Sports Handicapper William Burns's Picks & Predictions

(#706) Kentucky Wildcats | ATS | . 

Indiana's been the much better side of these two so far given the record. However, we haven't even hit conference play yet for these teams and I believe that there's plenty of time for changes and movement in the AP Poll as the season progresses. The Hoosiers most definitely haven't played the same amount of competition so far and have actually been quite poor in December through three games. 

Kentucky's back at home where it's always a much better basketball team. After the loss against the Zags on this court, a big win over a weak school was needed and I expect that to give the Wildcats a boost. Oweh will take over and lead to a UK cover on Saturday evening. 

Burns' Prediction: 87-75 Kentucky.

(#306652) Long Island University Sharks | ATS | . 

The Explorers of La Salle don't score many points whatsoever. Averaging 68.0 PPG through 10 games, that's one of the worst in all of CBB and especially in a "better" conference like the A10. The Explorers have yet to win a game on the road in two tries so far and will be one of the worst teams in their conference throughout this season. I wouldn't be shocked if they end with less than seven wins (have four currently.)

Long Island, on the other hand, plays in a much smaller conference in the Northeast. Last year's NEC player of the year Malachi Davis returned to this year's squad at the Sharks are expecting a NEC Championship come the end of this season. I do believe that La Salle may have the recruiting edge out of these two sides. But, given what we've seen up until this point, I'm going with LIU on Saturday. 

Burns' Prediction: 79-70 LIU.

(#724) CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners | ATS | . 

I'm not too impressed with Pepperdine and I haven't been since last season. The Waves simply look out of sorts, especially when playing on the road. As a matter of fact, they've lost all three road games by double digits and have lost five consecutive games home/away. 

Looking at CSU Bakersfield, it's not going to blow you away with talent either. However, the Roadrunners do have a 3-1 record on home court this season and play much quicker than Pepperdine. With good teams that's not always the best scenario. However, with poor teams, the slower side might be forced to speed up and that's going to favor CSUB on Saturday. This is essentially a PK and I'll go with the home team. 

Burns' Prediction: 82-68 CSUB.

(#606) Wichita State Shockers | ATS | . 

Although DePaul is looking to be a lot better than years prior, I do still believe that it's in a growing stage. The Blue Demons have yet to play a single road game this season and this will be the game that shows what they are made of. Three losses through 10 games, against LSU, Northwestern & Buffalo. I'm not impressed with DePaul's rebounding and that's going to be a problem on Saturday. 

Wichita State hasn't been great so far, winning only six out of 10. However, the Shockers are perfect at home (5-0) and are coming off a fantastic overtime road win against UNI which should have the team full of confidence. Back at home, until after Christmas, Wichita State will be expecting more perfection. I'll lay the points. 

Burns' Prediction: 77-66 Wichita State.

(#717) SMU Mustangs @ (#718) LSU Tigers | OVER | . 

Southern Methodist played Texas A&M very tough in its last game and completely opened it up in the Overtime period winning 93-80. That makes SMU 9-1 this season and fully confident for this road game against another SEC opponent. The Mustangs are lighting up the scoreboard w/ 89.8 PPG so far and have five double digit scorers, including Boopie Miller who's averaging 20+. 

Yes, it was a poor performance from LSU against TTU in its most recent game. However, the Tigers are still averaging 88.4 PPG through nine games this season. I believe that the Tigers are going to have much more success against an opponent that plays at a similar tempo instead of a slow paced Texas Tech team. 

Talking about the tempo, both teams rank 91st or higher via. KenPom's adjusted tempo rankings. I wouldn't be shocked whatsoever if both teams eclipse the 80pt mark on Saturday evening and therefore, my CBB TOTAL OF THE MONTH is on the "over" in this matchup. 

Burns' Prediction: 91-77 SMU.

(#308954) UC Davis Aggies | ATS | . 

Illinois State pulled off the unthinkable last weekend, beating the #1 seed North Dakota State. Now, although that was impressive, I don't think that the momentum is going to carry into this weekends game. The Redbirds lost four games throughout the season and that includes a 37-7 loss at home just four weekends ago against a 7-5 Southern Illinois team. 

UC Davis will have the luxury of playing at home on Saturday. The Aggies dominated Illinois State when these teams matched up last season in a 42-10 destruction and that was a playoff game as well. History will repeat itself on Saturday and UCD will march on to the FCS Semifinals. 

