Editor’s Note: Guest post by Hayden King
Last weekend’s games didn’t bring any surprises. I went 12-2 on picks with wins on: Bucknell, Duke, Marquette, Navy, Ohio State, Rutgers, Syracuse, Maryland, Providence, Penn State, Denver, and Hopkins.
The two losses came from picking betting favorites Hofstra and Detroit Mercy.
I’ve been able to watch most of the games and we’ve got some takes coming out of the weekend. Duke looked like world beaters, Syracuse looked vulnerable, and Maryland did exactly what we expected.
Also, people are way too high on Utah.
Somehow, Utah was able to pull bettors in. Denver’s money line was only favored at -250, which meant you could spend $10 to get $14.
Denver pummeled Utah with eight different goal scorers for a 12-4 finish. The Pioneers almost doubled (13-7) the Utes face off total.
Utah has been able to put together some pretty good seasons since they’ve entered Division 1. However, don’t trick yourself into betting on them versus the Top 20 teams. Besides a win over #17 Vermont last year, Utah lost 2 of their 3 Top 20 games in 2022.
Syracuse fascinates me every year with how high people get on the Orange.
“This is going to be their season.”
Well, this year will not be that season.
The Orange went 7-6 in 2021 and 4-10 in 2022, and even with the addition of Gait and Pietramala, it’s hard to wash that stink off. They should be better than they were in 2022, but Saturday’s game against Vermont didn’t leave me very hopeful of a playoff run.
Contrary to popular opinion on Twitter, I think Joey Spallina is still going to have a monster year.
However, if they don’t fix their clears Syracuse is going to be in trouble. They went 70% on clears Saturday and Vermont took advantage.
Secondly, Cuse won 7 of their 16 face offs on Saturday which is concerning. They will need to step it up at the X if they want any chance of making the post season.
Duke came out buzzing with a 19-7 win over Bellarmine, and I think their future just became even more appealing. Their offense looked significantly more balanced than it has in years past, and Brennan O’Neill still netted 7 points (5 goals, 3 assists) on the day. Dyson Williams is still one of the ‘key cogs’ of this Duke offense.
Duke cleared the ball at a 89% clip, basically shooting a freethrow for NBA players. They also went 66% on faceoffs, with Naso winning about 73%. They looked like a solid team, and one I’d be willing to bet we see come Memorial Day.
Here are my picks for the weekend’s games.
Bet responsibility. Plenty of season left.
Virginia over Michigan: Locked ML
Vermont over Boston: +115
Army over Massachusetts: -145
Hobart over Canisius: Locked ML
Delaware over Lafayette: Locked ML
Ohio State over Cleveland State: Locked ML
Quinnipiac over UMass Lowell: -165
Marist over Binghamton: +100
St. Bonaventure over Bellarmine: -105
Georgetown over Hopkins: Locked ML
Maryland over Loyola: Locked ML
Rutgers over Stony Brook: Locked ML
Manhattan over St. John’s: -210
Lehigh over Fairfield: Locked ML
Bryant over Providence: -255
Siena over NJIT: -410
Marquette over Utah: +150
Navy over Hofstra: -425
Bucknell over Robert Morris: -385
Denver over Air Force: Locked ML
Towson over Mount St. Mary’s: Locked ML
Villanova over Penn State: +105
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