Bryan Power

8* WI-Green Bay (10:00 ET): It's been an impressive run so far out on the West Coast for Green Bay w/ them upsetting Eastern Washington and then taking care of Morehead State. Tonight, the task is far tougher as they head down to Oregon, but I think the Phoenix will be up for it. They're getting a lot of points here against a team in prime letdown mode following a big win. This is the end of the non-bracketed 2K Empire Classic, an event which has seen GB play two "true" road games already and go a perfect 2-0 ATS in them. The last game (vs. Morehead State) may have been the most impressive performance to date as the Phoenix led by double digits most of the second half in a game where they were a slight underdog. I'll take the points here.

Oregon is nationally ranked (#21) and I'm not going to disagree w/ the pollsters on that. But this 2K Empire Classic Event has not been all "wine and roses." They lost to Iowa in Madison Square Garden last week, 77-69, a game in which the Ducks shot just 37.1% from the floor. They never led and were down 11 at halftime. Now compare that to Green Bay's performance against the Hawkeyes, which came in Iowa City, where the Phoenix were down by only one point entering halftime. After losing to Iowa, Oregon has since rebounded w/ an 80-65 win over Syracuse, also in MSG. They were better in all facets in that game, namely holding the Orange to just 35.3% shooting. But don't think for a second that result didn't affect this line, which now looks to be inflated. 

Both of these teams have beaten Eastern Washington, Oregon doing so in much more lopsided fashion, but for them it was a home game while Green Bay had to go to Cheney to get the win. The Phoenix are 3-0 ATS their last three games and the two SU losses they have suffered so far have come by a total of 15 pts. The Ducks will be their toughest opponent to date and this is a third consecutive game out West in a five-day span. The win over Eastern Washington was an overtime game as well. But this is just too many points to lay if you're Oregon, which will have to deal w/ a full-court press that forced Iowa into 17 turnovers. Also, Green Bay has topped 80 points in three straight games, so it's going to be really tough to score enough to cover a big number like this against them. 8* WI-Green Bay

8* LA Clippers (7:05 ET): The Wizards are such a dumpster fire right now that I'm more than willing to look past the fact the Clippers are in the second night of a back to back here. Reports are coming in that everyone is on trade block in Washington and it's already been confirmed that John Wall and Bradley Beal have had to be reprimanded for verbally berating the team's coach and general manager in a public setting. Another report surfaced that the players on the team simply "don't like each other." So that's the backdrop for Tuesday night's game as the Wizards come in at a very disappointing 5-11 SU on the season while also owning the league's worst ATS record (4-11-1). 

While the Wizards have been a massive disappointment, the Clippers have been a pleasant surprise so far. Last night's come from behind effort in Atlanta was the Clips' fifth straight victory, giving them an 11-5 SU mark on the year. This current five-game run has seen them cover the spread every time while the Over is also a perfect 5-0. Last night, they did have to rally from a 15-point second half deficit to beat Atlanta 127-119. Obviously, that requires a lot of energy, but the key here is that this team is deep. Four reserves scored in double digits last night, led by Montrezl Harrell's 25 pts. The Clips are a top five team in offensive efficiency right now and should have no problems scoring on a Wizards team that is 27th in defensive efficiency and 29th in points allowed. 

While the Clippers have won five in a row as well as seven of its last eight, Washington has dropped B2B games, both here at home. The last one was even worse than it looked as they trailed Portland by 19 entering the 4th quarter, which is when beleaguered HC Scott Brooks benched his starters for the rest of the game. Not that it matters much, but Dwight Howard continues to be limited due to an ongoing glute injury. The Wizards are not shooting well from three-point range (32.7%), which is a problem in today's NBA. The only other time the Clippers have had to play a back to back this season, they won the second game, 116-110 in Miami. Even w/o second-leading scorer Gallinari and w/o rest, they deserve to be favored tonight. 8* LA Clippers

8* Ball State (7:00 ET): Miami, Ohio has done a nice job working its way not only to the cusp of bowl eligibility, but also into the race for the MAC East. When the RedHawks were 3-6 SU, their postseason hopes looked bleak. But a couple of upsets later, they're now in the discussion for the MAC Championship Game. Granted, it's unlikely they can get to Detroit (would require not only a win Tuesday, but a Buffalo loss to Bowling Green on Friday). But the RedHawks certainly have "everything to play for" this week, namely bowl eligibility. They're at home facing a bad Ball State team, but I think this number is inflated. Take the points. 

Ball State pulled an upset of its own last Wednesday, theirs coming over Western Michigan on Senior Night, an emotional game in Muncie that went to overtime. The final score was 42-41 and the Cardinals were a 9.5-point underdog. They won by stopping what would have been a game-winning 2-pt conversion. In addition to it being Senior Night, the Cardinals were also off a bye last week, so the situation was definitely favorable. It's obviously less so here, but I was very impressed w/ the job done by QB Drew Plitt against Western Michigan as he threw three touchdowns and only five incompletions in just his second career start (but sixth appearance this year).

Miami might have everything to play for here, but let's see how they perform as a favorite and a large one at that. The RedHawks are 7-1 ATS the L8 games, the lone non-cover coming by a single point against Buffalo. But they've been a favorite only twice during that stretch and never by anywhere close to this many points. Then you have the fact they were a bit of a lucky winner last week, pulling the 13-7 upset at Northern Illinois despite just 201 total yds of offense. The winning score was a pick-six. The RedHawks averaged just 2.3 yards per carry on offense while NIU averaged 5.7. It was a game Miami should feel lucky to have won. In yet another game where points should be at a premium, backing the big underdog seems logical. 8* Ball State