Hot & Not Report
By Joe Williams
VegasInsider.com
Who's Hot
Loyola-Chicago Ramblers (4-0 ATS L/4) – Loyola travels to Missouri State Sunday for a Missouri Valley battle. The Ramblers have shown vast improvement since the start of the season, going 3-1 SU and 4-0 ATS over their past four games, including wins at Southern Illinois and against Northern Iowa. Not bad. They fell against MO State Jan. 9 by a 56-54 score, but they're much improved since. And the Bears enter Sunday's tilt on a 1-3 SU skid while going 1-4 ATS over their past five outings.
Manhattan Jaspers (4-0 ATS L/4) – In recent years the Jaspers of Manhattan have been a regular tournament team and one of the most recognizable names in the MAAC. That ship has sailed and it will take a miracle run in the conference tournament to get into the big dance, but the Jaspers are faring well against the number lately. They have covered four straight, including an 84-77 win over Quinnipiac Feb. 11. They face the Bobcats Sunday.
Seton Hall Pirates (8-1 ATS L/9) – The Hall has been on quite the roll lately, winning five of their past six, while covering nine of their past 10. They'll take the quick jaunt into the city to battle St. John's, a team they clubbed 79-60 to cover a 16-point number back on Jan. 27. The Johnnies enter 4-5 ATS in their past nine as a double-digit dog.
Tulsa Golden Hurricane (8-2-1 ATS L/11) – The Golden Hurricane has slowly been improving its resume for a potential at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. A home win against Cincinnati, a road win at SMU, a home win against Houston and a few other convincing conference victories at least have them in the conversation. Bettors like them a lot lately, too, as Tulsa is 4-0 ATS over the past four, and 8-2-1 ATS in their past 11. They hit the road for suburban Orlando to meet UCF, a team they belted 75-60 back on Jan. 24 as an 11-point favorite. Tulsa has covered four of their past six on the road.
Who's Not
Michigan Wolverines (3-7 ATS L/10) – The Wolverines have failed to cover in seven of their past 10, and they're 2-4 ATS in their past six road and neutral site games heading into Sunday's rematch at Maryland. They were able to knock off the Terps 70-67 Jan. 12, but overall they have been a very flat team away from Ann Arbor.
Quinnipiac Bobcats (0-5 ATS L/5) – The Bobcats enter Sunday's game against Manhattan on a 1-4 SU and 0-5 ATS slide, and that includes an 84-77 loss at Manhattan back on Feb. 11. The Jaspers, on the other hand, have been red hot (see above). While Quinnipiac has dominated this series in recent seasons, they'll have a difficult time with an improving Manhattan team Sunday.
Temple Owls (2-5 ATS L/7) – The Owls have been playing very good basketball lately, winning five of their past six straight up, and eight of their past 10 overall. However, they haven't been cashing winners on a regular basis, hitting against the number just twice in the past seven. They travel to Houston Saturday to meet a Cougars team that buried them 77-50 in Philly back on Jan. 2 despite Temple entering as a six-point favorite.
Valparaiso Crusaders (1-4 ATS L/5) – Valpo hung on for a big win over Horizon League rival Oakland Friday night, but they failed to cover for the fourth time in the past five outings. The Crusaders had been a pretty reliable play until the calendar turned to February. The 'under' is also 4-1 in their past five games, although the 'over' cashed in their first meeting at Detroit Jan. 10. They host the Titans in Sunday's game. Valpo also crushed the Titans 92-74 as a 7 1/2-point favorite in the first meeting during a span which the Crusaders went 8-1-1 ATS from Jan. 2-30.
Washington State Cougars (2-10 ATS L/12) – The Cougars have really hit the skids lately, losing 12 straight games since their shocking 85-78 win over UCLA back on Jan. 3. They're not much better against the number, either, failing to cover in five of the past six, and 10 of the past 12. They face a California team they are just 1-5 SU and 2-4 ATS over the past six meetings.
Total Notes
The 'under' has cashed in four of the past six for Middle Tennessee heading into their game against Alabama-Birmingham Sunday. The 'over' hit the last time these teams met Jan. 3, and the 'over' has cashed in four straight for UAB.
The 'over' has connected in each of the past six for Missouri State agoing into Sunday's home game against Loyola-Chicago.
While the 'over' cashed last time out for San Diego State, the 'under' is 7-3 over their past 10 games. They travel to for San Jose State Sunday. The 'over'
Seton Hall has it on lockdown lately, as the defense has allowd 65 or fewer points in five of their past six games. As a result, the 'under' is 5-1 during the span which includes their previous meeting with St. John's Jan. 27. They face the Red Storm Sunday at MSG.
The 'over' has hit in three straight for Tulsa heading into their road game at UCF Sunday. On the flip side, the 'under' has connected in six straight for the Golden Knights, and eight of their past nine, including the first meetings at Tulsa back on Jan. 24.