NCAAB Hot & Not
By Mike Rose
VegasInsider.com
Conference play has picked up on the college hardwood in the 2012-13 NCAA basketball season, so there's no better time than now to start keeping tabs on some of the best and worst teams heading into the week. The following is a look at what the some of the hottest and coldest teams from a point-spread perspective have on their plate for the upcoming week.
Money-Makers
Indiana State Sycamores (8-3 ATS, 5-0 ATS L/5) - The Sycamores will enter the week having covered each of the L/7 times it took to the college hardwood after barely coming within the 14.5-point spread in a 79-66 loss at Creighton over the weekend. Indy State has played to one of the toughest schedules in the nation per the Pomeroy Ratings, so good things should be in store the rest of the way. They'll look to snag their third MVC win on Wednesday at home against Bradley (4-1 SU & 3-2 ATS L/5 overall and as hosts), and then hit the road for Carbondale to battle a Salukis squad its beaten and covered against in four of the L/5 overall confrontations.
UTEP Miners (5-6 ATS, 5-0 ATS L/5) - Coach Floyd's kids might be a .500 team entering the week, but the Miners have rattled off five straight pointspread covers after easily coming within the 10.5-point spread in their 62-58 loss at Colorado State last Wednesday. They'll hit the road to battle Tulane (1-3 SU & ATS L/5 visits; 1-4 ATS L/5 overall) before returning home to battle Marshall (4-0 SU & 3-1 L/4 as hosts; 7-1 SU & 5-3 ATS L/8 overall) in CUSA play this week.
Arkansas State Red Wolves (6-6 ATS, 5-0 ATS L/5) - Since dropping a tough one at home to Murray State 61-54 (+1.5), Coach Brady's kids have gone on to cover each of their L/5 tilts (4-1 SU) to move to 10-5 SU on the year. Their current four-game win streak doesn't look to be in jeopardy any time soon with games set to go this week against Florida International (2-3 SU & ATS L/5; 5-0 SU & 3-2 ATS L/5 as hosts) at home and Louisiana Lafayette on the road (3-2 SU & ATS L/5 overall; 0-5 SU & 2-3 ATS L/5 visits) provided it can take care of business in the Cajundome.
Money-Burners
Stanford Cardinal (4-8-1 ATS, 0-5 ATS L/5) - The Cardinal haven't covered a game since the middle of December. Since then, they coughed up late game covers/wins against Northwestern and USC, and now have a pair of Pac-12 defeats to start conference play after falling to both the Trojans and Bruins over the weekend. However, after playing on the road for four of their L/5, each of their next three come at home versus Washington State (4-1 SU & 3-2 ATS L/5 as hosts), Washington (3-2 SU & 1-4 ATS L/5 as hosts), and California (4-1 SU & 3-2 ATS L/5 as hosts). Tread with caution, as things could be looking up for this group of underachievers.
West Virginia Mountaineers (2-8-1 ATS, 0-5 ATS L/5) - Things look to be down in a big time way for "Huggy Bear" in Morgantown with the Mountaineers cashing at a bankroll depleting 18 percent clip. Now granted, the schedule has been stiff, but when taking a gander at this squad's offensive stats, they're beyond bad. The team is shooting 39.9% from the field (#300) as well as 28.7% from beyond the arc; has Kevin Pittsnogle run out of eligibility? The Mounty's don't stand a chance in the high flying Big 12 if these woeful shooting percentages continue. Thankfully it runs up against the offensively challenged Texas Longhorns and Kansas State Wildcats this week, but I still don't think they win let alone cover either clash.
Virginia Tech Hokies (5-5-1 ATS, 0-5 ATS L/5) - The first go round of the James Johnson regime has not gone as planned leaving many in Blacksburg clamoring for what the underachieving Greenberg regime used to bring to the table. The Hokies have had an average of 93.0 PPG dropped on them in their L/3 games against Colorado State, BYU, and Maryland, and it now must run up against the up and coming Boston College Eagles (1-4 SU & ATS L/5) at home before hitting the road to take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (4-1 SU & 3-2 ATS L/5) this week.