this great concept sure has been diluted quickly, hasn't it? how many of these teams are truly 'on the bubble'? half a dozen? probably less. i mean, are cal poly SLO and south dakota state really battling to improve their tournament resumes?
anyways, 2-0 last night to continue my ridiculous run. it has to come to an abrupt end soon. probably today.
providence (-2.5) 2 units. of course i'm going to continue playing against nd. why wouldn't i? especially on the road. tory jackson is still their point guard, isn't he? keep shooting, tory, keep shooting. anyways, if you just looked at the schedules and took the names off the jerseys, wouldn't providence be favored by a few more points? nd has covered one of their last 10 games. oh, and providence lost at nd in OT last year. revenge?
marquette (+3) 3 units. ok, this one may be too easy. but based purely on the numbers, georgetown should be favored by 5.5. so i think the line has already been adjusted. the hoyas have 2 wins in their last 9 games. against rutgers and south florida. the loss of wallace and hibbert has been too much for this team to overcome. this one may be close at halftime, but i expect the golden eagles to pull away in the 2nd half, just like in the first meeting 3 weeks ago.
virginia tech (-3) 1 unit. i've actually flip-flopped on this game. i originally liked the seminoles. everything seemed to point at the 'noles as being the play. they've already won a few conference road games... they were just ranked a week ago... virginia tech has a revenge game next against clemson... BUT it's just too easy. since VT joined the league 4 years ago, the home team has won each game in this matchup by at least six points (and less than ten). i think the hokies are the play.
texas (-1.5) 1 unit. oklahoma is the easiest play on the board. how are they getting even 1.5 points? they already beat texas by 15 this year. texas is really struggling, losing 4 of their last 6, and one of the wins was in OT against colorado. COLORADO!! everybody saw them stink up the joint 5 days ago against a mediocre texas a&m squad. they've even lost 2 of their last 3 home games. how can they possibly hang with the oklahoma sooners, led by the all-powerful blake griffin? you know what? i have no idea. but i'm betting that somehow they do.
davidson (-5) 2 units. i don't know if curry is playing. i'm sure his questionable status is already built into this line. this is really more of an anti-butler play than anything else. this is not the same butler team as the last few years. instead of the steadying influence (and great shooting) of aj graves, the bulldogs are starting 2 freshmen in the backcourt.
tennessee tech (+5.5) 2 units. it's the day of the golden eagles. wow, tech is struggling, losing 6 straight to fall into 2nd-to-last in the ohio valley conference. why are they only getting 5.5 points at the team leading their division in the mac? i dunno. i guess we'll know the answer around 4:00.
northern iowa (+6) 1 unit. this game is all about tempo. siena wants to run and gun, while the panthers are a half court team. IF northern iowa succumbs to the pressure, then it's going to be a long day for them (roughly 2 hours). but i think i'm getting the better team plus 6 points. as a general rule, up-tempo teams feed off the home crowd. that won't happen here, as the crowd at the knick/pepsi/timesunion arena/center is, shall we say, less than intimidating. i like northern iowa's chances of slowing down the pace and frustrating the saints. also, the panthers get scoring inside the paint, which has LONG been a vulnerability for siena. they have very little interior defense.
morgan st (-2) 1 unit. like i'm going to pass up a chance to bet on the morgan state bears. they've pretty much already wrapped up the meac. now they're looking for the icing on the cake - a road win over the mighty towson tigers. morgan state, back when they were 5-8, won AT maryland. they also won at depaul and have played at mississippi and washington. so they're hardly going to be intimidated by the towson center. besides, towson just got beat up by a dude and his girlfriend (william and mary).
leaning towards tennessee martin and portland state, too.
anyways, 2-0 last night to continue my ridiculous run. it has to come to an abrupt end soon. probably today.
providence (-2.5) 2 units. of course i'm going to continue playing against nd. why wouldn't i? especially on the road. tory jackson is still their point guard, isn't he? keep shooting, tory, keep shooting. anyways, if you just looked at the schedules and took the names off the jerseys, wouldn't providence be favored by a few more points? nd has covered one of their last 10 games. oh, and providence lost at nd in OT last year. revenge?
marquette (+3) 3 units. ok, this one may be too easy. but based purely on the numbers, georgetown should be favored by 5.5. so i think the line has already been adjusted. the hoyas have 2 wins in their last 9 games. against rutgers and south florida. the loss of wallace and hibbert has been too much for this team to overcome. this one may be close at halftime, but i expect the golden eagles to pull away in the 2nd half, just like in the first meeting 3 weeks ago.
virginia tech (-3) 1 unit. i've actually flip-flopped on this game. i originally liked the seminoles. everything seemed to point at the 'noles as being the play. they've already won a few conference road games... they were just ranked a week ago... virginia tech has a revenge game next against clemson... BUT it's just too easy. since VT joined the league 4 years ago, the home team has won each game in this matchup by at least six points (and less than ten). i think the hokies are the play.
texas (-1.5) 1 unit. oklahoma is the easiest play on the board. how are they getting even 1.5 points? they already beat texas by 15 this year. texas is really struggling, losing 4 of their last 6, and one of the wins was in OT against colorado. COLORADO!! everybody saw them stink up the joint 5 days ago against a mediocre texas a&m squad. they've even lost 2 of their last 3 home games. how can they possibly hang with the oklahoma sooners, led by the all-powerful blake griffin? you know what? i have no idea. but i'm betting that somehow they do.
davidson (-5) 2 units. i don't know if curry is playing. i'm sure his questionable status is already built into this line. this is really more of an anti-butler play than anything else. this is not the same butler team as the last few years. instead of the steadying influence (and great shooting) of aj graves, the bulldogs are starting 2 freshmen in the backcourt.
tennessee tech (+5.5) 2 units. it's the day of the golden eagles. wow, tech is struggling, losing 6 straight to fall into 2nd-to-last in the ohio valley conference. why are they only getting 5.5 points at the team leading their division in the mac? i dunno. i guess we'll know the answer around 4:00.
northern iowa (+6) 1 unit. this game is all about tempo. siena wants to run and gun, while the panthers are a half court team. IF northern iowa succumbs to the pressure, then it's going to be a long day for them (roughly 2 hours). but i think i'm getting the better team plus 6 points. as a general rule, up-tempo teams feed off the home crowd. that won't happen here, as the crowd at the knick/pepsi/timesunion arena/center is, shall we say, less than intimidating. i like northern iowa's chances of slowing down the pace and frustrating the saints. also, the panthers get scoring inside the paint, which has LONG been a vulnerability for siena. they have very little interior defense.
morgan st (-2) 1 unit. like i'm going to pass up a chance to bet on the morgan state bears. they've pretty much already wrapped up the meac. now they're looking for the icing on the cake - a road win over the mighty towson tigers. morgan state, back when they were 5-8, won AT maryland. they also won at depaul and have played at mississippi and washington. so they're hardly going to be intimidated by the towson center. besides, towson just got beat up by a dude and his girlfriend (william and mary).
leaning towards tennessee martin and portland state, too.
