PICK: MIZZOU vs KANSAS

This should be the best game of the weekend. Missouri is playing very good basketball - so is Kansas. Both teams are top the Big 12 conference, along with Oklahoma. When you get a game like this with two like teams you have to go with the X factor (the bowl with more food - just kidding there is still an equal amount in each dish) - the home team.

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PICK: LSU vs KENTUCKY

Tigers vs Wildcats - is there really a difference? Isn't a Tiger a wild cat? Either way, as a dog I probably won't even watch this game. Did you know that LSU is probably the hottest team in the SEC? I didn't until they beat the Gators and found out that was their 11th win in a row. BUT - this is Rupp arena and Kentucky is playing equally good basketball right now. I'm going to go with the home team and take the Wildcats in the upset.

Poodle Pick: Kentucky

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PICK: DUKE vs VIRGINA TECH

Mark my bark - Virgina Tech are the upset makers. They beat Clemson earlier this week and they have a history of shocking Duke. Seth Greenberg is one of the sharpest coach in the country - I used to hear him on a local radio when he was a coach at USF. I think their game prep is outstanding. This is my upset pick of the week - if they don't win - I'll be upset.

Poodle Pick: Virgina Tech

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PICK: NOTRE DAME VS UCONN

Notre Dame is playing for respect and for maybe a decent seed in the NIT. In the ultra competitive Big East, Notre Dame is been the biggest disappointment. UConn on the other hand is playing first seeding basketball getting ready for the Big East Championship and the Tournament. Plus I like fellow Huskie dogs.

Poodle Pick: UCONN

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PICK: NORTH CAROLINA VS GEORGIA TECH

Last weekend, my five biscuits lock pick of the weekend was North Carolina to romp all over Maryland, that the Tar Heels were playing the most consistent basketball in the nation no way they could lose to the Terrapins. What happens? The pull a royal choke, blowing a double digit lead and lose in overtime. But a Poodle never wavers!! I still believe in all my heart that North Carolina is the best team in the Nation and should be the #1 overall seed when the tournament seeding are selected in a couple of weeks. I'll stick with the Tar Heels.

Poodle Pick: North Carolina not to choke two weeks in a row.

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PICK: LAKERS VS SUNS

I'm watching the Lakers run all over the running Suns in the first half of this Thursday night game. So why pick the Suns to win on Sunday? Because after this game the Lakers will travel to play the Nuggets in Denver who are really their only challenge in the Western Conference (but a distant second). Also because the game is being played in Phoenix and maybe Steve Nash will be back. Finally, the true reason is because I'm a dog and I pick the food in that dish.

Poodle Picks: The Suns (paws and tail are crossed for a victory)

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PICK: PISTONS vs CELTICS

Lets face it the Pistions are just awful. The addition of Allen Iverson hasn't help - the new coaching the staff hasn't been effective and will probably be replaced. The Celtics should romp easily over the Pistons.

Poodle Pick: CELTICS

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RECAP: 5 Wins 3 Losses - Including a surprise and close upset

I returned to my winning ways this weekend. It could have been a really good weekend, as some of these loses should have gone the other way:

North Carolina loses to Maryland - not sure what happened here... UNC was coasting at the start of the 2nd half and then just collapsed at the end. I think Gary Williams felt administration coming down on him and just pulled out the miracle win to save his job. UNC will rebound as they will be another PoodlePick for their game with Georgia Tech this coming weekend.

Illinois Beats Ohio State in a squeaker - I thought I had a chance with the OSU upset pick as the Illini only scored 33 vs. Penn State earlier in the week. Ohio State made it close at the end but the Illini just ate the shot clock and made key 3 pointers to win.

Heat vs. Magic - Jermaine O'Neils has been a bust so for the Heat: out rebound 53 to 28 just terrible. Wade could score a 100 points - but unless you win on the boards you'll never advance. They better learn to jump higher and get after the ball real fast or the playoff position will push them to a first out knock out.

Wins came fromthe Celtics, Capitals, Villanova, Michigan State and Purdue.

Coming This Week:

Pistons vs. Celtics
Lakers vs. Suns
Notre Dame vs. UConn
Georgia Tech vs. North Carolina
Duke vs. Virgina Tech
LSU vs. Kentucky
Missouri vs. Kansas
{stayed away from the Tenneesse vs. Florida game}

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PICKS: NCAA Basketball Weekend of February 21st and 22nd

Several Games:

Syracuse vs. Villanova - I've had luck with Arizona Wildcats so I'll try them with Villanova. Should be the best game of the weekend. Villanova Wildcats to win.

North Carolina vs. Maryland - Clearly North Carolina is the best team in the nation. They should romp all over Maryland. North Carolina to win.

Illinois vs. Ohio State - don't look for a high score game - but look to Ohio State to pull out an upset. Ohio State to win.

