Sports Handicapper William Burns's Picks & Predictions

(#209981) Colorado Rapids @ (#209982) New York City FC | OVER | . 

I'm expecting a very exciting encounter on Saturday evening. Colorado scored four goals last weekend, winning that contest 4-1 against LA Galaxy. The week before that, the Rapids put up two more goals. NYC, on the other hand, has been scoring at an even more elite level. It put up five goals in its last game against Orlando and scored twice as well in match week two. I expect both sides to get on the board and considering Colorado's struggles on the road, New York City FC should be able to get at least a couple. Give me the "over." 

Burns' Prediction: 3-2 NYC FC.

(#202489) Bayern Munich | 3-WAY ML | . 

All season long, Bayern Munich's been able to overwhelm teams with its attacking quality. I know that this is a difficult venue to be playing in and that Leverkusen will probably apply a ton of pressure early on in this match. But, over the course of a 90 minute contest, I find it hard to see Bayer Leverkusen keeping the defending champs at bay. Bayern has scored 44 more goals than Leverkusen has this season, nearly doubling the home side's tally. I expect another big time victory for the best team in Germany on Saturday. 

Burns' Prediction: 3-1 Bayern.

(#306546) Southern Jaguars | ATS | . 

Both teams like to play very fast. But, I believe that the Southern Jaguars are the much more efficient program. It's been a fantastic stretch of winning for Prairie View A&M who's won four games in four days. However, outside of their #1 scoring option in Dontae Horne, the Panthers are one of the least efficient offensive teams in the country. They rank 321st in effective FG %. Also, Prairie View A&M was +4000 to win this tournament entering it, while Southern was +270. Something seems off with this line. The Jags barely hung on to win for me yesterday (SWAC TOURNEY GOY.) But, they survived a game where they shot horribly from deep and from the line. I expect much better from Southern today. Lay the points. 

Burns' Prediction: 83-72 Southern.

(#613) Vanderbilt Commodores vs. (#614) Florida Gators | OVER | . 

I know that conference tournament games and other games played in the month of March are always slightly more intense, with higher quality defense. However, I'm expecting a very offensive showdown on Saturday in this SEC semi-final matchup. Vanderbilt ranks 77th in the country in tempo, combining that with the 8th ranked offensive efficiency. The Commodores managed to put up 75 in their QF game against a very slow Tennessee team. I expect much more today. 

Florida, on the other hand, plays at the 24th fastest pace in the nation. I know that the Gators are considered by some to have the best defense in the country. But, Vanderbilt is actually the team that has put up the most points in a game vs. Florida all season at 94. The Gators also have an elite offense that did a ton of damage down the stretch. The first meeting was very high scoring and I'm expecting this one to be as well. Give me the "over." 

Burns' Prediction: 90-83 Florida.

(#42) Winnipeg Jets | ML | . 

Colorado has definitely been the better of the two teams so far this season. The Avalanche still lead the NHL with 97 points. That being said, even though they'll want to keep the league's best record, there's a little bit of room for error down the stretch. The Avs haven't played well in Winnipeg recently, losing both matchups over the past two seasons. 

Talking about the Jets, they are in "must-win" mode at the moment. Having lost consecutive contests, it's going to be difficult to make up this ground. But, a win here would do wonders and definitely get the Jets going over the final 18 games of the regular season. Home underdogs coming off an upset loss by 2+ goals as a home fav. vs. an opponent off a road win of 3+ goals are 48-23 (67.6%) since 1997, including 3-1 this season. I've got the Jets on Saturday. 

Burns' Prediction: 3-1 Jets.

(#616) Arkansas Razorbacks | ATS | .

Last night, I had a big play on Alabama, which lost outright against Ole Miss. Bad pick. No excuses. However, I'm still not sold on this Rebels team. I mean, this is a team that dropped 13 of their last 14 games of the regular season and have somehow managed to win not one, not two, but three games on consecutive nights. It's impressive. But, runs always come to an end and that's going to happen on Saturday. 

Arkansas managed to hang on against Oklahoma, who's firmly on the bubble to reach the big dance. The Razorbacks are a bit like Alabama, as they like to play fast and have an elite offense. But, they provide a much better defensive game and I believe it's going to be too much for Mississippi to handle, especially playing their fourth game in four days. Expect the much more rested side to dominate this basketball game. 

Burns' Prediction: 88-71 Arkansas.

(#55) Columbus Blue Jackets | ML | . 

Although I've been successful against Columbus quite a bit this season (4-0,) I'm playing on it here on Saturday. The Blue Jackets are most definitely still in the playoff race, just one point outside of the final wild-card position. Therefore, every game is massive down the stretch. Despite a few OT losses, Columbus has actually been very good inside of regulation lately (winning three straight) and I expect a regulation win tonight. 

