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Big Al's Daily Angle: NBA, NHL and NCAAB Previews and Odds - 01/08/2025

The Wednesday sports card features NBA, NHL, and NCAAB action.The National Basketball Association has eight games on its docket. Three NBA games tip off at 7:10 p.m. ET. The Cleveland Cavaliers host the Oklahoma City Thunder on ESPN as a 3-point favorite with the total set at 229 (all odds from DraftKings). The Philadelphia 76ers play at home against the Washington Wizards as an 11-point favorite with an over/under of 220. The Indiana Pavers are home against the Chicago Bulls as a 5.5-point favorite with a total of 241. Two NBA games start at 7:40 p.m. ET. The New York Knicks host the Toronto Raptors as an 11.5-point favorite with an over/under of 231.5. The Detroit Pistons travel to Brooklyn to play the Nets as an 8-point road favorite with a total of 213. The New Orleans Pelicans play at home against the Portland Trail Blazers at 8:10 p.m. ET as a 2.5-point favorite with an over/under of 226.5. The Los Angeles Clippers play in Denver against the Nuggets at 9:10 p.m. ET as a 2.5-point road favorite with a total of 228. The Milwaukee Bucks are home against the San Antonio Spurs on ESPN at 9:40 p.m. ET as a 5.5-point favorite with an over/under of 223.The National Hockey League has four games on its slate. Two NHL  games drop the puck at 7:37 p.m. ET. The Colorado Avalanche are in Chicago to play the Blackhawks on TNT as a -265 money-line road favorite with a total of 6.5. The Washington Capitals host the Vancouver Canucks as a -175 money-line favorite with an over/under of 5.5. The Florida Panthers visit Utah to play the Hockey Club on TNT at 10:07 p.m. ET as a -135 money-line road favorite with a total of 5.5. The Los Angeles Kings play at home against the Calgary Flames at 10:37 p.m. ET as a -238 money-line favorite with an over/under of 5.5.The NCAAB college basketball schedule has 50 games between Division I opponents. Nine NCAAB games are on major national television. UConn plays at Villanova on FS1 at 6:30 p.m. ET as a 1-point road favorite with a total of 147. Three NCAAB games tip-off on major national television at 7:00 p.m. ET. Bradley is at home against Drake on the CBS Sports Network as a 2.5-point favorite with an over/under of 126. Arkansas hosts Mississippi on ESPN2 as a 3.5-point favorite with a total of 148. North Carolina State plays at home against Notre Dame on ESPNU as a 2-point favorite with an over/under of 138.5. Three major nationally televised NCAAB games begin at 9:00 p.m. ET. Kansas City is at Nebraska-Omaha on the CBS Sports Network as a 1.5-point road favorite with a total of 139.5. Kansas is at home against Arizona State on ESPN2 as a 13.5-point favorite with an over/under of 143.5. North Texas hosts Rice on ESPNU as an 11.5-point favorite with a total of 125.5. San Diego State plays at home against Air Force on FS1 at 10:30 p.m. ET as a 21.5-point favorite with an over/under of 131.5. California is home against Virginia on ESPNU at 11:00 p.m. ET as a 4.5-point favorite with a total of 132.