Michigan State vs. Wisconsin - Michigan State is the elite team of the Bin Ten. I see them win by a large margin. Michigan State to win

Indiana vs. Purdue - Going to give Purdue another shot. Purdue not to lose.

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PICK: NHL Washington Capitals vs Pittsburgh Penguins

The Capitals are the showcase team right now. Alex Ovechkin is a scoring machine. I think the Capital will dominate the slumping Pens

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PICKS: NBA Celtics vs Suns and Heat vs. Magic

For the Celtics vs. Suns - I like the Celtics again. I think they are playing strong basketball. Although the Suns are on the run again, I think the Celtics D might be too much for them.

For the Heat vs. Orlando - Both teams did not play well on Wednesday. The Magic weren't scoring and the Heat weren't rebounding. Somehow I expect the Heat to win in a squeaker.

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PICKS: Pepper Picks the Academy Award Winners

Let me just say one thing first before we get to the picks - I don't go to the movies - and it is not for a lack of trying - they just don't allow dogs in the theater for some strange reason. Their claim is that it has something to do with the food. I think it has something to do with me attacking the other patrons who get to loud and insurance and all those wonderful things. That being said, I have no idea what was "good movie" or what was "Oscar Worthy", I just made random picks the same way I make the picks for sporting events. Two side notes: 1) Overall BOLT or HOTEL FOR DOGS, which were about dogs should have been up for all the categories and 2) after I made the picks did I learn that Slumdog Millionaire had nothing to do about a DOG!!

The Poodle Picks are in 6 major award categories:

Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Pepper picks which movie will win the Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role. His choices include: Amy Adams in “Doubt”, Penélope Cruz in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”, Viola Davis in “Doubt”, Taraji P. Henson in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, Marisa Tomei in “The Wrestler”

PoodlePick: Viola Davis in “Doubt”

Best Actress in a Leading Role: Pepper picks which movie will win the Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role. His choices include: Anne Hathaway in “Rachel Getting Married”,Angelina Jolie in “Changeling”, Melissa Leo in “Frozen River”, Meryl Streep in “Doubt”, Kate Winslet in “The Reader”

PoodlePick: Kate Winslet in “The Reader”

Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Pepper picks which movie will win the Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role. His choices include: Josh Brolin in “Milk”, Robert Downey Jr. in “Tropic Thunder”, Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Doubt”, Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight”, Michael Shannon in “Revolutionary Road”

PoodlePick: Michael Shannon in “Revolutionary Road”

Best Actor in a Leading Role: Pepper picks which movie will win the Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role. His choices include: Richard Jenkins in “The Visitor”, Frank Langella in “Frost/Nixon”, Sean Penn in “Milk”, Brad Pitt in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler”

PoodlePick: Frank Langella in “Frost/Nixon”

Best Directing: Pepper picks which movie will win the Academy Award for Best Achievement in Directing. His choices include: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”,“Frost/Nixon”,“Milk”,“The Reader”, and “Slumdog Millionaire”

PoodlePick: “Slumdog Millionaire” [I thought it was about a DOG!!]

Best Motion Picture of the Year: Pepper picks which movie will win the Academy Award for Best Motion Picture of the Year. His choices include: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”,“Frost/Nixon”,“Milk”,“The Reader”, and “Slumdog Millionaire”

PoodlePick: "BOLT!!" ok... "Slumdog Millionaire"

Regards,

Pepper

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Sunday Recap - Pepper Goes 2-5 for the Weekend...Back in the Doghouse!

Okay, I'm struggling for the second day in a row.  When my first victory came with the WildCats, I just knew it was going to be a looooooong weekend.  I also knew that Indiana beating Illinois was a long shot.  Just goes to show, the favorites don't always win.  In addition, I suffered my first NHL loss as the Devils beat the Sharks in a very exciting 6-5 game.  The Flyers are my lone win for the day.  Overall for the weekend, 2 wins and 5 losses, which includes Mark Martin's loss in the Daytona 500.  Can't win them all. 

Coming this week - - the Oscars!  In addition, I will be picking more NBA, NHL and NCAA basketball games later this week. 

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Pepper Videos Go Over 10,000 Views Mark!!!

Thank you everyone. After 45 days of existence, PoodlePicks has surpass the 10,000 video views mark across 8 major video publishing sites (see the TubeMogul badge at the bottom of the page). That is an average of 227 video views a day of Standard Poodle eating out of dish to make sport picks. Now, we've only produced about 50 videos, with many more coming, so we are growing each day exponentially as the total video inventory grows but we are very surprised that we were able to cross this mini milestone so early in this venture. Our next major goal is 50,000 then 100,000 as we have some major events coming: The Oscars, March Madness, The Masters, The NBA and NHL Playoffs before a summer slowdown with baseball!!!

