Sports Handicapper William Burns's Picks & Predictions

(#306567) Bucknell Bison | ATS | .

I had Bucknell earlier this month against Lehigh and was victorious and am playing on it again this weekend. The Bison haven't been as good as I expected them to be this year at all. But, there's still plenty of season remaining to start clawing away at the standings. They have covered ATS in three consecutive meetings with Colgate entering today's game. 

The Raiders haven't been fantastic either, losing to Lehigh on this court last time out. I do believe that Colgate is the stronger team. But, laying this many points after that most recent home performance is definitely not the play. Bucknell's been slowly chipping away. Grab the points. 

Burns' Prediction: 78-73 Bucknell.

(#56) Winnipeg Jets | ML | . 

Don't get me wrong, I love what the Leafs have been able to do recently and I expect them to continue to fight to get back into the playoff conversation. But, this isn't a great matchup for them on Saturday. Toronto just lost a tough game in OT against Vegas on Thursday and make the trip all the way up to Winnipeg for another big time matchup just a couple of days later. 

Winnipeg played in Minnesota on Thursday. But, looked phenomenal winning its fourth consecutive contest. I do believe that the Jets are only going to get strong as the season gets older as well and the way they are playing, don't expect Hellebuyck to be allowing any "softies" and expect another Jets win. 

Burns' Prediction: 4-2 Jets.

(#536) New York Knicks | ATS | . 

While the Suns just beat me on Thursday, I do believe that it was a bit of misfortune as the Pistons had many chances to pull away at the end of the game & cover but happened to miss many free throw attempts that kept Phoenix in the game. But, onto this game and I believe that it's another good chance to fade the Suns who are not at full strength. Booker is back, but he's not 100% still. Green remains out. 

For the Knicks, despite the B2B losses, they are still one of the best teams in the East regardless. Being at home will most definitely help NYK at MSG and I believe that they could open things up as the game moves along. Phoenix isn't going to have liked losing to Detroit considering those missed FT's at the end. I expect a big time win for the Knicks here today. 

Burns' Prediction: 119-107 Knicks.

(#306555) Navy Midshipmen | ATS | . 

Despite being on the road, Navy is the much better team in this matchup. The Midshipmen lost their last game but had won eight consecutive games before hand. They are one of the best teams in the Patriot League and there's no doubt about it this season. Definitely a chance to be tournament bound if they keep this up. 

Lehigh, on the other hand, hasn't bee too strong this season. It's won three consecutive games but has been lucky in a couple of those matches. I believe that a losing streak could be right around the corner for the Mountain Hawks who are barely above .500 at home. I'll lay the points with the road Midshipmen on Saturday. 

Burns' Prediction: 74-59 Navy.

(#782) UNC Wilmington Seahawks | ATS | . 

Nothing against Campbell, I just think that this is a bad spot for the road team in this one. The Fighting Camels have actually looked fairly sharp this season, even more so recently. But, they are coming off a loss against Elon on the road which took a lot out of them, losing that game by just one point. That being said, I believe that this is going to be even tougher of a contest. 

UNC Wilmington quietly but surely is doing damage once again. I mean, with one of the best records in the country, the Seahawks should be talked about more than they have been. No, it hasn't been pretty for UNCW if you go by ATS. But, I believe that the oddsmakers are slightly underestimating the Seahawks now because of that. I'll lay the points on Saturday in this one. 

Burns' Prediction: 88-65 UNCW.

(#763) Pacific Tigers @ (#764) Oregon State Beavers | UNDER | . 

I absolutely love the "under" in this matchup on Saturday. Even though both teams have seen some higher scoring games recently, with the two matched up against each other I believe that we're bound to see an all out defensive war this evening. 

According to KenPom's adjusted tempo rankings, Pacific is 302nd with Oregon State sitting at 297th. Both of these teams rank in the bottom 200 in the country in scoring averages (PPG) and neither team has fallen in love with the 3 ball early on this year. Expect a hard fought game with not much scoring in this one. 

Burns' Prediction: 70-61 Oregon State.

(#306608) High Point Panthers | ATS | . 

Even though it doesn't have the worst record by any means, I do believe that USC Upstate is one of the worst teams in the Big South Conference. The Spartans are 1-3 inside the conference so far and even off the win on Wednesday, they've got nothing really going for them. This is a horrible matchup to get after that win as well. 