Burns' Prediction: 29-20 UC Davis.

(#82) Colorado Avalanche | ML | . 

The Predators may have knocked off the Avalanche on Tuesday in a shootout. However, now on the road, I simply don't believe that Nashville has what it takes for a repeat performance. The Preds have lost two thirds of their road games through 12 games this season and have some of the worst goaltending stats in the NHL, allowing 3.5 goals per game. 

Looking at Colorado, it's leading the NHL in goals scored this year while scoring at an absurd rate. The Avalanche also allow the least in the NHL which has them with the most points by a large margin of any team. Colorado just hammed Florida on Thursday to bounce back and another big win should be looming. 

Burns' Prediction: 6-3 Avalanche .

(#75) Carolina Hurricanes | ML | . 

Carolina and Philadelphia will play a B2B against each other at each home this weekend. Even though it's normally quite tough to defeat a team twice in consecutive days, especially with one of the games on the road, I do believe that the Hurricanes are going to be ready for this matchup. They are so talented in all facets of the game and has the best shots/shots allowed ratio in the entire NHL. 

I just won against Philadelphia on Thursday w/ Vegas winning in OT. The Flyers had less than 20 shots on goal in that game and that's going to be a problem again on Saturday. The Flyers haven't beaten Carolina since 2013 and have lost 14 of the past 15 meetings. 

This isn't the best spot in the world for Carolina but this line is way too good to pass up. The Hurricanes are the much better side and should be feeling very confident for this matchup. Therefore, this is my biggest METRO GAME OF THE YEAR. 

Burns' Prediction: 4-1 Canes.

(#203829) Fortuna Sittard @ (#203830) PEC Zwolle | OVER | . 

Fortuna Sittard may not be the most well known team in the Eredivisie Division in Dutch football. However, it's definitely capable of going teams a run for it's money and I believe that today's game should be back and forth. Fortuna has allowed 10 goals over its past five games as well meaning that it's susceptible to giving up quite a bit as well. 

PEC Zwolle is lower in the standings than Fortuna Sittard. However, it's just two points behind. It's played in even higher scoring games this year, allowing the second most goals out of any team in the Eredivisie. This game has shootout written all over it. 

Burns' Prediction: 3-2 Zwolle.

(#203245) Paris St. Germain | GOAL SPREAD | . 

While PSG didn't find any success against Atletic Bilbao in the UCL this week, I still firmly believe that this is one of the best "club" teams in the entire world. Paris St. Germain won the Champions League last season and must keep dominating within France to gain back what's there's. And what's that? The claim of best team in the country. 

Metz is one of the worst teams in Ligue 1, in 18th at the moment out of 20 teams. It's got a 3-2-10 record through 15 games and just got crushed against Auxerre last weekend. I expect PSG to explode with goals on Saturday and not stop until the final whistle. Lay the number. 

Burns' Prediction: 5-0 PSG.

(#200318) Coventry City. | 3-WAY ML | . 

Even though Bristol City has had a fairly solid campaign through more than half the season now, I don't believe that this is a great matchup for it. Bristol comes into this match having lost two of its last four contests as well as drawing one of the other two. Playing on the road against the current #1 team in the league isn't going to be an easy feat whatsoever. 

Coventry City is in the midst of a fantastic season and I don't expect things to slow down. This team is going to be ecstatic to be back home and playing in front of it's fans given that it's won seven of nine home games on the season (drawn the other two.) 

With the undefeated record at home for Coventry and even despite the injuries going on at the moment, I do believe that with how well it's playing it should be able to rebound from the away games over the past weeks. Coventry takes this one. 

Burns' Prediction: 2-0 Coventry.

(#24642) Luana Santos | ML | . 

To be completely honest, I'm not very high on Melissa Croden. I get that she's a "knockout artist" with six KO's in her nine fights as a professional. However, she's never won a decision and that definitely shows that the cardio simply isn't there. Yes, she's Canadian and so am I. But, in a fight like this against an outstanding grappler, I don't believe that she's going to have much of a chance if this fight goes past the first or second round. 

Luana Santos has never been finished in her career and won by submission already in 2025. I believe that there's definitely the possibility of another submission finish on Saturday at UFC Fight Night in Vegas. Santos will be confident and she will get the job done with ease. 

Burns' Prediction: Santos via. Submission in Round 3.