College Football’s Final Four Storyline

In the first round of the College Football Playoff, the teams seeded 5-8 all won. In the second round, they all won again.The moral of this story: who knows, other than something doesn't totally add up when not a single one of the top four teams, all of which received the advantage of a first-round bye, advances into college football's final four. No conference championship? No problem. None of the schools won a conference title or earned a first-round bye in the playoffs, but each features a coach who has never won a national championship before. The semifinals are set: Next Thursday in the Orange Bowl, it will be No. 6 Penn State vs. No. 7 Notre Dame. Then, Friday in the Cotton Bowl, it will be No. 5 Texas vs. No. 8 Ohio State.What’s with the SEC?Texas is the highest remaining seed. There's no way Ohio State should be seeded eighth. Suddenly, seventh-seeded Notre Dame seems like the bracket's cuddly underdog. That's one way to look at it. Here's another: The SEC is on the clock. If Texas loses the Cotton Bowl to Ohio State, the SEC will be out of the championship game for the second consecutive season. One thing this expanded tournament could still use: a well-played, truly great football game. Other than the two-overtime win by Texas over Arizona State on Wednesday, all these playoff games have been double-digit snoozefests.Who’s Hot?Ohio State is the hottest team in the field but still is internalizing its own special angst of not being able to win the big one on the heels of a fourth straight loss to rival Michigan to close the regular season. Hottest? Hang on because Notre Dame may want to have a word. The Irish have shed themselves of the torment from the Northern Illinois loss. The 12-game winning streak since then is the longest in the country.Will defense win this?If defense wins championships, then Marcus Freeman has this thing figured out. The 62.5 rushing yards per game is the best in the playoff. Defensive coordinator Al Golden has allowed the two playoff opponents -- Indiana and Georgia -- only 61 plays each. The Irish have held the ball 56% of the time (67 out of 120 minutes). PENN ST vs NOTRE DAME (-2.5)No. 7 Notre Dame (13-1) The Story: When the Irish lost 16-14 at home to Northern Illinois on Sept. 7, Notre Dame's odds of winning the national title ballooned to 100-1. Twelve wins later, including two by double digits in the playoffs, and they are listed at 7-1.We shall see if quarterback Riley Leonard can be the difference offensively. Against Georgia, he passed for less than 100 yards but led the Irish in rushing. No. 6 Penn State (13-2) The Story: After a loss to Oregon in the Big Ten title game, Franklin's record against teams in the AP Top 10 dropped to 3-19. Oregon isn't playing anymore, Ohio State is and Franklin's record against the Buckeyes is 1-10.Penn State has the most explosive running game in the playoff (more than 200 yards per game). Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton are the first pair of 1,000-yard rushers for the Nittany Lions in the same season. Quarterback Drew Allar just completed his eighth career game with at least three touchdown passes and no interceptions. But Allar always seems to miss one or two wide open receivers per game. He's either still developing or that is an ongoing flaw in his game. That's not a good combination with ND leading the country allowing only 51% of opponent passes to be completed. PSU's All-American tight end Tyler Warren can go off at any time. In the playoff, he has 17 touches receiving, rushing and throwing for 102 yards and two touchdowns.Hidden stat: Penn State lives in the opponent's backfield. Only two other Power Four programs have more tackles for loss. Penn State has 20 TFLs in 148 opponents' snaps in the postseason. TEXAS vs OHIO ST (-6)No. 5 Texas (13-2) The Story: The Longhorns are 0-2 against Georgia and don't have to worry about the Dawgs anymore. They are 13-0 against the rest of the country.Quinn Ewers returns to his "roots" against Ohio State. It seems like a decade ago, but Texas' quarterback started with the Buckeyes after reclassifying to get out of high school a year early. He basically did it for an NIL bag. Ewers took only four snaps that freshman season. Now, he has become the face of Texas with an NFL-quality arm backed by an elite defense. Because of its lack of attention to detail, Texas allowed Arizona State to rally late to tie in Peach Bowl quarterfinal. The Longhorns arguably should have lost after a targeting penalty against Michael Taaffe wasn't called.No. 8 Ohio State (12-2) The Story: After punctuating a fourth straight loss to Michigan by standing on the field looking lost while the Wolverines triggered a melee by planting the team flag at the 50-yard line, there was good reason to think coach Ryan Day could only keep his job by somehow rallying to win a national title that felt unlikely.Hidden stat: Ohio State is one win away from becoming the fourth team ever with four wins against top-five ranked teams in a season. The others are Notre Dame (1943), USC (1967) and LSU (2019). 

