Your Hoops and Horses Selections for Feb. 12-14

Welcome to America’s Best Racing’s Hoops and Horses column, where winners play!
Horse racing is Joe Kristufek’s means to an end, and he loves the sport like no other, but as a Chicago Bulls season ticket holder for eight years and a feared participant in fantasy hoops, Kristufek also has his finger on the pulse of the NBA.
From growing up with the Flintstones of Michigan State, running March Madness pools out of his hidden manila envelope in high school, to attending conference tournaments, Sweet 16s and Final Fours, college basketball runs in Derek Cooley’s blood.
Let’s sprint out on the fast break, spring the horses from the gate and pad our bankrolls!
**Thursday morning lines from scoresandodds.com**
College Hoops – by Derek Cooley
What a crazy college basketball season it has been so far! 
It seems like a Top 5 ranking this year foreshadows an upcoming upset. 
Who’s number one right now? Villanova? Seems legit, we’ll just see how long that lasts ... am I right?
Anyways, the pigskin has flown south for the remainder of winter and it’s time for the leather/rubber/synthetic composite to hit the hardwood! Welcome back to the college hoops section of Hoops and Horses! 
It’s gonna be awesome, baby!
As we did last year, at the time these picks are made and this article is posted, lines for the weekend are yet to be confirmed. Therefore, we do final score predictions for the game ... and that will give you an indication to where I think you should place your play when the lines do come out.
Sound good? Alright! Let’s get busy. 
Saturday, Feb. 13
#6 Kansas @ #3 Oklahoma (2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
It’s the college hoops mainstays ... it’s the vaunted Kansas Jayhawks traveling to the Oklahoma Sooners. Yes, Oklahoma is outstanding this year, if you haven’t noticed yet. If you were unable to catch the first game between these two opponents, Oklahoma lost to Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse in THREE OVERTIMES … still the best game of the year so far. This game will play a little differently in Norman. The Sooners will grab the early lead as the leading candidate for player of the year, Buddy Hield, will be doing his thing against the Jayhawks. Kansas has been playing well as of late, but hasn’t been doing well overall on the road. Three recent road losses include West Virginia, Oklahoma State and Iowa State.
#3 Oklahoma - 71  
#6 Kansas - 64
#24 Texas @ #14 Iowa State (8:30pm ET, ESPN)
Let’s stay in the Big 12 for our second Saturday pick. It’s the Texas Longhorns and the Iowa State Cyclones. The best player on the court is George Niang for ISU, but the best team, I think, right now is Texas. Shaka Smart has this team really playing well at this time of year, and had a 9-point halftime lead last time out at Oklahoma. Both teams are coming off road losses: Iowa State’s being at Texas Tech, not quite Oklahoma. But I truly think these teams are projecting in different directions. It’s going to be a bad week in Ames following this one.
#24 Texas - 66
#14 Iowa State - 65 
Sunday, Feb. 14
Indiana @ #8 Michigan State (1:00pm ET, CBS)
Both teams are coming off of losses as well, but in quite different fashion. The Spartans battled back from an 18-point deficit at Purdue only to lose in overtime by a point on a questionable-at-best foul call inside the final five seconds. Meanwhile, the hot Hoosiers relinquished their lead of the B1G in a loss … at Penn State? The Breslin Center has been a house of horrors in recent years for Indiana, and Sunday will prove no different. Indiana has beaten Michigan State in East Lansing exactly one time since 1996, and that came in 2013 when Indiana was ranked No. 1.
#8 Michigan State – 81
Indiana - 68
COACH TOM IZZO WILL HAVE MICHIGAN STATE READY

U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class David Danals/Released/WikiMediaCommons
Ponies – by Joe Kristufek
With hoops replacing pigskins and the Triple Crown preps now in full swing, it’s time for a clean slate. Fasten your seatbelts, I’m confident it’s going to be a fun (and profitable) ride!
Saturday, Feb. 13
Tampa Bay Downs – Tampa, Fla.
Race 5 – Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3)
#5 Rafting (morning-line odds, 7-2)
By Tapit out of the Kris S. mare Paiota Falls, this Graham Motion charge is bred to run all day. He showed solid progression as a 2-year-old and has been meticulously prepared for his season debut.
Race 9 – Suncoast Stakes
#11 Smart Shopping (morning-line odds, 4-1)
Bet down to odds of 9-2 against 11 opponents in her career debut at Churchill Downs, this well-bred daughter of Smart Strike responded in kind, disposing of her sprint challengers in professional fashion. She’s trained like a bear this winter, jockey Robby Albarado follows her to Florida and the pedigree answers “yes, please” to the added distance.
Race 10 – Tampa Bay Stakes (G3)
#1 War Correspondent (morning-line odds, 7-2)
Hung out wide while chasing a sharp, gate-to-wire winner last out at Gulfstream Park, this talented lawnmower should benefit from today’s rail draw and a potential pocket trip.

Photo by Eclipse Sportswire
Gulfstream Park – Hallandale, Fla.
Race 4 – Royal Delta Stakes (G2)
#4 Penwith (morning-line odds, TBD)
It’s good to be trainer Kiaran McGlaughlin these days, and it looks like he may be in line to feast on another stakes victory with this 5-year-old mare. Forced to race down on a compromising rail last time out, she still got the job done over a comparable group of females and she should offer a fair enough price in this potentially competitive affair.
Oaklawn Park – Hot Springs, Ark.
Race 9 - Essex Handicap
#4 Carve (morning-line odds, TBD)
Four of this 6-year-old’s seven career wins have come at Oaklawn Park, and he’s done some of his best work off the bench. He returns to his favorite track off a six-month freshening to make his first start for top trainer Steve Asmussen. In a race not short on speed, his stalk and pounce tactics should come in handy. 
Pro Hoops – by Joe Kristufek
What started in September and ended with a Denver Broncos Super Bowl win turned out to be a virtual wash for our plays. Our attention now shifts to the NBA and All-Star Weekend.  
Saturday, Feb. 13
Skills Competition
C. J. McCollum (4-1)
Guards have dominated this test of passing, ball handling and shooting ability. McCollum is one of the best, young players in the NBA that few have heard about, and he brings all the necessary skills to the table to win this competition.
3-Point Contest
J. J. Redick (5-1)
Splash brothers Stephen Curry (6-5) and Klay Thompson (7-2) are the favorites, but the value lies with Redick. He’s shooting .476 from behind the arc this season and his body is built to complete the route.
Sunday, Feb. 14
All-Star Game
Curry, Durant, Westbrook, Davis, Harden, Green, Leonard … shall I continue?
The West roster is absolutely stacked with multi-dimensional talent and, in Kobe Bryant’s final appearance, I expect them to dominate.
The odds have yet to be posted, but take the West and give the points.
My top MVP candidates are Kevin Durant, who played only nine minutes in last year’s game and Anthony Davis, a star who is toiling for an underachieving team. 
ANTHONY DAVIS COULD SHINE IN ALL-STAR GAME

By TonyTheTiger - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30443259