NCAAB betting trends, odds and predictions for Sunday, January 8th, 2017 from various handicappers and websites
NCAAB Knowledge
11 of 15 George Washington games have been decided by 8 or less points. GW was 11-18 on arc in 73-69 win over Davidson last game; Colonials are #248 experience team that turns ball over 21.2% of time with an interim coach- they’re 6-2 vs teams ranked outside top 100. Richmond scored 81 pts/game win winning its first two A-14 games by 2-8 points; Spiders split their four true road games. Richmond-George Washington split their last six games; Spiders won here in double OT LY, their 3rd win in last five visits to GW.
Wisconsin won its last nine games; they won first two Big 14 games by 20-7 points. Badgers won at Marquette/Indiana, lost by 12 at Creighton in their true road games. Wisconsin is a top 10 rebounding team nationally. Purdue won eight of last nine games, winning last game by a point at Ohio State after an OT loss to Minnesota. Boilers swept Wisconsin LY by 6-11 points; Badgers lost six of last eight games in Mackey Arena, but are 7-5 in last 12 series games, overall. Purdue is shooting 40.3% on arc (#12).
Iowa is 1-2 in conference play, splitting pair of OT tilts in last two games; Hawkeyes are 7-1 vs teams ranked outside top 100, with only loss 98-89 to Omaha. Iowa won 81-47/90-76 in its first two Big 14 games with Rutgers. Scarlet Knights lost last four games after an 11-1 start; their Big 14 losses are by 20-13-28 points. Rutgers turns ball over 20.1% of time, is shooting just 29.4% on arc; they’re 0-5 vs top 100 teams- their only top 200 win was over #192 DePaul. Knights are #260 experience team that doesn’t have any seniors in their rotation.
Northwestern is 12-4 vs schedule #138, losing last two games by 9-4 points to Michigan State, Minnesota. Wildcats are are 1-2 in true road games, with losses by 2-9 points and a win at Penn State. Northwestern swept Nebraska LY by 9-11 points after going 1-4 vs Cornhuskers in first five Big 14 meetings. Wildcats lost two of three visits to Lincoln. Nebraska won its first three league games by 4-2-3 points, winning last game over Iowa in double OT. Huskers are 9-6 vs schedule #4; they’re 5-1 in games decided by five or less points.
Northern Iowa lost nine of its last 11 games, losing first three Valley games by 4-12-11 points; they’re 3-2 in home games, with both losses by 4 points, to George Mason/Missouri State. Wichita State is 2-3 in its last five games with Northern Iowa; they lost to UNI in finals of MVC tourney last March. Shockers won four of last six games in this gym. Wichita won four games in row and eight of last nine; they’re 3-0 in Valley, winning by 8-34-25 points. Shockers won by 15-8 points in only two true road games, at Colorado State/Indiana State.
Evansville is 1-2 in true road games, winning by 8 at Austin Peay, losing at Illinois State and Louisville; Purple Aces are only 3-2 against teams ranked outside top 200. Evansville won five of last six games with Drake, but lost two of last three visits here; home side is 8-1 in last nine series games. Bulldogs lost last two games by 14-25 points,, allowing 86.5 pts/game; Drake is 1-7 vs teams in top 200, with only win a 102-98 upset win over Loyola. Drake turns ball over 20.4% of time, has #295 eFG% defense.
Oakland won national TV game at Valparaiso Friday, quick turnaround here; Grizzlies are 2-1 in true road games, with only loss by 12 at Michigan State. Oakland won six of last seven games with Ill-Chicago, winning by 15-14-11 in last three visits to Windy City. Flames lost by 11 at home to Valparaiso in its only top 100 game; UIC is 8-7 this year after being 21-74 the previous three years- they’re building good program, but Flames are #350 experience team thats played #340 schedule- they still turn ball over 23% of time, too high a number.
UConn won its last five games with Central Florida, winning last three here by 23-7-21 points, but this year’s Huskies have been decimated by injury- they’re 5-9 with four straight losses- two of those were in OT. UConn is 1-6 vs top 100 teams, with only win by hoop over Syracuse on a neutral floor; they’re playing #320 pace, their subs play #292 minutes and they’re 3-4 in games decided by 4 or less points. UCF won its last five games, allowing 56.7 pts/game in winning first three AAC games. Knights’ eFG% defense is 38.2%, best in country.
Minnesota is 14-2 vs schedule #69, appears on course to get to NCAAs; their only losses were by 8 at Florida State, in OT to Michigan State at home, but Gophers bounced back from that difficult loss in Big 14 opener with road wins at Purdue, Northwestern. Ohio State lost its last two games by total of six points to Illinois/Purdue; Buckeyes won 10 of their last 11 games with Minnesota, winning last four by 18-2-6-15 points. OSU won three of its last four visits to Twin Cities. Minnesota has the #8 eFG% defense in country.
UCLA is young, thin team that runs like hell, playing pace #10; they won last two games by 13-10 points after losing at Oregon, their only loss this season. Bruins have a great PG, are shooting 42.2% on arc (#2), 60.7% inside arc. UCLA is 16-4 in its last 20 games with Stanford, winning last 10 meetings here- Cardinal lost in OT in their last visit here, two years ago. Cardinal allowed 87 pts/game in losing its first three Pac-12 games by 5-39-16 points; they’re 0-3 in true road games, losing by 15-23-16 points.
