Recent Play Details

3% Take Santa Clara (#709)

What was higher seeded Sam Houston State’s reward for the best regular season in program history?  A 2000 mile flight to California to play on Santa Clara’s home court because of a scheduling conflict on their own floor.  That’s not a positive thing, in this bettor’s opinion….

And Sam Houston might well be power rated in the wrong place right now.  The Bearkats were great five months ago; massive overachievers in November. They pulled off outright upsets against Oklahoma at +16.5 at Utah at +10.5.  They blew out Northern Illinois and South Dakota; opening the season 6-0 SU, 4-0 ATS; sending their power rating numbers skyrocketing.

Since that initial success, the Bearkats have been underdogs only four times: 0-4 SU, 0-4 ATS; largely feasting against weaker foes in the favorite’s role.  Three of the four losses came by double digits against the spread – non-competitive in defeat when they step up in class, even a little bit.  They’ve been favored in each of their last 15 games – nary a ‘step-up-in-class’ game in the bunch.  They’re stepping up in class here….

Santa Clara lost their NIT opener at Washington State last year.  This year, they have a winnable home game, and it’s surely worth noting their 4-1 ATS mark this season as short favorites of -5 or lower.  Chalk worth laying!  Take Santa Clara

Line Parameter: 3% at -5 or lower, 2% at -5.5 or higher