Sports Handicapper William Burns's Picks & Predictions

(#800) Eastern Illinois Panthers | ATS | . 

I know that Tennessee Tech owns the slightly stronger record coming into this game. But, I'm going to say it. I don't believe that the Golden Eagles are as good as the Panthers. Tennessee Tech did win its first conference game. But, since then, the Golden Eagles have looked absolutely horrendous. They lost consecutive home games by an average of 16.0 points and then followed that up with another double digit road loss. 

Illinois State had a pretty bad start to the season which is never something that a team wants to have happen. However, the Panthers have played, much, much better since the mid-way points of last month, winning consecutive hoe games and then barely losing two road contests (covering ATS in both.) Now, this is a game where defense should be key. I don't see TNTC matching EIU stride for stride in the final minutes. Expect the Panthers to open the game up in the final minutes en route to an out right win. 

Burns' Prediction: 74-65 Eastern Illinois.

(#825) Long Beach State Beach @ (#826) UC Irvine Anteaters | UNDER | . 

I don't believe that Long Beach State stands much of a chance in this game. Well then, why aren't I taking UC Irvine? As much as I like the Anteaters to win by more than 10, I like the "under" a whole lot more. So far this season LBSU has been limited to shooting only 31.3% from deep which is definitely not great. The Beach don't shoot the 2 ball particularly well either, leading to small final scores at times as well. 

UC Irvine might look at this game and hope to score a whole lot of points, being at home and everything. But, the Beach have been solid defensively at times and UCI hasn't been at its best. One thing that I know is that the Anteaters defense should swallow up anything that the Beach throws at them. Don't expect a fast start from either team as this game could very well end up in the 120's for combined points. 

Burns' Prediction: 76-57 UCI.

(#556) Minnesota Timberwolves | ATS | . 

Cleveland played its most recent game without Donavan Mitchell, who needed a game of rest. With the Cavs winning that game on the road, I'm not sure that Mitchell was needed to much. Him coming back to the lineup should help on paper, but it might also take away from what was working in that basketball game. The Cavaliers haven't been as dominant as some people expected this year with all of the injuries around the Eastern Conference. Still on the road today, this is going to be a very tough matchup. Minnesota's been absolutely dialled in since the start of 2026. Winners of all three games, the Timberwolves are averaging 129.33 PPG over those games. I expect Anthony Edwards to stay hot and lead his team to victory on Thursday evening in Minny. 

Burns' Prediction:

(#782) Nebraska Omaha Mavericks | ATS | . 

Despite winning both of its Summit League Conference games so far, North Dakota isn't a very strong basketball team. The Fighting Hawks don't do well against strong opponents whatsoever and I believe that they are going to struggle dearly both offensively and defensively on Thursday. 

Even though the Summit League representatives in March Madness last season haven't gotten off to a hot start in '25-'26, the Mavericks still have lots to play for. Teams in this conference don't get at-large bids unless it's practically undefeated and even then it's hard. But, the quest starts now for Omaha to get back to the top of the league. This is a game that it must have I believe that it'll show up. Lay the points. 

Burns' Prediction: 88-70 Omaha.

(#306526) Bryant Bulldogs | ML | . 

Despite its win in the America East opener, UMASS Lowell has not been too strong this year. It's lost nine of ten road games so far and has been one of the worst teams in the country from the free throw line. As a matter of fact, the River Hawks are bottom 25 in the country from the line. That's not going to help in another road contest on Thursday. 

Bryant might not have the greatest scoring ability so far this year. But, the Bulldogs have looked much better since Christmas and I'm expecting them to carry the winning into the weekend. The defense of Bryant will be leave UMASS Lowell shooters confused and that will lead to a Bryant win on Thursday. Take the ML to be safe. 

Burns' Prediction: 76-65 Bryant.

(#814) UC Santa Barbara Gauchos | ML | . 

UC Davis has dominated this series over the past two seasons. As a matter of fact, the Aggies have won and covered ATS in all four of those contests. But, prior to those season, it was all UCSB. The Gauchos had won seven consecutive w/ a 6-1 ATS record in those games. UCD has been decent this year, but also has some pretty abysmal outings on the road. The Aggies just lost as nearly double digit favorites at home and will now play B2B road games. 

UC Santa Barbara is simply the stronger team in my eyes. It hasn't been a the best of starts to conference play for the Gauchos, losing consecutive games on the road. However, they won both of their home conference games prior to that and are back in Santa Barbara this evening and this is where the Gauchos play their best basketball. I like both ATS & ML in this spot so either works. Either way, expect a big time UCSB win on Thursday. 

Burns' Prediction: 82-70 UCSB.

(#61) Minnesota Wild | ML | . 

Minnesota is so much better with the addition of Quinn Hughes. I mean, to be honest, he'd make any team a lot better. But, the Wild are definitely starting to make noise in the Central and are on the verge of passing Dallas now for the second seed in the Division. I believe that Minnesota's going to end up challenging Colorado for the top spot as the season gets older and older. 

Looking at Seattle, it's bunched up in the "worst" division in hockey. At the moment, no team in the Pacific Division owns a winning record. That's quite shocking considering some of the teams. While the Kraken have been on fire lately, I don't see this as a good spot for them. They ought to be caught looking ahead to their dangerous five game road trip after this evenings contest against some very tough opponents. Minnesota's favored and for good reason on Thursday. Hammer the Wild. 

Burns' Prediction: 4-1 Wild.

(#769) Elon Phoenix @ (#770) North Carolina A&T Aggies | OVER | . 

Coming off the loss against Charleston, Elon's going to want a very big performance to rebound on Thursday. The Phoenix have been scoring points at a pretty insane rate as of late. As a matter of fact, they have scored at average of 90.5 PPG over their most recent four games, and that's while losing twice. I expect Elon to explode on Thursday and another monster night considering how fast its opponent likes to play. 

North Carolina A&T plays extremely fast and doesn't play much defense whatsoever. The defense of the Aggies is probably what hurts them the most as the offense can be respectable at times. Even on this three game losing streak since Christmas, NC A&T has put up at average of 77.33 PPG in those games. 

Don't get me wrong, there hasn't been many games that have finished "over" when these sides have met up in the past (five straight have gone "under.") But, these are new teams in 25-26 and I expect this one to have a bunch of points. Get on it before the line moves up. 

Burns' Prediction: 95-83 Elon.