Brad Wilton
Free play for tonight is Over in the Kansas State-Wake Forest First Four game from Dayton, Ohio.
This one is all about Danny Manning's Demon Deacons pushing the pace and getting the points flowing against the Wildcats.
Wake has played Over the total in each of their last 4, and they have gone Over the total in 9 of 13 road games this year, with the Over standing at 21-8-1 for the entire season!
Kansas State has been mostly an Under team this year, but Bruce Weber's team did play 2 of their last 3 road games Over the total, and I think they will be playing this game with Wake Forest at an uptempo that will force them to score points to stay in it.
Let's go Over in your night-cap game of the First Four!
3* KANSAS STATE-WAKE FOREST OVER
Eric Schroeder
My free play for Tuesday night is on the St. Francis Red Flash, on the road against Jacksonville.
The Dolphins come into this tournament having lost three in a row, and their invite to this event is generous - at best. Likely because there aren't many other teams above .500, and the Vegas 16 isn't taking place this postseason.
St. Francis is a better 16-16 team, than Jacksonville is a 17-15 squad.
The Red Flash played at St. Bonnies, at Duquesne, at Marquette and at Texas A&M this season. They won't be intimidated by Jacksonville, which from my estimation, played its toughest non-conference game at UW Milwuakee. Maybe at Air Force.
St. Francis will win this game outright.
2* ST. FRANCIS
Jack Brayman
Took a hit with my free play last night, as the New York Rangers lost at home to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Eh, it happens. It's hockey. Let's get back on the hardwood tonight, and roll with Campbell over Houston Baptist in the College Insider Tournament.
You may not be familiar with the teams, and it may not be my 100 Dimer, but it's the next best basketball play on the entire card.
You won't see a lot of point spreads on these teams, but when you have, Campbell is 4-1 versus the books. Gotta love those Fighting Camels.
Look for Campbell to take advantage of Houston Baptist's soft defense, which allows 81.5 points per game while ordering room service. Having to travel is going to be the biggest downfall for the Huskies, who allow an average of 77.3 points per game overall.
Houston was knocked out of the first round in the Southland tournament, while Campbell won its first game and lost to eventual champ Winthrop in the Big South tournament.
I'll take the home team with the tight number in this one, as Campbell will roll.
4* CAMPBELL
Chris Jordan
Real quick with this comp winner, as I'm playing an underdog in the National Invitational Tournament, a physical and scrappy Richmond team that is not to be underestimated. The Spiders will give the Alabama Crimson Tide everything it can handle.
Richmond has won 20 games against power conference teams during Coach Chris Mooney's tenure, including a victory over Boston College earlier this season.
Though the Tide will have the bigger lineup, the Spiders feature a small but stingy lineup that forces 14.2 turnovers per game. The Spiders rank 32nd in the country in turnover margin, and when Alabama underestimates this team, that's when we're going to see the road team take a lead and get a us a nice cushion with the points we're already getting.
Take the underdog in this one.
5* RICHMOND
Stallone Sports
Wake Forrest Pk
This looks like a matchup that favours Wake and their run and gun style of play. K-State has struggled all year with high powered offensive teams. The want to play a slow, grind it out half court game and lean on their defence to get the job done. I don’t think they have anyone to stop Collins inside nor do I think they can score enough points to keep up with the Deacons. Wake also has much better shooters, from 3 and from the FT line. The Deacons defence is awful but should be able to neutralize the pedestrian offence of K-State. Bottom line, I just don’t see K-State being able to outscore Wake here. In a do or die game, I’ll take the team with the better shooters and the best player on the floor in Collins.
Georgia Tech +3
The blueprint is laid out on to how to beat the Hoosiers. If you make them play a grinder of a game in the half court where they have to defend and you have a good shot of winning. Thats exactly what Georgia Tech brings to the table here tonight in the first round of the NIT. Indiana was actually supposed to host this game but they declined because there students are on spring break and they were worried about the lack of a crowd. I would also presume that Crean didn’t want to be surrounded by the negative press and fan base that is upset with the teams performance. Either way I really like the mindset of the Yellow Jackets who are really fired up for this game and opportunity to host an NIT game in a year where they were pegged to be awful. On the other side I question the psyche of Indiana. With so much turmoil surrounding their coach and program after a very disappointing season, I just don’t see them bringing their A game to the table tonight. GT has been underpriced at home all season long, going 9-5 ATS and 3-10 to the Under which greatly favours them in this matchup. GT has some really impressive home wins this year, and I think they can pick up another one. I made this game a pk, so the +3 is solid value with GT.
OC Dooley
Richmond / Alabama Over 139
At most offshore locations this total opened way down at 133 points and has since soared upwards. Even though we have lost market-value I am still reacting to the dramatic RISE in this spot when considering that Alabama has gone a whopping 14-4 "under" the number at HOME the last eighteen times the total has been anywhere in the 130's range (offense averaging just 64 points per game while the defense has permitted just 61 per pop in that situation). In the semifinals of the SEC Tournament Alabama did go OVER the total for the 2nd time in the past 3 outings (79-74 final score) which is big news since the Crimson Tide went 7-2 "under" in the prior nine games. On the season Richmond is 8-2 OVER when facing solid defenses that hold the opposition to less than 43% effectiveness from the field. In the past THREE YEARS Richmond has gone 26-10 OVER after actually "failing" to cover the spread in the prior outing
Harry Bondi
GEORGIA TECH (+3) over Indiana
Denver was an easy winner for us last night and today we hope for another easy winner in the NIT with the underrated Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets as home dogs over disappointing Indiana. Hoosiers were thought to be a NCAA Tournament lock at the beginning season, especially after beating both Kansas and North Carolina in November, but injuries and poor play led to a very disappointing season that wrapped up with the Hoosiers losing 6 of their last 8 games. Things are so bad in Bloomington right now that they don’t want to play at home. As the higher seed Indiana could have hosted this game but choose not too! Sounds like they are really up for the game!! Georgia Tech on the other hand has overachieved in the SEC this season, will have a full house for tonight’s game and have covered 12 of their last 16 games. Take the more motivated home dog