part of the success from three was due to Farrell, who ranks 374th in three-point shooting. Farrell was also easily Notre Dame’s best distributor, ranking 147th in assist rate. Notre Dame will miss his playmaking. Backup TJ Gibbs has started three games at point guard this season. Two of Notre Dame’s three losses came with Gibbs at point guard.
Colson was even more involved in Notre Dame’s possessions and took even more shots. While Farrell was the second-leading scorer and leader in assists, Colson led the team with 21.4 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. Like Farrell, he was also a solid defender, ranking 94th in block percentage and 69th in steal percentage. Notre Dame misses significant playmaking, rebounding, scoring and defending ability without Farrell and Colson.
Syracuse’s defense, which ranks 14th in KenPom’s defensive efficiency, is already difficult to score against. Syracuse’s length inside makes it difficult for opposing teams to create shots. When they do shoot from outside, they tend to miss in the Dome. Cuse’s interior presence is also strong, led by center Paschal Chukwu who ranks second in block percentage. Syracuse ranks 13th in opposing two-point percentage, 7th in steal percentage and second in block percentage.
Boston College (10-5) hosts Wake Forest (8-6) today at 4. The Eagles are favored by 4.
This is a solid spot for guards Ky Bowman and Jerome Robinson and therefore Boston College. The two guards, BC’s most significant contributors, are from North Carolina but were not recruited by a single ACC school from their own state. They consequently have a chip on their shoulder whenever they face a team from North Carolina. Dating back to last season, Boston College is 6-1 ATS against teams from North Carolina. This trend applied to the victory against Duke, in which both guards combined for 54 points.
In four of BC’s five losses, both guards completed 33% or less from behind the arc. Both guards will get plenty of chances to shoot well from three against Wake’s poor perimeter defense, which allows the 10th-highest point distribution from three and the 306th-highest proportion of three pointers allowed. Wake ranks 320th, allowing 39.4 three-point percentage.
Both Robinson and Bowman will lead BC over this school from North Carolina.
For bettors who wish to increase their payout, I have a very solid spot play ATS for you. Colorado (9-6) hosts No. 14 Arizona (12-3) today at 2. The visiting Wildcats are favored by 9.5 points. Arizona is on the second leg of its Utah-Colorado road trip. Both Utah and Colorado play at higher altitude. So teams typically run out of gas in the second leg. Last season, teams in this spot went 1-5-1 ATS. The two covers came from teams who had lost decisively the game before and so didn’t give it their all. Arizona is coming off of a competitive win at Utah.
Pick: Kansas City ML, Syracuse ML, Boston College ML (and Colorado +9.5)
