The New Orleans Privateers finished the 2004-05 season with a record of 13-17 straight up, including a Sun Belt Conference record of 7-8, which was good for a third place finish in the West Division. The Privateers were a little better against the spread as the finished 14-12-1, losing just once against the board in their final seven regular season games before suffering a first round SU&ATS loss to Western Kentucky in the conference tourney.
Unique Challenges
The Privateers were to live and play in a nomad existence for 2005-06 as they would be displaced by Hurricane Katrina. This extraordinary situation provided unique challenges both to The Privateers on the court and to college basketball gamblers as vagabond Privateers would have no real home and be on the road all season, which led to the possibility of both fatigue but also board value.
Fell flat on their face to start
New Orleans opened the 2005-06 season with an unlined 103-69 win over Belhaven. That was then followed by a 66-77 neutral court loss to cross-town rival Tulane as 4-point chalks. Next came a 64-76 home loss to Louisiana Tech as 1-point dogs, which was then followed by a 59-67 loss at Mississippi State as 7.5-point dogs for a third consecutive pointspread failure to begin the season.
On the road at Southern Mississippi, the Privateers would suffer a tough 78-83 overtime loss as 2-point chalks. New Orleans then took a break from the board and scored a 93-75 unlined home win over Southeastern Oklahoma State. Back on the board at Louisiana State, New Orleans was blown out 53-94 as 17.5-point chalks. The Privateers fared little better at Purdue, where they lost 56-68 as 8.5-point dogs as New Orleans fell flat on their face to start the season 0-6 against the board.
Bargain values
The horrific start and negative intangibles all served to enhance the Privateers’ overall board value and transform them into bargain values starting with a 72-78 loss/cover at Vanderbilt of the Southeastern Conference as whopping 21-point dogs. That was then followed by a 56-73 loss/cover at the Big 12’s Kansas as 19-point bargain basement dogs. In a rematch against Tulane, the Privateers earned a third straight payoff with a 50-49 win in a pick’em affair.
After a break in the profits with a 48-67 blowout loss at Denver as 7.5-point dogs, New Orleans got back on track with a 72-69 loss at North Texas as 9.5-point dogs. That was then followed by a 79-75 home win over Troy as 3.5-point chalks for a fifth payoff in six games.
Depleted value
New Orleans had gone from a “go against” team to a team that was gaining more attention from gamblers with that string of payoffs, which caused them to suffer depleted value starting with a 57-60 loss to South Alabama as 2.5-point dogs. That was then followed by a 52-61 home loss to Florida International as 7-point overlays. The Privateers got the cash in their next game, a 53-60 loss at Louisiana-Lafayette as 9.5-point dogs but failed again in a loss at Middle Tennessee State, 65-86 as 9-point dogs.
Back in black
New Orleans next traveled to Western Kentucky and scored a 57-72 loss/cover as 15.5-point dogs. That was then followed by a 64-54 home win/cover over Denver as 1-point dogs. After failing to cover a 75-74 home win over North Texas as 2.5-point chalks, the Privateers got back on track with a 58-62 loss/cover at Troy as 7.5-point dogs, which was then followed by a 71-81 loss at South Alabama as 12-point dogs as New Orleans was back in black with four covers in five games.
The Privateers then ran out of steam with a SU&ATS home loss to Louisiana-Lafayette and a loss/push at Jacksonville State. They rebounded, however to end the regular season with SU&ATS wins at home over Arkansas Little-Rock and Arkansas State. In the Sun Belt tourney they went 1-1 SU and ATS.