USC is 15-1 vs schedule #208; they’re #328 experience team that is 7-0 in games decided by 8 or less points. Trojans are 3-1 in top 100 games, with wins by 2-5-7 points; they’ve got #33 eFG% defense. Home side won last six Cal-USC games; Golden Bears lost by 8-14 points in last two games in Galen Center. California lost three of last four games, losing by 4-5-10 points but all to top 20 teams. Bears’ 81-71 loss at UCLA Thursday was their first true road game of the season. Cal has #7 eFG% defense but starts a freshman PG.
Canisius won its last seven games, last of which was Wednesday; they’re 5-4 in true road games, 6-3 vs top 200 teams. Iona lost four of last five games, giving up 92-93 points in losing last two, last of which was Friday; they’ve got older players who haven’t played together (two transfers). Gaels are 4-5 vs top 200 teams, with three of five losses by 15+ points. Iona won six of last seven games with Canisius, sweeping Griffins LY by 23-7-18 points; Canisius lost eight of last nine trips to Iona, losing 79-76/86-79 in last two.
North Carolina is 25-3 in its last 28 games with NC State, 12-1 in games played here (State’s last win at UNC was two years ago). Tar Heels swept LY’s series by 12-12 points. Carolina is 7-2 vs top 100 teams; they get Pinson back here, making them deeper, but they need OT to beat Clemson and lost at Ga Tech before that, turning ball over 24.2% of time in two ACC tilts. State won seven of last 8 games; they’re 4-1 since big man Yurtseven became eligible; their last six wins were all by 21+ points. Wolfpack is 1-3 vs top 100 teams, though. This game was postponed from Saturday night because of bad weather.
Armadillosports.com
Sunday's Tip Sheet
By David Schwab
VegasInsider.com
This Sunday’s college basketball betting action closes things out with a coast-to-coast double header in both the ACC and the Pac-12. In an 8 p.m. (ET) tip at John Paul Jones Arena, the No. 11 Virginia Cavaliers play host to the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest. Heading out to the West Coast later that night, the California Golden Bears will travel to the Galen Center to tangle with the No. 25 USC Trojans in a 10 p.m. start.
Wake Forest Demon Deacons at No. 11 Virginia Cavaliers
Opening Odds: Virginia -12
Betting Matchup
Wake Forest is 10-5 this season, but it is off to a straight-up 1-2 start in ACC play while failing to cover in all three games. Following losses to Florida State on the road and to Clemson at home as underdogs; the Demon Deacons hammered Boston College 79-66 this past Tuesday as 15-point home favorites. The total has stayed UNDER in all three games. Sophomore forward John Collins is the team’s leading scorer with 16.4 points per game and he has put up a combined 37 points in his last two games. Wake Forest is averaging 80.9 points per game while allowing an average of 73.2 points at the other end of the court.
Virginia is currently the third-highest nationally ranked team in the ACC behind Duke (No. 8 ) and Louisville (No. 9). However, early losses to both Florida State at home and Pittsburgh on the road have the 11-3 Cavaliers off to a 1-2 start (SU and ATS) in conference play. These losses did follow an impressive 61-53 upset of the Cardinals as three-point underdogs in their ACC opener. As expected, Virginia’s defense continues to carry this team and heading into Sunday’s matchup it is ranked first in the nation in points allowed (51.4). The Cavaliers are well down the list in scoring with an average of 68.8 PPG.
Betting Trends
The Demon Deacons are 19-7-2 ATS in their last 28 Sunday games, but they fall to 4-13 ATS in their last 17 games following a SU win. The total has stayed UNDER in four of their last five games on the road.
The Cavaliers have gone 11-4-1 ATS in their last 16 home games and they are 17-8-1 ATS in their last 26 games against a team with a SU winning record. The total has stayed UNDER in 13 of their last 17 conference games.
Head-to-head in this ACC tilt, the home team has covered in five of the last seven meetings and the total has gone OVER in seven of the last 10 games played at Virginia.
California Golden Bears at No. 25 USC Trojans
Opening Odds: USC -3
Betting Matchup
The 10-5 Golden Bears have lost three of their last four games SU including setbacks to Arizona at home and UCLA on the road in Pac-12 play. They did manage to cover against the Bruins on Thursday night in an 81-71 loss as 10½-point road underdogs. The total stayed UNDER the closing 156½-point line in that game after going OVER in four of their previous five contests. California has a trio of players averaging at least 14 points a game led by sophomore forward Ivan Rabb (15.3 PPG). He has exceeded that average in four of his last five games, but senior guard Grant Mullins led the way in that loss to UCLA with 19 points.
USC comes into this Pac-12 tilt with just one SU loss on the year against 15 wins, but it has failed to cover in six of its last seven outings. The Trojans cruised past Stanford 72-56 this past Thursday and they did cover as nine-point home favorites. The total stayed UNDER 143 ½-points in that win and it has stayed UNDER in four of their last six games. Junior guard Jordan McLaughlin led all scorers in Thursday’s win with 15 points while going 6-for-11 from the floor. Another junior guard, Elijah Stewart is the Trojans’ leading scorer on the year with 14.3 PPG, but he has failed to post more than 10 points in each of his last four starts.
Betting Trends
The Golden Bears are 3-8 ATS in their last 11 games following a SU loss and they have gone 3-9-1 ATS in their last 13 games against a team with a SU winning record. The total has stayed UNDER in eight of their last 10 games on the road.
The Trojans have failed to cover in four of their last five home games and they are 0-6 ATS in their last six games following a SU win. The total has gone OVER in seven of their last nine games played at home.
The underdog in this Pac-12 clash has gone 5-1-1 ATS in the last seven meetings and the total has gone OVER in seven of the last 10 games played at Southern Cal.