College Basketball Knowledge
Cornell is 2-1, beating Albany/Delaware, losing by 24 at Seton Hall; Big Red has four new starters after LY's great 29-5 that made it to Sweet 16. St Bonaventure lost to Canisius by 10 but beat Ark-Little Rock. Yale gave Ivy's a big boost by upsetting Boston College last night. A-14 dogs are 3-3 vs spread so far this season. Ivy League favorites are 1-2.
Kentucky takes its almost-brand new team to Portland on its way out to Hawai'i for Maui Classic. Wildcats beat East Tennessee by 23 in opener. Portland went 3-0 last weekend, beating Milwaukee/FAU/Cal-Davis. Pilots lost four starters from LY's 21-11/10-4 team. SEC faves are 5-7 vs spread so far this season. WCC underdogs are 4-3.
Old Dominion lost tough 3-point game to Georgetown in opener; they have four starters back from LY's 27-9/15-3 team. St Peter's lost 55-30 in its opener at Robert Morris. MAAC underdogs are 4-5 vs spread in road games. CAA favorites are 3-1, 2-0 on the road. Peacocks have all five starters back from 16-14/11-7 team, but RMC loss was ugly start.
Clemson scored 82.5 ppg in beating pair of SoCon games in Brownell's fIrst two games as Tiger coach; Clemson has three starters back from 21-11/9-7 team that still hasn't won an NCAA game in while. Long Beach State lost by 16 at home to San Diego State. Big West underdogs are 3-9 vs spread away from their home court.
Alabama scored 77.5 ppg in winning its first two games; Tide has four starters back from 17-15/6-10 team. Seton Hall whacked Cornell by 24 to even its record after 62-56 loss at Temple. Pirates have four starters back from LY, but are learning new system. Big East favorites are 11-8 vs spread so far this season.
Xavier already lost two starters for season with injury; they needed OT to beat IPFW, after beating Western Michigan by 3 in opener. Iowa has new coach, is trying to play faster; they lost at home to South Dakota State, not a great beginning. A-14 favorites are 7-6 against spread. Big 11 teams are 9-6 vs spread so far this season.
Rhode Island lost at Pitt by 8, Charleston lost by a point at Maryland, so both sides lost chance for solid upset. Rams have three starters back from 26-10/9-7 team- they shoot a lot of 3's. Charleston has 3 starters back from 22-12/12-4 team. Southern Conference underdogs are 5-4 vs spread. A-14 favorites are 7-6 so far this season.
Maryland had only 8 turnovers in 79-70 loss to Pitt last night, but made just 14-30 from line, 2-14 from arc, as their inexperience showed. Terps had four starters play 30+ minutes, but they got about three more hours of rest than Illinois ater Illini lost in OT to Texas, when they put Horns on line 44 times (Illini took 29). Would be bitter pill for the senior-laden Illini to leave New York with two losses.
Texas freshman Thompson proved to be quality shotblocker; Texas was just 25-44 from line, 3-12 from arc, but they outhustled Illinois in an OT upset win. Pitt was lucky Maryland couldn't shoot last night; only one starter on Pitt played more than 28 minutes. Panthers feel at home being in Manhattan since they recruit NYC area heavily.
Davidson missed first 19 treys yesterday, was still down by just 10 in second half to West Virginia yesterday, before losing by 2; Wildcats put West Viginia on line 49 times in 84-70 loss. Big game for Nebraska club that was 0-10 from arc, 13-23 from line in dismal offensive effort- they cannot go 0-3 in this event, or heat on coach Sadler will get worse.
Hofstra got crushed by 44 yesterday, and their starters still logged lot of minutes; now they run into Western Kentucky team that lost last night to Minnesota by 18, but that also won by 28 at St Joe's last week. CAA underdogs are 6-5 against spread so far this season. Sun Belt favorites are 2-4 against the spread.
West Virginia had three players foul out in 84-70 win over well-coached Davidson team that couldn't shoot straight (2-22 from arc); WVa needs a star to emerge to pull it thru tight spots. Vanderbilt held Nebraska to 35% from floor in 59-49 win Thursday; they've got three starters back from LY's 34-9 team that lost in first round of NCAAs.
North Carolina shot 56% from floor, made 12-17 treys in easy jog over Hofstra; Carolina missed 31 shots from floor, had 20 offensive boards; they'll get much stiffer test from Minnesota club that hung 95 last nite, shooting 62% from floor, making 8-15 treys vs good WKU team. ACC favorites are 5-1 against the spread away from home.