Whatever the posted total is in your sportsbook for Saturday’s Big Ten showdown between No.11 Penn State and No.16 Ohio State, consider the under, which has been the result for four of their last five meetings.

Ohio State vs Penn State odds – Saturday, November 7, 3:30 PM ET

The Buckeyes (7-2, 4-1) pounded New Mexico State 45-0, but don’t be surprised, sportsbook players: Ohio State is not an offensive juggernaut. The Buckeyes are 63^rd in the nation in offense, including 94^th through the air, and quarterback Terrelle Pryor has struggled this year, thanks in part to some poor play-calling by coach Jim Tressel. Pryor was a darkhorse in many sports picks for the Heisman award, but it seems that Tressel still hasn’t figured out how to use his dual-threat pivot.

The Nittany Lions (8-1, 4-1) dropped Northwestern 34-13 on the road, and they’re a much more balanced offensive squad than the Buckeyes as they’re 33^rd on the ground, powered by Evan Royster, or you can face Darryl Clark and the No.34-ranked aerial attack. Penn State has been on a mission since their upset home loss to Iowa, who lead the Big Ten, and this will be their first major sportsbook test since then.

Sportsbook odds favor the Nittany Lions by five points at home, and the Buckeyes would love nothing more than to avenge last year’s 13-6 loss at the Horseshoe at the hands of Penn State. This should be a low-scoring as the Nittany Lions are fifth in the nation in points allowed, while the Buckeyes are sixth in the country. Outside of Ohio State‘s 37-17 win at Happy Valley, their recent meetings have been defensive slugfests, and this is looking to follow that trend. The Buckeyes really don’t have many outside threats besides Pryor, while the Nittany Lions can go to Royster to take the pressure off of Clark, which also brings the play-action pass into play. The Buckeyes won’t win, or at least share, their fifth straight Big Ten title, and the Nittany Lions will keep their hopes alive.

NCAA football picks: Penn State -5

White hot sports handicapper Matt Rivers has another free winner today on the Nuggets at Heat. BetUs Sportsbook has Miami -1.
 
I’m going to roll with the red hot boys from Denver today as my comp winner. We all saw Carmelo and the fellows get hyped last season only to get outclassed and fall short against Kobe and the Lakers. Well that really was a lesson that George Karl’s team has to work even harder if they are going to break through and become an elite team. So far a week plus into the season that lesson has been learned.
 
Let’s face it Denver is a supremely talented team and at 5-0 have show this on numerous occasions already. I’m not at all saying that going to South Beach and taking care of business is going to come easy as Dwyane Wade is awesome and the Heat are playing very good ball early on with that 4-1 mark but in the end I will put my chips on the visitors.
 
Melo can fill it up and somewhat offset Wade and after that, major advantage Denver. Karl’s crew is absolutely oozing with talent and now Ty Lawson is proving himself to be a baller to go along with Anthony, Billups, Nene, Martin and others. These guys seem to be on a mission early on as they are scoring points in bushels and appearing much focused.
 
At some point the Nuggs will lose that is the obvious of the obvious but I don’t see what is still a very mediocre Heat team being the first loss.  
 
The pick: Denver +1. Matt says the final score will be 111-104 in favor of Denver.

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The free picks section has several NFL week 9 picks to beat the NFL point spread.

Neither the Bears nor Cardinals can make up their mind. Both oscillate from brilliant victory to crushing defeat, and momentum has been non-existence. Perhaps this Sunday matchup will spark something and get one of them rolling… but probably not. So who should you take at the sportsbook this weekend?

Arizona Cardinals at Chicago Bears
Sunday, November 9 at 1:00 p.m. ET
NFL odds: Bears -3

The Cardinals offense was in flux last week, to say the least. Kurt Warner’s five interceptions highlighted an awful day that culminated in a 35-21 home loss to the Panthers. Receiver Anquan Boldin is struggling with an ankle sprain and has been severely limited, but that’s no excuse—Warner has plenty of good targets to choose from. Warner now has 11 touchdowns and 11 interceptions this season; he hasn’t been able to recapture the magic of last season’s Super Bowl run.

Arizona wasn’t much better on defense. The team had made some great strides and was showing real fight against the run, but it all came crumbling down against the Panthers, who rushed for 270 yards, two touchdowns and gouged the Cards for 6.1 yards per pop. Suffice to say, it’s embarrassing to give up 35 points when the opposing team’s quarterback  goes 7/14 for just 90 yards.

Chicago got back on track with at 30-6 win over the hapless Browns. The defense created five turnovers and was excellent on third down, limiting Cleveland to just one conversion in 11 tries. Bear in mind, it’s easy to look good against the Browns and Chicago allowed a humiliating 45 points agains the Bengals a few weeks ago.

