2 units........pacific (+5) over santa clara
2 units........butler (+6) over indiana
1 unit..........vegas (+11) over stanford
1 unit..........bowling green (+18) over michigan
1 unit..........buffalo (+9) over niagara
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pacific.......just not sold on santa clara to this point. theyre sitting at 5-2 and theyve played a semi-respectable schedule -- but i just dont think they have enough talent to be a reliable chalk. nobody on that team scares me. guess its a matter of perception. some people can say they have good balance. but they have one player thats in double figures in points and they dont have anyone that can flat out score. broncos have a tendency to settle for perimeter jump shots/3pters. they do shoot the 3 pretty well, but (a la charlotte) they get 3-ball-happy sometimes.i just think pacific is the better team here. theyre coming off a dismal performance on wednesday vs fresno state. im confident they bounce back. as has been the case all year, i look for underdogs who are fundamentally sound and shoot free throws well. pacific definitely qualifies. as a team, theyre shooting an outstanding 77%. their system/coaching is sound. like UoP to win this game
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butler......backing the bulldogs -----again. you can pretty much pencil me in to back butler every time theyre an underdog. love their system. love their style of play. love their guard play. theyve been a little jekyl/hyde this year. hell, theyve been jekyl/hyde in the same GAME. poor 1h vs michigan, great 2h. great 1h vs bradley, poor 2h. butler's schedule gets much easier after this game, so this looks like the last time ill get a chance to back them as an underdog. indiana coming off a big upset of rival notre dame on the road. we'll see how they respond to another in-state game, this time as the chalk. its amazing how many close games butler plays. sounds like a broken record, but theyre five games have been decided by a TOTAL of ten points (2,1,2,1,4).
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vegas.......rebels playing their 3rd straight on the road, but theyve had a week off to prepare for this one. schedule has been decent -- nothing to write home about. wins over both cal and southern cal. this is one thats a little more of a gut-feeling type of play. stanford has always been a great team vs the nations elite, so i cant say i was at all surprised that they beat kansas outright. its when stanford is expected to win going away that i think theres value going against em. rebels have good balance (4 in double figures) and theyre very athletic. rebs a little deficient in the free throw dept and they arent a great rebounding team, which im not thrilled about. thankfully, stanford isnt much better in either dept. ill take a shot on spoon's guys to play another solid game vs a pac-1o foe
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bowling green.....fully understand if most think this is an absurd play. falcons have been incredibly lame to this point. but i think they can only go UP from this point. they have reasonable expectations in the mac this year. theyre NOT a scrub team and they have good talent. especially encouraging is the production of freshman austin montgomery. hes shot the ball extremely well the last few games and if he can provide a 3rd option (other than kevin netter and ronald lewis) then bgsu will be just fine. if bowling green losing to ipfw isnt rock bottom, then i dont know what is. dakich ripped both his team and the officials after that debacle (has since apologized for blasting refs). this is really gut check time for bowling green. theyve been erratic vs michigan the last few years. they took it on the chin in ann arbor last year (michigan won by 26) but 2 yrs ago falcons won outright. even through all their struggles, bowling green shooting an outstanding 82% from the line. theyre a well-coached team thats playing like absolute dog shit right now. but michigan hasnt laid this kind of number in years. wolverines starting to make their ascent in the big 10, but still not a role theyre familiar with. talent difference isnt 18 pts, even though bgsu's recent play suggests it it might be.
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2 units........butler (+6) over indiana
1 unit..........vegas (+11) over stanford
1 unit..........bowling green (+18) over michigan
1 unit..........buffalo (+9) over niagara
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pacific.......just not sold on santa clara to this point. theyre sitting at 5-2 and theyve played a semi-respectable schedule -- but i just dont think they have enough talent to be a reliable chalk. nobody on that team scares me. guess its a matter of perception. some people can say they have good balance. but they have one player thats in double figures in points and they dont have anyone that can flat out score. broncos have a tendency to settle for perimeter jump shots/3pters. they do shoot the 3 pretty well, but (a la charlotte) they get 3-ball-happy sometimes.i just think pacific is the better team here. theyre coming off a dismal performance on wednesday vs fresno state. im confident they bounce back. as has been the case all year, i look for underdogs who are fundamentally sound and shoot free throws well. pacific definitely qualifies. as a team, theyre shooting an outstanding 77%. their system/coaching is sound. like UoP to win this game
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butler......backing the bulldogs -----again. you can pretty much pencil me in to back butler every time theyre an underdog. love their system. love their style of play. love their guard play. theyve been a little jekyl/hyde this year. hell, theyve been jekyl/hyde in the same GAME. poor 1h vs michigan, great 2h. great 1h vs bradley, poor 2h. butler's schedule gets much easier after this game, so this looks like the last time ill get a chance to back them as an underdog. indiana coming off a big upset of rival notre dame on the road. we'll see how they respond to another in-state game, this time as the chalk. its amazing how many close games butler plays. sounds like a broken record, but theyre five games have been decided by a TOTAL of ten points (2,1,2,1,4).
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vegas.......rebels playing their 3rd straight on the road, but theyve had a week off to prepare for this one. schedule has been decent -- nothing to write home about. wins over both cal and southern cal. this is one thats a little more of a gut-feeling type of play. stanford has always been a great team vs the nations elite, so i cant say i was at all surprised that they beat kansas outright. its when stanford is expected to win going away that i think theres value going against em. rebels have good balance (4 in double figures) and theyre very athletic. rebs a little deficient in the free throw dept and they arent a great rebounding team, which im not thrilled about. thankfully, stanford isnt much better in either dept. ill take a shot on spoon's guys to play another solid game vs a pac-1o foe
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bowling green.....fully understand if most think this is an absurd play. falcons have been incredibly lame to this point. but i think they can only go UP from this point. they have reasonable expectations in the mac this year. theyre NOT a scrub team and they have good talent. especially encouraging is the production of freshman austin montgomery. hes shot the ball extremely well the last few games and if he can provide a 3rd option (other than kevin netter and ronald lewis) then bgsu will be just fine. if bowling green losing to ipfw isnt rock bottom, then i dont know what is. dakich ripped both his team and the officials after that debacle (has since apologized for blasting refs). this is really gut check time for bowling green. theyve been erratic vs michigan the last few years. they took it on the chin in ann arbor last year (michigan won by 26) but 2 yrs ago falcons won outright. even through all their struggles, bowling green shooting an outstanding 82% from the line. theyre a well-coached team thats playing like absolute dog shit right now. but michigan hasnt laid this kind of number in years. wolverines starting to make their ascent in the big 10, but still not a role theyre familiar with. talent difference isnt 18 pts, even though bgsu's recent play suggests it it might be.
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