College Hoops Betting Notes
By Micah Roberts
Seven teams still remain unbeaten heading into this week led by No. 1 Duke. Because the ACC looks to be weaker compared to years past, they have the easiest chance to run the table. Duke was the only team ranked from the conference in last week’s coaches poll with only Florida State getting a single vote among the 11 other teams. In the RPI index, only North Carolina is among the top 20 teams with Duke rated 13th because of a poor strength of schedule rating, ranked 131st. Next Wednesday Duke travels to Tallahassee for a date against the Seminoles which could give them a scare. However, the once tough tobacco road jaunts are no longer a feared gauntlet. Following the Florida State game, Duke plays only two non-conference opponents, at St. John’s and a visit from Temple.
No. 3 Kansas has the top RPI rating and will have a tough time staying undefeated during conference play on the road as the Big-12 has five other teams ranked. No. 2 Ohio State has five other teams ranked in the Big Ten while No. 4 Syracuse has six other ranked teams to face in the Big East, the toughest conference nightly in basketball. One of the Big East teams not even ranked is still undefeated with Cincinnati, although they have played a very weak non-conference schedule heading into Big East play this week.
No. 6 San Diego State begins conference play this week and then get their first test next week when they host UNLV (12-2) followed by a road date at the always tough “Pit” at New Mexico (11-3).
UNLV tips off its conference play against No. 16 BYU (14-1) at the Thomas & Mack center Wednesday night in a game that will be BYU’s last visit to Las Vegas as a Mountain West member. It should be a rocking atmosphere and give further insight to just how good UNLV is at this juncture. The task at hand for them will be trying to control Senior guard Jimmer Fredette who is sizzling hot right now averaging 24 points-per-game on the season and 28 ppg in December.
When looking at the RPI conference ratings, it’s interesting to see the MWC as the fifth rated conference ahead of the Atlantic-10, PAC-10, Conf-USA and SEC.
The game of the week features No. 8 Connecticut at No. 13 Texas in the one of only two games this week that feature two ranked teams playing each other. The Long Horns have won five straight games after a December 5 meltdown at USC led by the play of sophomore Jordan Hamilton who has averaged 19.8 ppg and 7.2 rebounds-per-game. While Hamilton leads the team in scoring, his high total for rebounds is only third best on the team, a team that is third in the nation with 43 boards per game.
They’ll matchup against a team almost as greedy on the boards as them in Connecticut who is fifth in the nation. After losing their final four games of last season and relegated to playing in the NIT, the Huskies have stormed back this year as one of the biggest surprises of the season led by Junior guard Kemba Walker who leads the nation in scoring with 26.7 ppg. Both teams each lost to Pittsburgh and beat Michigan State this year as common opponents. Look for the home court edge to give Texas a boost in this one with a five point win.