Thursday Night Games Share the Wealth: 

There was a tripleheader of weekday college football Thursday night, presenting a great opportunity for the road teams to build on their recent surge --- or for the home teams to finally get back on track in weekday games.

Or maybe, essentially, nothing would happen at all. That pretty much turned out to be the case. Home squads went 2-1 straight-up (SU), but they divided up the money, going 1-1-1 against the spread (ATS). Visiting Virginia Tech got the push as a 13-point road chalk, netting a late field goal in its 16-3 victory over East Carolina.

There have been 36 weekday games this year, and the visitors are now 21-14-1 at the betting window (9-4-1 SU, 8-5-1 ATS the past three-plus weeks). Meanwhile, the underdogs hold a bit slimmer 19-16-1 ATS advantage.

And while the blowtorch-hot trend of weekday SU winners also beating the spread was neutralized Thursday night, they are still a lofty 29-6-1 ATS, covering the number at a stout 82.9 percent clip.

One more FYI: Heading into Thursday's contests, the under was a solid 22-11 in weekday affairs this year. But two games flew over the total, with Northern Illinois blasting Eastern Michigan 50-6 to best the 49-point posted price, and Temple edging Miami, Ohio, 34-32 with the total set at 45.

That left the under with a 23-13 mark for the season (63.9 percent).

 College Football Two-Minute Drill: 

We've been blitzed by the Mid-American Conference this week, with three games the past three days. So the official conference of weekday college football takes a break tonight, and you get the WAC instead of the MAC.

No. 5 Boise State, angling for a BCS bid, travels to Louisiana Tech. Yeah, it makes no sense to me, either, that La. Tech is in the Western Athletic Conference. But then, perhaps I'm just geographically challenged. I suppose La. Tech is west of, say, Florida?

I digress. Let's check some numbers.

Boise State has won seven in a row in this rivalry and is 4-1 ATS in the last five clashes, all as a chalk. In addition, the Broncos are on ATS rolls of 18-6-1 overall, 8-2 on the highway, 9-2 as a road chalk and 12-3-1 in conference play.

La. Tech as cashed in four straight home games and is on a 5-0 ATS run against winning teams, but the Bulldogs carry negative ATS streaks of 1-4 as a pup and 8-24-1 following a spread-cover.

 NBA Fast Break: 

We'll finish off the work week with a few noteworthy NBA trends:

The Nuggets have won their last eight meetings with Miami and are on a 6-1 ATS tear against the Heat, including a 4-0 SU and 3-1 ATS mark in South Florida. Denver is also 13-3 ATS in its last 16 roadies, but the Nuggs are on a 3-8 ATS skid against the Eastern Conference.

The Heat have covered in four of their first five this year and are 6-2 ATS in their last eight home games.

The Celtics are 3-0 SU and ATS in their last three clashes with the Suns, winning all three by double digits, and Boston is 10-2 ATS in its last 12 following a pointspread setback, heading into tonight's contest in Beantown.

The Suns are on ATS skids of 2-6-1 against the Atlantic Division and 3-10-1 catching 5 to 10.5 points.

The Trail Blazers, hosting the Spurs, are on spread-covering streaks of 15-7 as a chalk, 15-7 against the Western Conference and 6-0 in Friday tilts, and they are 3-1 SU and ATS in their last four against San Antonio.

The Spurs shoulder negative ATS streaks of 1-5 on the highway, 2-6 against the Northwest Division and 2-6 getting points.

• Al DeMarco, General Manager of VegasAdvisors.com and the featured handicapping analyst on Comcast Sports TV in New York and Chicago, is a 25-year veteran of the handicapping industry. Get his daily advice and betting strategies at  VegasAdvisors.com

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