High Point is mad after losing that game to Winthrop by that much. I mean, the Panthers don't lose consecutive games too often, especially against conference level opponents. High Point is going to want to come out with a message to prove on Saturday and I expect at least a 20 point victory. This could get ugly. Lay the points. 

Burns' Prediction: 93-62 High Point.

(#793) Nebraska Omaha Mavericks | ATS | . 

Just like in my Chattanooga analysis for today, I mentioned that I keep playing on these teams and they keep getting disrespected with lines. I mean, this is going to be my third time playing on Omaha this season and I've won both of my bets so far on the side. The Mavericks are much better than their record suggests and should be favored in this spot in my opinion. 

Oral Roberts has been ice cold and quite horrible to be frank all season long. The Golden Eagles have lost seven consecutive games and that includes B2B games played on home court. Omaha won both games easily vs. ORU last season. Expect another win for Nebraska Omaha on Saturday. 

Burns' Prediction: 84-72 Omaha.

(#740) Troy Trojans | ATS | . 

This is a battle of the powerhouses in the Sun Belt Conference. Given that these teams have met already this year just over a week ago, I'm very interested to see how this game plays out. Arkansas State was the much better team in that game. But, the Red Wolves don't blow me away at all with their numbers. ARST does shoot much better from the FT line. But, it's also going to struggle to keep up with Troy's three ball which falls at a much higher rate at home. Let's also not forget that the Red Wolves are coming off a heartbreaking OT loss on the road against South Alabama last time out. I'll lay the points with Troy in this revenge spot. 

Burns' Prediction: 81-72 Troy.

(#629) Chattanooga Mocs | ATS | . 

I know that it's been a rough start for Chattanooga this season. But, the Mocs continue to get disrespected with this lines and I don't see why. The Mocs have won consecutive games now and picked a part Western Carolina in both meetings a year ago. CHAT shoots a ton of threes and ultimately that's going to be the difference on Saturday with the Mocs being able to rack up the larger number of points.

Western Carolina has been even worse than Chattanooga this year so far and even though it beat ETSU in its last game, I'm still not sold on it as a team. The Catamounts lost to Wofford at home this year already while Chattanooga just beat it on the road. I'll grab the points in this one. 

Burns' Prediction: 85-75 Chattanooga.

(#638) Brown Bears | ATS | . 

Despite Columbia being the better team through 15-16 games this season, I do believe that this is a bad matchup for the road Lions this afternoon. Columbia got absolutely walloped by Harvard last weekend and has been thinking about that game all week. Not only that, but everyone knows how good Yale is and the Lions have a date @Yale coming up on Monday. Columbia could definitely be caught looking ahead to that contest. 

Brown, on the other hand, has shown signs of great basketball this season regardless of its record. I mean, the Bears lost by just seven points on the road against Providence earlier last month and also have been solid ATS recently. The first home game in Ivy League play wasn't so great as Brown lost badly to Yale. But, that was as expected. This should be a much more competitive game. I actually believe that Brown was the stronger team overall coming into the season and I expect a big performance from the Bears on Saturday. Grab the points. 

Burns' Prediction: 77-68 Brown.

(#765) Duke Blue Devils | ATS | . 

Duke's been very fortunate with its scheduling this year in my eyes. It's navigated its way through pretty well and will bring its perfect ACC record into Saturday's contest against Stanford. I know that the Blue Devils haven't been blowing out teams left and right like some are used to. But, they finally started getting things going in that sort of direction @Cal and I expect that to continue this weekend against the Cardinal. 

Stanford just shocked #14 UNC with an upset win here in this arena over the week. That being said, I do not expect Okorie to drop 36 points again and I do not expect the Cardinal to have the same success. They shoot the ball way too poorly to be beating too many good teams and despite the high confidence right now, any of that will just be shut down today. I'd be shocked if this wasn't a double digit Duke win. 

Burns' Prediction: 92-66 Duke.

(#237093) Al Shabab @ (#237094) Al Nassr | OVER | . 

Over the past couple of years, many top players from around the world have made their way to Saudi Arabia to make the big bucks. The amounts that the country are paying people are quite absurd, especially the best of the best like Ronaldo. That's made the Saudi Pro League very competitive near the top. Al Shabab has a couple of capable players and is coming off a three goal win against Neom in its last game and I'm expecting it to get on the scoreboard again. 