The Bears finally got a nice contribution from the running game, racking up 170 yards and two scores. Problem is, 85 of those yards came from a back-up and quarterback Jay Cutler. Matt Forte ground out 90 yards and the two touchdowns but it took him 26 carries to do it—a 3.5 average. Cutler continued his blase season, much to the confusion of many sports betting system, and went 17/30 for 225 yards, no touchdowns and a pick. He has an underwhelming 80.8 passer rating and, like Warner, 11 touchdowns to 11 interceptions.

Both teams are up and down, but Arizona’s offense has proven to be much more explosive, even with Warner struggling last week. Arizona should put some points up this week and score enough to squeak past the Bears. Take Chicago on your NFL predictions.

Mark Teahan has been traded from Kansas City to the Chicago White Sox to Chris Getz and Josh Fields. The Yankees parade 2009 route has been announced, while OffshoreInsiders.com remains the easiest route to beating the sportsbooks.

Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: Virginia Tech takes on East Carolina, the Cavaliers play host to the Bulls, and the Blackhawks try to grab a win in Phoenix. Professional bettors are saying this could be the easiest weekend of football winning since November of 2006.

Colliding on the gridiron . . .

There are three games on the college football schedule for Thursday, with Miami (Ohio) at Temple, Eastern Michigan at Northern Illinois, and No. 22 Virginia Tech at East Carolina. The ranked Hokies (5-3 SU, 3-5 ATS) are coming off a disappointing 20-17 loss to North Carolina in their last contest, with Tyrod Taylor rushing for the team’s two TDs. The Pirates (5-3 SU, 3-4 ATS) beat Memphis 38-19 last time out. Oddsmakers have Virginia Tech listed as the 13-point favorites.

What a sensational handicapper superstar Stevie Vincent is. He is 12-3 in NCAAF the last 15 and is winning in every sport. He now has the Virginia Tech and East Carolina over/under and Temple/Miami Ohio over/under. What a star.  Here is on a 20-8 overall tear. Click now to purchase

Tipping off on the hardwood . . .

The NBA has just two games on the schedule for Thursday, with San Antonio at Utah and Chicago at Cleveland. The Cavaliers improved to 3-2 on the season last time out, surging in the second half to a 102-90 home win over the Wizards. LeBron James led the way with 27 points and eight boards for the Cavs in that contest. The Bulls edged the Bucks 83-81 at home on Tuesday night, getting 24 points and 20 rebounds from Luol Deng. Derrick Rose had 16 points in the win.

Taking a trip around the rink . . .

Finally, the National Hockey League offers up 10 games on Thursday night, including Chicago at Phoenix. The 8-4-1 Blackhawks last took to the ice last Friday, picking up a 3-2 home win over the Canadiens. Kris Versteeg, Cam Barker, and Patrick Sharp scored for Chicago in that win, while Patrick Kane picked up two assists and Cristobal Huet made 20 saves. Hawks captain Jonathan Toews remains day-to-day; the forward has been out with a head injury.

Also on the ice on Thursday: Montreal at Boston, Columbus at Atlanta, San Jose at Detroit, Tampa Bay at Ottawa, Vancouver at Minnesota, Calgary at St. Louis, Nashville at Anaheim, Pittsburgh at Los Angeles, and the Rangers at Edmonton. The Oilers are on a two-game losing streak, falling 3-1 on Long Island in their most recent contest. Ethan Moreau had the Oilers‘ lone marker in that matchup.

Blistering hot sports handicapper Matt Rivers has a pick on the San Antonio Spurs at Utah Jazz contest. It’s to take the Spurs -2 at BetUs Sportsbook
 
I love the upside of Gregg Popovich’ team this season after the acquisition of Richard Jefferson as all of the sudden the aging Spurs have become a team that has a shot to compete for a championship once again. Duncan, Parker and Ginobili are still a great threesome and when throwing both Jefferson and DeJuan Blair among others in the fold we are looking at a very well balanced team that will win a ton of games this season.
 
Utah is always going to be formidable at home as Jerry Sloan’s team wins around 30 games on their home floor a year but right now things are just not right. The Jazz blew that ridiculous fourth quarter lead to Dallas on Tuesday and are now playing for the third night in four games. Deron Williams is a super talented point guard but Carlos Boozer is not the dominant force he used to be and all in all Utah has started in poor fashion at 1-3.
 
Before that last loss the Jazz uncharacteristically looked awful in falling 113-96 at home to what is a mediocre at the very very best Houston team. Something is just not right with the Jazz so far in 2009 and I’ll therefore take my chances with the much better team now and overall in the Spurs today.

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