Thanks you again.. Keep watching and please continue to send us your comments and feedback. Don't forget to become a fan on Facebook and get others to join!!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/PoodlePickscom/62098618271


Pepper & Company

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Saturday Recap: Pepper Stuggles as Favorites Fall

So rule #1 of picking games is not to listen to outside commentary - just go with you gut (since we are eating to determine the picks). I got caught up in all these angry emails from Gator and Bruin fans about how good their basketball teams were when I picked against them ... so listening to them bragging... not wanting to upset the masses.. they go ahead and lose today. No more!! From now straight to the food - which what I have been doing anyway but I wanted to complain about something... Good win by Kentucky.

Pepper goes 1-2 to start the weekend...

Tomorrow Illinois vs. Indiana, NHL: Sharks vs. Devils (one comment already ask for us not to jinx their team) and Flyers vs. Rangers.

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PICKS: NCAA MENS BASKETBALL & NHL 2/14 & 2/15

NCAA Men's Basketball:

Florida vs. Georgia - Gators dominated the previous game in Gainesville and the Georgia coach got fired - look for the Gators to dominate again - plus they are coming off a tough loss to Kentucky. Pepper picks the Florida Gators

Illinois vs. Indiana - what weekend would be complete without an upset. Pepper picks the Indiana Hoosier.

UCLA vs. Arizona- Last weekend Pepper paid the price in negative comments by picking against UCLA. UCLA looked ready for March and so Pepper picks the Bruins so only positive comments.

Kentucky vs. Arkansas - Kentucky squeaked out an huge win over the Gators on Tuesday. They will ride that emotion to beat a young Arkansas team. Pepper picks the Kentucky Wildcats.

NHL:

Sharks vs. Devils - the Sharks are just the best team in the NHL right now. Pepper hopes to stay hot with the Sharks for his NHL pick.

Rangers vs. Flyers - both team are right in the middle of the playoff picture as the #4 and #5 in the Eastern Conference. The Rangers have been struggling to score lately - Pepper will pick the Flyers.

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PICK: Daytona 500

Let me start off by saying this wasn't easy. After weeks of testing ways to do picks where there is more then one choice, we came with the idea of putting a single treat on top of these "beanie" cars. Seemed funny. Anyway, the problem is that I eat so fast there isn't a real clear view to see the final pick but just trust me on who I pick.

Methodology:

Part 1: We took the Top 25 "Odds on Favorite" cars based on who is likely win because of ownership group and experience. It would be too much and too random to do all 43 starters in the field and also to do an "overall field" vs the says the Hendrick Group (Cars #5,24,48,88) is not a good option on a restrictor plate track where the racing is too wide open and one crash can take out 1/2 the field. I'll do that with the Master between the field vs Tiger Woods and the Coke 600 and the Brickyard 400.

Part 2: From the Top 25, 5 car numbers were picked at random from a hat. Each of these cars will compete in a Heat - I pick one winner in each of the 5 "heats", who will move to the Final Choice Winner Pick. Just the like in the Olympics.

Part 3: Each of the 5 "Heat" Winner are used for the Final Pick. And the Overall Winner will be #5 Car driven by Mark Martin. Pure Science!!

I know this isn't one of the best video but remember this is a work in progress. By the time we do the Master, we'll go back to using 5 small dishes so the winner is much clearer to see.

Enjoy,

Pepper

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Upcoming Picks Schedule

Videos will be filmed tonight on the following games:

NCAA Men's Basketball:
Kentucky vs. Arkansas
Florida vs. Georgia
UCLA vs. Arizona
Illinois vs. Indiana

NHL:
Rangers vs Flyers
Sharks vs. Devils

Daytona 500:
Video will be live this evening (not one of my best but this is a work in progress)

NBA is playing their All-Star Game - no pick for All-Star games since its an exhibition. One subscribe pointed out that most Vegas bets (at least for the NFL Pro Bowl) are on the Over/Under. I will still take the pass.

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PICK: Westminster Dog Show - Best in Breed

Ok, this pick was a little hard and took a while to put together. Basically, there are just too many breeds for a dog to choose from, so the idea we came up with was to choose which GROUP the best in breed will come from. Then, in thinking about it some more, this is the one sport where I do have show some bias - I'm a Standard Poodle - only a Standard Poodle should win best in Breed!!! So this is really about which breed is second if it is not a Standard Poodle chosen on Tuesday.

The Video is in 3 Parts:

Part 1 - a listing of the 7 different breed groups: Sporting - Hound - Working - Terrier - Toy - Non Sporting (Standard Poodles)- Herding

Part 2 - A review of the choices..

Part 3 - and finally the Pick - THE WORKING GROUP - (A Standard Poodle would have stop sleeping actually do something to be included in this group)

Enjoy, and please become a Fan of PoodlePicks on Facebook!

Wags,

Pepper

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