The Georgia Southern Eagles finished the 2004-05 season with a record of 18-13 straight up, including a conference record of 10-6 straight up, which was good for a second place tie in the Southern Conference Southern Division with Charleston.
The Eagles were unable to maintain the same pace at the sportsbooks however, as they finished 11-13 against the spread while covering just one of their final five games of the season.
Solid Start
Georgia Southern opened the 2005-06 season with an 89-75 neutral court win over Portland as 6-point dogs. That was then followed by a 61-74 loss/cover at Texas Tech as 18-point bargain basement dogs. The Eagles ended the road trip with a 58-83 blowout loss at Kansas State as 8-point dogs.
Georgia Southern opened the home portion of their schedule with a pair of unlined games, starting with a 98-79 win over Mercer. That was then followed by a 90-58 home win over Augusta State.
Georgia Southern then had their first lined home game of the season, which was an 89-69 win over Illinois-Chicago as 3-point chalks to get off to a solid start of 3-1 against the spread.
Brief blip
The good start was short-lived, however, as it was followed, by an ugly 55-101 blowout loss at Missouri State as 12-point dogs. The Eagles then went to play South Florida on a neutral court and lost 66-72 as 4-point dogs for a brief blip of two consecutive losses ATS.
Back on track
Georgia Southern proved to be resilient, however, as they next scored a 64-61 win and cover at Illinois State as 6-point dogs. That was followed by an unlined 84-79 home win over Jacksonville and then another unlined home win over Webber by a score of 111-73. The Eagles proved that they were still back on track with an 83-65 win at the Citadel as 9-point chalks for a third consecutive payoff and sixth in nine games.
Loss of value
Although leagues such as the Southern Conference and teams in it such as Georgia Southern don’t attract a lot of attention the Eagles solid start did not go unnoticed by gamblers, which had the result of costing Georgia Southern a loss of value.
The Eagles problems began with a 71-68 home win over Charleston as 6-point home overlays. That was followed by a 91-75 home win over Wofford as 9-point chalks.
The Eagles went on to a full scale slump, however, starting with a 63-66 home loss to Furman as 6.5-point chalks. That was then followed by a 58-83 loss at Davidson as 10-point dogs. Next came an 84-90 loss at Appalachian State in overtime as 1-point dogs followed by an 86-78 home win over NC-Greensboro as 9-point chalks.
Value restored
The bad streak turned the gambling public off of Georgia Southern, and the Eagles saw their value restored on the board as a result.
The Eagles began the stretch drive with a 63-45 win over Elon University as 6.5-point chalks. That was then followed by a 93-71 win at Chattanooga as 1-point dogs. There was a brief pause in the profits with a 72-67 home win over Western Carolina as 8.5-point chalks but the Eagles got right back on track with a 96-68 home win over Citadel as 18-point chalks. Another payoff came in the form of a 91-79 win at Charleston as 4-point dogs before the streak again had a brief pause with a 62-78 loss at Wofford as 1.5-point chalks. The Eagles ended the regular season with back-to-back SU&ATS wins over Davidson and at Furman to end with six payoffs in their final eight games. In the post season Georgia Southern lost 61-74 to Appalachian State as 6.5-point chalks but still made the NIT, where they lost at Charlotte 61-77 as 8.5-point dogs.