2005 Season Summary
The St. Peter’s Peacocks were coming off a mediocre season of 15-13 straight up and 12-10-2 against the spread for 2004-05 and a fourth place finish in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
The Peacocks started off in decent shape against the college basketball betting boards in 2004-05 before a poor middle stretch and then finished strong with five covers in their final six regular season games before losing in the first round of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tourney to end the year.
Weak start
As is the case with all teams in the Metro Atlantic, as well as nearly all mid-major programs, the board value fluctuation for teams could be relatively violent and bounce up and down like a rubber ball. And St. Peter’s was to prove to be no different than the rest in this regard.
The St. Peter’s Peacocks started with a 51-80 blowout loss at eventual national champion Florida as 20-point dogs. That was followed by a 69-72 neutral court loss to Oakland that was not lined for a weak start to the 2005-06 season.
Bargain values
The thing to remember about mid major teams is that just when things begin to look bad, these teams often become valuable very quickly. This was the case with St. Peter’s as they scored a 71-82 loss/cover at Pittsburgh as 19.5-point dogs to get the cash for the first time all season. This was followed by a 57-66 loss/cover at Seton Hall as 11.5-point dogs.
St. Peter’s Peacocks then went back off the board for a pair of games starting with a 79-76 win at Lafayette and then a 73-60 home win over Monmouth-NJ.
Back on the board at Canisius as 2-point dogs, the Peacocks proved to be bargain values with a 69-64 win and cover. That was followed by a fourth straight payoff at Niagara in an 87-84 overtime win as 6-point dogs. The Peacocks then took a final respite from the board with an 82-77 home win over Farleigh Dickinson.
After a 49-66 neutral court loss to Massachusetts as 4.5-point dogs, the St. Peter’s Peacocks scored a 63-54 win over Columbia as 4-point neutral court chalks in what was to be the final payoff for quite some time.
Free fall
St. Peter’s Peacocks had started off with a nice 5-2 mark against the spread and had looked good as they entered into Metro Atlantic league action but the good feelings would end very quickly starting with a 104-100 home win over Rider as 5.5-point chalks.
That was followed by an 82-95 loss at Manhattan as 11-point dogs. Next was a 75-83 home loss to Iona as 3.5-point dogs. The Peacocks remained in a full free fall with a 75-81 win over Fairfield as 6-point chalks and then suffered a 69-77 loss at Siena as 4.5-point dogs for a fifth consecutive failure against the college basketball betting boards.
After a brief respite from the red ink with a 79-59 home win over Niagara as 3-point chalks, the gushing resumed with a 63-71 home loss to Marist as 2-point dogs and then a 76-74 home win over Loyola Maryland as 4.5-point chalks for a total of seven failures against the board in eight games.
Back in black
The bad losing streak against the board served to enhance St. Peter’s value as gamblers deserted them in droves. The first sign of better things to come was a 76-72 win at Iona as 11-point dogs. That was followed by a 75-74 win at Marist as 8.5-point dogs and then an 81-63 home win over Siena as 4-point chalks as the St. Peter’s Peacocks were back in black with three straight payoffs.
Collapse
Unfortunately, however, St Peter’s suffered a collapse down the stretch as they finished the regular season 2-4 straight up with just one payoff in those six games to drown in red ink. Incredibly enough, however, St. Peter’s Peacocks went 3-1 both SU&ATS in the Metro Atlantic conference tournament as their poor finish enhanced their board value.