Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone out there. Whether you are single or together there are plenty of ways to enjoy the evening and if you’re a sports fanatic like me then there are some pretty good basketball games in play tonight if you want to have a peak at some potential March Madness sleepers.
If you want to enjoy some college hoops action tonight and play along, I’m here to offer up my picks to play tonight. Instead of picking games straight up or against the spread, I’m going to add the dimension of the Sweetheart Teaser, in the spirit of Valentine’s Day.
No a sweetheart teaser isn’t the random date you added to the evening or the person you’ve been seeing for the past few weeks. A Sweetheart Teaser for basketball is 3-10 teams “teased” or boosted by up to 13 points. So a +1 1/2 point spread can become a 14 1/2 point spread.
Obviously, the odds change dramatically based on the number of teams and number of points teased. So for example if you believe a game will be close and the line is set at 3 1/2 points, you could theoretically tease it up to a 16 1/2 point spread.
So today, I’ll offer up my college basketball sweetheart teaser of the day teased at +10.
- Over 128 UNC Greensboro @ Furman
- Wofford -12.5 vs VMI
- Murray State +8.5 @ Austin Peay
- South Dakota State +6.5 @ Nebraska Omaha
- East Tennessee State -7 vs The Citadel
The original lines were Over 138, Wofford -22.5, Murray State -1.5, South Dakota State -3.5, and East Tennessee State -17. A $1.00 parlay would win $23.36. However, in a +10 Sweetheart Teaser, the odds become +110.
You can see how the odds change dramatically, yet now I have a lot more favorable spreads.
UNC Greensboro and Furman are 2 of the top Southern Conference teams this year. Both have 20+ win seasons to date and trail only Wofford in the conference. The SoCon has been one of the more underrated conferences with 4 high quality teams at the top. ESPN recently did an article on Wofford but UNCG, Furman, and East Tennessee State have been some of the most bankable teams in college this year.
Speaking of the SoCon, as you can see Wofford and ETSU are included in this teaser. Wofford is 13-0 in conference play, has had a really good season, and is hosting Virginia Military Institute who has only won 1 conference game and 7 all year. Wofford should definitely win but I have a hard time picking 20+ spreads so a natural 10 point swing puts them in play here.
ETSU is also at home tonight and playing an inferior team in The Citadel. They are going for win number 20 tonight so they should feel a little extra amped to play tonight.
South Dakota State has a tricky one on the road against a pretty good Nebraska Omaha team who is capable of pulling the upset. However, SDSU has been a tournament team and conference champion as of late so teasing the Jackrabbits protects a little from the upset.
Finally, Murray State has one of the best players in the nation in Ja Morant. Morant averages 23.9 points per game and 10.2 assist per game. At 6’3”, he’s projected to be a lottery pick and every bit worth checking out tonight as they take on the Co-Leaders of the Ohio Valley Conference (Belmont, Murray St, and Austin Peay have a 3 way tie atop the conference leaderboard). Austin Peay sits at 18-7, just one game behind Murray State so tonight should be a battle to see who falls back a spot with Belmont in play as well.
Honorable Mentions to add in the +10 teaser:
- Drexel +1 (+11)
- Gonzaga -20.5 (-10.5)
- Weber State -0 (+10)
- Belmont -13 (-3)
I hope everyone has a great Valentine’s Day and hopefully this Sweetheart Teaser will come through tonight…unlike…well…you know.
Peace and Love to everyone.
-Jaracz
*Picture by https://www.pinterest.com/pin/232639136975491089/
The Other Side Sports 