Philadelphia has been the "hotter" of the two teams recently. However, the Flyers are definitely the weaker team offensively. They rank dead last in the NHL in SOG per game at 25.2. Columbus is 4th in the same category at 30 per game. Expecting the Jackets to create more chances, like they have all year long, give me the road fav here on Saturday. 

Burns' Prediction: 5-2 Blue Jackets.

(#622) Arizona Wildcats | ATS | . 

These two teams might just be my favorite two teams going into March Madness. Coming into the season, Houston had been my prediction to win the whole thing. As the campaign has moved along, I have watched countless amounts of College Basketball and I firmly believe that both of these teams have a real shot at cutting down the nets in April. Having said that, Arizona might just have a slight edge at the moment. 

When these two teams met back in February, Arizona went into Houston and was able to control the second half. I know that it was during a slump of the Cougars and they most definitely seem out of that now. But, at the same time, that was a road game and this one will be held at a neutral court. The Wildcats rank top seven in efficiency in both offense & defense entering this evening's contest. 

One thing that has stood out to me over the past couple of months has something to do with Houston's offense (which ranks outside of the top 15 via. efficiency.) The Cougars are a fantastic team, don't get me wrong. But, at times, the offense can be very stationary and go side-to-side way too much. In order to succeed at this time of the year, you need to be able to go side-to-side as well as downhill. I see Flemings as the only option to go 1-on-1 and find success for Houston in this one. 

Another thing that I saw in the matchup in February was the amount of times that Arizona managed to pick on Flemings on the defensive side. The freshman is phenomenal offensively. But, he's small and can be a liability on the defensive side with the size of the Wildcats. Dell'Orso is coming off a great shooting night and I expect Koa Peat to do a lot more damage than just four points here this evening. I think that Arizona's depth will be too much for Houston to handle on Saturday. 

Burns' Prediction: 72-63 Zona.

(#61) Chicago Blackhawks @ (#62) Vegas Golden Knights | UNDER | . 

Last season Chicago wasn't good offensively at all. This year, the Blackhawks have continued that trend and rank 4th last in goals per game at 2.65. Chicago has won consecutive games, and definitely could be in for a tough outing here today. But, I do believe that the goaltending of the Blackhawks is playing much better and should be able to keep Vegas from running up the score. 

Before Thursday, the Golden Knights had been struggling to put the puck in the back of the net. As a matter of fact, it had been 13 goals in their most recent seven games before the six goal outburst. Even if Vegas puts up four in this one, I don't think Chicago's going to score enough to send this one "over." Expect a low scoring game here on Saturday evening.

Burns' Prediction: 3-2 Vegas.

(#856) San Diego State Aztecs | ML | . 

Well, well, well. This might just be the biggest game of the whole season in terms of meaningfulness. Both of these teams are on the outside of the NCAA Tournament, looking in at the moment and the oddsmakers are expecting an extremely close encounter in this, I suppose you could call it an "elimination game." Even a win in this game might not be enough. But, definitely. The loser will go home without anything meaningful to play for during the rest of March. 

New Mexico lost its best player in the offseason in Donavan Dent, who transferred to UCLA. I know that the Lobos have been great this season, nothing against them. But, I have not been too impressed with their defense at times, especially inside the paint. The Lobos bring in a very in-experienced squad, ranking 313th in the country in D-1 experience (0.87 yrs average.)

On the other hand, this is a very experienced Aztecs group that ranks 72nd in D-1 experience (1.90 yrs average.) San Diego State almost always provides excellent defensive play and even in an "off-night" shooting the ball from deep, the Aztecs are able to find a way to win games just like against CSU last night. SDSU also uses a ton of guys and doesn't rely on just one or two options like UNM does at times. I like the Aztecs to find a way to move on, once again. 

Burns' Prediction: 75-68 SDSU.

(#200017) Manchester City F.C. @ (#200018) West Ham F.C. | OVER | . 

After the 3-0 UCL loss during the week against Real Madrid, Manchester City will look to take its anger out on West Ham this weekend. A lot of teams in this situation wouldn't care about this weekend's game and start fully preparing for the 2nd leg during next week. However, with City still very much in the title race for the Premier League, every single point is crucial. 

West Ham has been much better in the second half of the season and it's fighting for its life to stay up in the EPL this season. With only three points separating the Hammers between 18th (where they stand right now) and 15th in the table, an upset win would do wonders. Considering WHU has scored five goals over its past three games in all competitions, including twice against Liverpool at Anfield, I expect West Ham to get at least one goal on Saturday at home. Give me the "over." 

Burns' Prediction: 4-2 City.