December 13th Picks

Ryan's Picks

Pick #1 San Jose Sharks

      I like the San Jose Sharks to travel to Denver, and defeat the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center. The Sharks are the much better team, and they are trying to end a two game losing streak. The Sharks played a good game last time out against the Blackhawks and lost a tough game in overtime after giving up a tying goal late. Meanwhile, the Avalanche are on a three game losing streak of their own, and are trending down. The sharks have won 10 out of the last 13 games against the Avalanche, and that trend should continue.  

Christian's pick

1. Minnesota Wild

     The Wild have a) the best record in hockey and b) are on the longest current win streak, equaling 7 in a row. During this seven-game winning streak, the Wild have outscored their opponents by 13 goals and have had a GAA of 1.71. Also, 5 of the 7 games have been on the road including the last 4 which were against Phoenix, L.A., San Jose, and Anaheim; all capable hockey teams. Some notable injuries for the Wild are Devin Setoguchi, Marek Zidlicky, and Josh Harding. The only two injuries that will impact this game are Zidlicky and Setoguchi because Backstrom will be good to go in net and he will be backed by a very capable rookie in Hackett. Also, The Wild will be getting back Latendresse and Clutterbuck for this game as well. For the Jets, they may be without Dustin Byfuglien who, as we all know, is a hard-hitting enforcer vital to this Winnipeg team. The reason some may be skeptical about this game is because Winnipeg is a tough place to win and this same Jets team ended the Bruins' long-winning streak at home. This is most likely why the odds aren't very supportive of Minnesota. This is a good pick to take and there really is not a logical reason to take Winnipeg here. Wild win it!

December 12th Picks

Christian's Picks


1. Manchester City: Win or Draw

     I really like City here to at LEAST draw Chelsea. I think SFTC is putting this on here because just in case Chelsea wins, ESPN wants credit for breaking people's streaks. Oh, and also because it's on ESPN 2 and as we all know, ESPN puts on every game they televise on the Streak. Here are the initial reasons to be just a bit skeptical and why this game is on here... Chelsea just beat Valencia 3-0 at home and Newcastle 3-0 away. However, they have also lost to Liverpool twice at home recently and to Bayer Leverkusen away in UEFA play. Now, for the reasons to pick Manchester City... They are without a doubt, the best team in the EPL with a +35 GD in just 14 matches. They are coming off of a very nice win against Bayern Munchen 2-0, a 5-1 win against Norwich City, and a 1-0 away win at Arsenal. It's not like Manchester City is cold and Chelsea is hot so there's no incentive to see a trap in this game. Also, according to these odds, Manchester City is 61% to win/draw. I think that Manchester City will either win this 1-0 or draw 1-1. If Chelsea somehow wins this game, I wouldn't be too upset because it would be a pretty fluky game if that happened. With some confidence, Go City!



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Streakhelp's Pick

Any Other Result (Oregon vs. Portland State)

I don't feel great about this pick, but there really isn't a lot I like for today anyway. However, Portland State doesn't seem to be as much of a “creampuff” team as I originally thought. At 5-3, Portland State ranks 17^th in rebounds, and 53^rd in points per game (76.6), pretty respectable stats. Portland State has struggled on the road though, sitting at 0-3 and coming off a 93-87 loss to Utah Valley on the road.

Oregon (5-2) has fared better against opponents overall, with losses to Vanderbilt on the road (78-64) and BYU at home (79-65). Offensively I think these teams are pretty even (so far from what I've seen), but Oregon's defense has a better edge. I'm honestly not sure Oregon can win by more than 10 if Portland State were to bring their “A” game (or if Portland was at home). Oregon averages about 15 assists (63^rd in nation) and shoots around 47% from the field (55^th in nation), these categories have been pretty decent for the Ducks. This should be pretty close. If Portland loses, I think it will be right around 15 (15-17), but I have more confidence in the under. AOR for me.

December 11th Picks

Ryan's Picks:


Pick #1 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

I like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win an in-state road game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Bucs expect to get their starting quarterback Josh Freeman back from injury. The Jaguars are a bad team who have already fired their head coach Jack Del Rio this year. Their starting quarterback is Blaine Gabbert who has been the worse of the rookie qbs who have started this season. In addition, the Jaguars have one of the worst offenses in the league. Even though the bucs have under achieved, I expect them to be able to run the ball and play good enough defense to beat the jags.

Pick #2 North Carolina Tar Heels

I like the North Carolina Tar Heels to beat the Charlotte 49ers for the NCAA Men Division 1 soccer championship. The Tar Heels are the number 1 seed while the 49ers upset Creighton to get into the finals. The Heels had the better regular season (21-2-2)  and played in the tougher conference. They have much more talent than Charlotte and I expect the North Carolina Tar Heels to defeat the Charlotte 49ers comfortably. 

December 9th Picks

Streakhelper's picks


Pick #1 Creighton Bluejays

   I can't think of one good reason why not to pick Creighton. At a -520 line, Creighton is one of the most favored picks I have seen on Streak for the Cash. The 49ers have done pretty well so far at 16-4-3, and has done a good job of finding goals so far in the college cup (11 goals in 4 games, 3 were penalty kicks), but I just don't see them overcoming Creighton.  I know this post is pretty short and straightforward, but I'd risk any streak on this, win or lose. This is a game I wouldn't mind losing a streak on, it doesn't get much better. Good luck whatever you do though.

December 7th Picks

December 6th results:

Streakhelp's Pick- Utah State: Win (63-54)


Streakhelper's record for month 1-0




Christian's Pick- Valencia W,D, Lose by 1: Loss (0-3)


Christian's record for the month 10-7


Ryan's record for the month- 8-1

Combined record for December- 19-8
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 Christian's Picks

1. @ Manchester City: Win

     This is going to be a great game! Here are the situations: City needs a win here at home and also, some help is needed by Villareal to take away some points from Napoli or else any win against Bayern Munchen will be pointless. Bayern Munchen will most likely not be starting their best club, seeing as how they have already advanced and have nothing to worry about. The risk of possible injury outweighs the want of winning this game to eliminate a dangerous opponent in Man City. If Bayern Munchen starts Neuer in goal, this will be a much more difficult match for Man City to pull out a win in. Manchester City is favored to win at 58.5% and this is seriously the first time I have ever seen arguably the best team in the world, Bayern Munchen, have the Draw option on SFTC. I still think that Man City will win and give themselves the best chance they have to advance and just hope for some sort of fix to be in place because according to the Napoli chairman, "I can feel strange things going on surrounding the Villarreal game - princes and sheikhs are getting agitated.". So Man City will win 3-1 with Aguero and Dzeko netting one each.

2. @ FC Basel: Win, Draw, Lose by 1

     Manchester United needs a draw to advance past the group stages. Javier Hernandez and Dimitar Berbatov are out injured but Wayne "Wonder Goal" Rooney will be playing of course. FC Basel actually drew United 3-3 at Old Trafford which is impressive enough to draw, but throw in the fact that they scored three goals on them and it adds up to a pretty impressive result. This match is at home for FC Basel and United will be happy with a draw here, at most a one-goal win. FC Basel will definitely want to spoil United's chances just like the horrific accident in Portugal against Benfica six years ago where they were eliminated in group stages. Manchester United is only 57.8% to win by only one so this gives me confidence that FC Basel can cover -1.5.... This will end in a 2-2 Draw.
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