College Basketball Picks & Predictions for Friday, March 11, 2011
By Anthony Rome
(The Spread) – UConn has been a different team of late but do they have what it takes to pull off yet another upset when they take on Syracuse?
Oddsmakers from online sports book Bodog.com have made Syracuse a 3-point favorite over UConn on Friday night. The over/under total for this game is currently sitting at X points.
The Huskies enter this game with a 24-9 overall record and have run their winning streak at neutral sites to six games. According to latest college basketball trends, the over is 5-1 in those six games as the Huskies have averaged 81.5 points.
‘Cuse is 26-6 overall and 4-0 at neutral sites. They’re averaging 71.0 in those four games and 64.2 against, while their over/under record is 2-2. During the regular season, the under was 17-12 in all of the Orange’s lined games.
College Basketball Free Pick: After the way they came battled back against top-seeded and third-ranked Pitt on Wednesday, maybe it’s unwise to pick against UConn. But the Huskies are attempting to make history as the first school to win the Big East Championship by playing five games in five days. That seems like too tall an order, especially against a team like Syracuse who averages more points per game, has a better field goal percentage and whose defense is superior. This has to be a tired Huskie team, one in which lost to the Orange 66-58 in early February of this year. Brandon Triche had 16 points and Rick Jackson finished with 13 points and 13 boards to allow ‘Cuse to snap a four-game losing streak. Again, maybe it’s foolish to go against UConn right now when its firing on all cylinders but I’ll gladly lay the 3.5 points with the well-rested Orange.
FRIDAY COLLEGE BASKETBALL FREE PICK: SYRACUSE –3.5