January 16, 2021 Results:

What we got right:

College Basketball:

#21 Ohio State at #14 Illinois - Rough day for us on the hard wood. It started out so well, with the Buckeyes pulling off the upset. Ohio State led from start to finish in this one. Illinois played pretty well offensively, but they allowed Ohio State to shoot 53% from the field and 52% from three point land. That kind of defense won’t win you many games.

NBA:

Charlotte at Toronto - Three days ago the Raptors beat the Hawks 111-108. Yesterday the Raptors beat the Hawks 116-113.We knew the seven point line was too much for Toronto to cover, and they didn’t disappoint us. The Raptors improve to 4-8 after their second consecutive victory, while Charlotte falls to 6-8.

Atlanta at Portland - Looks like we jinxed CJ McCollum. The Portland guard had to leave the game at halftime after spraining his foot, but Damian Lillard picked up the slack in the 112-106 win. Lillard scored 36 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and dished out seven assists in the victory. Now the Blazers hope that McCollum’s foot sprain wasn’t too serious.

NFL:

Los Angeles Rams at Green Bay Packers - This one was right on the money. The Rams offense looked out of sorts all day long, while the Packers scored on their first five possessions. The dagger was a beautiful throw from Aaron Rodgers to Allen Lazard, where the Rams defense bit on play action and Lazard ran right past the safeties. The Packers now face the winner of the Saints-Buccaneers game at Lambeau Field next week, looking for their first trip to the Super Bowl in 11 years.

What we got wrong:

College Basketball:

#17 Missouri at Texas A&M - For a half this game looked to be going in our favor. Missouri only led by three points at the break. In the second half the Tigers outscored the Aggies 41-28, leading them to a 68-52 win. Texas A&M shot only 36% from the field and had 17 turnovers. That won’t get it done against ranked teams.

#7 Michigan at #23 Minnesota - We should have known that the Gophers were going to put up a fight. They are undefeated at home this season, and that continued yesterday in handing the Wolverines their first loss of the season in a 75-57 rout. Minnesota did all of their damage in the paint, as they made only four three pointers. Michigan didn’t have an answer for the driving capabilities of the Minnesota guards.

#8 Creighton at Butler - Creighton shot better than Butler did in this one, but couldn’t keep the Bulldogs off the glass on the offensive side. Butler had 11 offensive rebounds, which helped offset shooting only 37% from the field. Creighton led 60-50 with just under six minutes left in the game, but Butler ended the game on a 20-6 run to get the 70-66 win.

#2 Baylor at #15 Texas Tech - This game was a tale of two halves. The first half was a defensive showcase, with Baylor leading only 26-18. The second half featured and offensive explosion, with each team scoring 42 points. At the end of the day Baylor was just too much for Texas Tech, and the Bears stayed undefeated with the 68-60 win.

Vanderbilt at #10 Tennessee - Vanderbilt had only six players score in this game, while Tennessee had six players score more than eight points. That kind of balance led the Volunteers to an 81-61 win. We said that 18 points was too big of a spread. We were wrong. Happened a lot yesterday.

#18 Virginia at #12 Clemson - We didn’t see this offensive output coming from the Cavaliers in this one. Virginia dominated in every aspect of this game, holding Clemson to 16 points under their season average. The Cavaliers shot 60% from the field and only turned the ball over seven times, leading them to an 85-50 bludgeoning over the Tigers.

Kansas State at #18 Texas - This was the other game, along with Tennessee-Vanderbilt, where the line between conference foes was 18 points. We said that 18 was too much for Tennessee, but not enough for Texas. We should have flipped them. The Longhorns won this game 82-67, bouncing back from their loss to Texas Tech nicely.

#16 Louisville at Miami - The Cardinals built themselves too big of a hole in the first half, trailing 33-21 at the break. They scored 51 points in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the 12 point half time deficit. Miami held on for the 78-72 win, handing Louisville their first loss in conference play.

#1 Gonzaga at Saint Mary’s - Another missed opportunity for us to pick the Gonzaga Bulldogs correctly. The games Gonzaga plays always comes down to the wire involving the point spread, and so far we have gotten every one of them wrong. Yesterday the line was 15.5, and Gonzaga won 73-59. The Bulldogs didn’t play well in the first half for the second straight game, but once again a second half spark led the way.

NBA:

Houston at San Antonio - The Spurs ended their four game losing streak by beating the Rockets 103-91. DeMar DeRozan scored 24 points for San Antonio, joining four other Spurs players in double figures. Houston got 24 points and 18 rebounds from Christian Wood, but he didn’t have enough help in the loss.

Orlando at Brooklyn - The line was nine and the Nets won by seven. The Magic lost their fifth straight game, but they kept it within single digits in this one. James Harden had a triple double in his debut with the Nets, while Kevin Durant scored 42 in the 122-115 win. They looked like they have played together for years, despite last being teammates in Oklahoma City in 2012.

Detroit at Miami - Miami dropped to 4-7 with the 120-100 loss to the Pistons, and they have to be wondering when they are going to get Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo back. The decisive quarter was the third, with Detroit outscoring Miami 38-19 in those 12 minutes. Jerami Grant led the way for Detroit with 24 points.

Philadelphia at Memphis - Ja Morant returned for the Grizzlies after missing their last eight games, and Joel Embiid didn’t play in this one. Morant scored 17 points in his return which was just enough for Memphis in the 106-104 win. Shake Milton led the way for the 76ers with 28 points off the bench, but they didn’t get enough production from their starters to win this one.

NFL:

Baltimore at Buffalo - We could not have been more wrong about this game. We expected an offensive explosion, but what we got was four missed field goals, a 101 yard defensive touchdown, and only three points for the Ravens. Buffalo’s defense dominated in their 17-3 victory, getting the aforementioned defensive touchdown, and holding the Ravens high flying offense down. Buffalo’s offense only had 220 yards in this one, but with that dominant defense they didn’t need the offense to do anything. Buffalo now awaits the winner of the Chiefs-Browns matchup to see who they face in the AFC Championship game.