Big Al's Daily Angle: NBA, NHL, and NCAAB Previews and Odds - 1/7/2025

The Tuesday sports card features NBA, NHL, and NCAAB action.The National Basketball Association has seven games on its docket. Two NBA games tip off at 7:10 p.m. ET. The Houston Rockets travel to Washington to play the Wizards as an 11.5-point road favorite with the total set at 226 (all odds from DraftKings). The Phoenix Suns play in Charlotte against the Hornets as a 4-point road favorite with an over/under of 222. The Los Angeles Lakers are in Dallas to face the Mavericks on TNT at 7:40 p.m. ET as a 6.5-point road favorite with a total of 218.5. The Minnesota Timberwolves visit New Orleans to play the Pelicans at 8:10 p.m. ET as a 4.5-point road favorite with an over/under of 220. The Atlanta Hawks play in Utah against the Jazz at 9:10 p.m. ET as a 6.5-point road favorite with a total of 235.5. Two games conclude the NBA card at 10:10 p.m. ET. The Golden State Warriors host the Miami Heat as a 9-point favorite with an over/under of 218. The Boston Celtics are in Denver to battle the Nuggets on TNT as a 5-point road favorite with a total of 236. The National Hockey League has 10 games on its slate. Five NHL games drop the puck at 7:07 p.m. ET. The Carolina Hurricanes travel to Tampa Bay to play the Lightning as a -112 money-line road favorite with an over/under of 6.5. The Dallas Stars play in New York against the Rangers as a -162 money-line road favorite with a total of 6.5. The Ottawa Senators are in Detroit to play the Red Wings as a -120 money-line road favorite with an over/under of 5.5. The Edmonton Oilers visit Detroit to play the Red Wings as a -142 money-line road favorite with a total of 5.5. The Pittsburgh Penguins play at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets as a -142 money-line favorite with an over/under of 6.5. The Toronto Maple Leafs play in Philadelphia against the Flyers at 7:37 p.m. ET as a -142 money-line road favorite with a total of 6.5. Two more NHL games begin at 8:07 p.m. ET. The Minnesota Wild are home against the St.Louis Blues as a -148 money-line favorite with an over/under of 5.5. The Winnipeg Jets host the Nashville Predators as a -155 money-line favorite with a total of 5.5.The Calgary Flames are in Anaheim to play the Ducks at 10:07 p.m. ET as a -135 money-line road favorite with an over/under of 6.5. The Vegas Golden Knights travel to San Jose to play the Sharks at 10:37 p.m. ET as a -258 money-line road favorite with a total of 6.5. The NCAAB college basketball schedule has 34 games between Division I opponents. Twelve NCAAB games are on major national television. St. John’s plays at Xavier on FS1 at 6:30 p.m. ET as a 1.5-point road favorite with an over/under of 151.5. Three NCAAB games are on major national television at 7:00 p.m. ET. Florida plays at home against Tennessee on ESPN2 as a 2.5-point favorite with a total of 148.5. Louisville is at home against Clemson on ESPNU as a 3.5-point favorite with an over/under of 143.5. Duke hosts Pittsburgh on ESPN as a 14.5-point favorite with a total of 143.5.Two major nationally televised NCAAB games tip off at 8:00 p.m. ET.  Marquette plays at home against Georgetown on the CBS Sports Network as a 12.5-point favorite with an over/under of 145.5. Iowa is home against Nebraska on Peacock as a 3.5-point favorite with a total of 159. Two NCAAB games are on major national television at 9:00 p.m. ET. Auburn is at Texas on ESPN2 as a 10.5-point road favorite with an over/under of 152.5. Mississippi State visits Vanderbilt on ESPNU as a 1.5-point road favorite with a total of 154.5.  Two major nationally televised NCAAB games start at 10:00 p.m. ET. New Mexico plays at Wyoming on the CBS Sports Network as a 7-point road favorite with an over/under of 147. UCLA hosts Michigan on Peacock as a 3.5-point favorite with a total of 141. Boise State plays at home against UNLV on FS1 at 10:30 p.m. ET as a 7-point favorite with an over/under of 140. Saint Mary’s is home against Loyola-Marymount on ESPN2 at 11:00 p.m. ET as a 14.5-point favorite with a total of 135.

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