Al Nassr has been able to score 39 goals so far in only 14 matches played. That's an average of 2.8 per game. It's also allowed more than a goal per game as well though. With the likes of Ronaldo, Felix and Coman on the forward line, I could see Al Nassr going "over" this total by itself. Play the "over" on Saturday. 

Burns' Prediction: 3-2 Al Nassr.

(#202497) FC Bayern Munich | 3-WAY ML | . 

Don't get me wrong, playing on the road is never completely easy, no matter what teams are involved. But, in the current form of world football, Bayern Munich is as good as any away from home. Bayern owns a ridiculous 7-1-0 (w-t-l) record on the road inside the Bundesliga this season. I know that this is a tough opponent in RB Leipzig. But, I don't expect that to faze the German giants. 

Leipzig has been brilliant at home and there's no debating that. But, it did suffer a loss less than a month ago on this pitch against Bayer Leverkusen who scored three in that game. In the reverse fixture, it was a 6-0 win for Bayern. Expect another win on Saturday. 

Burns' Prediction: 3-1 Bayern.

(#221042) Heart Of Midlothian | 3-WAY ML | . 

Despite Hearts kind of coming out of nowhere this season to lead the Scottish Premiership the way that it has, it's very hard to ignore how great it's been. I mean, with a 15-5-2 record, there's really no stopping it at the moment. Last time out, Hearts faced some adversity by going a man down early. But, it still managed to win that game 2-0 with ease. 

Falkirk, who just played against Celtic at home and lost 1-0. Yes it's had its share of good performances this season. But, Falkirk simply doesn't have the grit and determination of some of these top teams in the league. Now, this isn't a league game as it's the 4th round of the Scottish Cup. But, I still expect a great performance from Hearts en route to a spot in the last 16. 

Burns' Prediction: 3-0 Hearts.

(#200161) Manchester City FC | 3-WAY ML | . 

It's Manchester Derby day and I'm very excited about this contest. Manchester City, currently in second, is still hunting down Arsenal to claim Premier League gold again as we head down the stretch of the final half of the season. City is six points back so every single point is crucial in closing the distance. 

With Manchester United having sacked its manager again, Michael Carrick takes over as the interim manager. Although he found success the last time that this happened, I do not think that this is a great matchup for him and the rest of United given the current form of City. This could get ugly if City score early. I expect at least a win for City on Saturday. 

Burns' Prediction: 4-1 City.

(#649) Florida Gators @ (#650) Vanderbilt Commodores | OVER | . 

Both teams are excellent defensively, don't get me wrong. But, I expect this game to see a ton of points on Saturday as both teams expects a big time win inside conference play. Florida began the year quite poorly if we go by expectations. The Gators, however, have won three consecutive games and just knocked off the Sooners on the road by 17 points. Florida's getting the guard play that it expected finally and that's what has created a ton of more scoring opportunities. 

Vanderbilt, on the other hand, just got demolished for the first time this season (80-64 @Texas.) Back at home, the Commodores should simply get back to what they were doing so well to begin the season and use their fantastic FG % & 3pt % to their advantage. Both teams play fast and both can put up a bundle of points. Hammer the "over." 

Burns' Prediction: 91-86 Florida.

(#391) Buffalo Bills | ATS | . 

Here we go again. Last year, Buffalo was able to host Denver with the success that it had during the regular season. In that game, the Bills dominated and won by 24 points. You may be thinking that the Broncos are out for revenge from that game. Well, it's true to an extent. Buffalo's not as strong on paper this year and that makes it less scary of a team. But, there's still Josh Allen who in my eyes, is the best QB in the playoffs this year. 

Denver had a fantastic year and got credited with the #1 seed in the AFC as a result. That being said, Jacksonville was able to expose its defense in the latter stages of the regular season and guess who just beat the Jags? Buffalo did. The Broncos don't run the ball all that well and that's going to hurt them in this game as it's one spot that the Bills struggle. Don't get into a shootout with Allen either as he's capable of simply tearing a part any defense that's in front of him. 

I do believe that the Broncos have an outstanding defense and it's going to be tough with the wide receiving core that the Bills have. But, the Bills should try and establish a run game and I wouldn't be shocked if Allen continues to use his legs a ton. Buffalo's had Denver's number in recent season's I simply believe that Buffalo's going to be able to take advantage of KC not being in the playoffs this year and make another run at glory. Buffalo moves on once again. 

Burns' Prediction: 35-21 Buffalo.