Tuesday's Best NCAAB Bets
Virginia Tech Hokies at Kansas State Wildcats (-6.5)
While this game features the best head-to-head player battle of the college hoops season so far (Delaney vs. Pullen), the big story is brewing in Manhattan.
Kansas State coach Frank Martin, known to be about as stable as downtown Mogadishu, is considering benching his top forward again in this important matchup of Top 25 programs.
Senior Curtis Kelly was sat out of the Wildcats’ opening game against James Madison Friday for a lack of effort in practice and may not see the court or even dress against the Hokies Tuesday night.
Kelly apparently received the message from his coach and has been picking up the pace this week. However, it may take a lot more to win over Martin, who has his eyes on a bigger prize than a non-conference win over Virginia Tech, like competing for the national championship.
"Just because he's been halfway decent for two days I'm not going to do back flips," Martin told the Kansas City Star. "He's got to do right for an extended period of time. The last couple days he's been more the way that he needs to be, unlike the way he's been for the three and four weeks leading into last game."
Most coaches would call off the dogs after a game on the bench, but not Martin. Kansas State could also be playing without standout junior Jamar Samuels in the frontcourt. He suffered an eye injury in the opener and is questionable for Tuesday’s contest.
Pick: Virginia Tech
Ohio State Buckeyes at Florida Gators (-1.5)
Jared Sullinger may not be getting the same All-America buzz as fellow freshmen Harrison Barnes and Kyrie Irving, but the newest Ohio State big man is letting his game speak for itself.
The 6-foot-9, 280-pound first-year stud out of Columbus scored 19 points, pulled down 14 boards and added two assists in just 21 minutes in the Buckeyes’ season opener against North Carolina A&T.
Now, he faces the first true test of his college career, going up against a deep Florida frontcourt that features Alex Tyus, Chandler Parsons, Vernon Macklin and freshman reserve Patric Young.
While Sullinger will draw the attention of the Gators’ big men, Ohio State’s perimeter will be moving without the ball and making the most of the space on the wings. Coach Thad Matta expects his team to benefit from the inside-out play a talent like Sullinger can bring to the team, much like Greg Oden did a few years back.
“Throwing it into Sully, he attracts a lot of attention, and we feel it's going to leave open shots for people on the floor,” senior Jon Diebler told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “Passes will be going from inside out instead of going from the outside in like we did for the past however many years."
Expect Sullinger and the Buckeyes to keep Florida guessing all night.
Pick: Ohio State
Butler, Louisville in early betting battle
By: Michael Robinson
The Butler Bulldogs have an interesting early-season college basketball battle when they visit the Louisville Cardinals on Tuesday night. This is the first regular season game at the new KFC Yum! Center.
These schools are situated near each other with Butler’s Indianapolis campus only 115 miles away. Butler was ranked No. 17 in the AP preseason poll, while Louisville was unranked.
Fourth-year coach Brad Stevens has done an incredible job turning his Horizon League squad into a national force. The team’s miraculous run to the NCAA Championship Game (61-59 loss to Duke) was the crowning point of an 89-15 straight-up record under Stevens. This year’s squad also looks good despite key losses.
Butler lost two key components in sophomore Gordon Hayward and senior Willie Veasley. Hayward was an NBA first-round pick after leading the team with 15.5 PPG and 8.2 RPG. Veasley was a defensive guru who also chipped in 9.8 PPG. The Bulldogs would have been a top-5 team if Hayward stayed.
Butler unveiled its new-look on Saturday with an 83-54 win over NAIA Marian. There was no spread for that contest. Guard Shelvin Mack had 20 points and he’ll increase his 14.1 PPG average with Hayward gone. Big man Matt Howard (11.6 PPG last year) and point guard Ronald Nored combined for just 11 points against Marian, but those returning starters will be big factors this year.
The more pressing question is the supporting cast. Senior guard Shawn Vanzant and junior forward Garrett Butcher have moved into the starting lineup. The most promising bench player could be 6-foot-11 sophomore center Andrew Smith, who had 10 points in the opener. Three talented freshmen (Erik Fromm, Kyhle Marshall, Chrishawn Hopkins) will also play roles.
The Bulldogs went 7-4 SU and 4-7 against the spread last year in November and December non-conference games. They were 33-5 SU and 18-20 ATS for the season. This is a defensive-minded club with the ‘under’ finishing the year at 10-1.
Louisville is making its season debut after a 20-13 SU (10-18 ATS) year that ended with a disappointing first-round NCAA tournament loss to California (77-62). Four starters are gone from that team, including guards Edgar Sosa and Jerry Smith, plus swingman Reginald Delk.
The big loss, both literally and figuratively, was Samardo Samuels. The 6-foot-9 wide-body entered the NBA draft after his sophomore year against the advice of coach Rick Pitino. Samuels wasn’t even drafted and the loss of his 15.3 PPG and seven RPG really hurts.
Pitino is ready to look forward to the future and start the rebuilding process. He’s also ready to end the sex scandal talk that has dominated the headlines, culminating with the conviction of his rape accuser Karen Sypher for extortion.
This year’s leading returning scorer and rebounder is 6-foot-8 Jared Swopshire (7.5 PPG, 6.1 RPG). He should start up front next to 6-foot-9 Terrence Jennings eventually, but is doubtful Tuesday with a groin injury. Rakeem Buckles should get the start.
The starting guards should be Preston Knowles and sophomore point Peyton Siva. Chris Smith and Kyle Kuric will both see time at the wing position. There are a lot of moving pieces for Pitino and even he’s not sure how the rotation will pan out.
One thing for sure, this is a tough opening test against a battle-hardened Butler team. Louisville is 1-6 ATS in its last seven non-conference games.
ESPN will have the broadcast at 5 p.m. (PT).
Gators, Buckeyes top Tuesday NCAAB odds
By: Willie Bee
College basketball officially opened its doors last week, in case you missed it. The schedule offered little more than an extension of exhibition tune-ups for the most part, something that will change this week with several matchups between ranked teams.
Included on that list is Tuesday's meeting between the Florida Gators and Ohio State Seminoles at Gainesville's Stephen O'Connell Center (3 p.m. PT). Not only is it a battle of top-10 schools, it's also a rematch of a recent NCAA Finals contest and pits combatants who are hopeful of returning to the championship this season.
The 11th meeting between the two schools comes almost three years since the most recent get-together between the Buckeyes and Gators. After beating Ohio State 84-75 in the NCAA Championship in April that year as six-point favorites, the Gators visited Columbus just before Christmas '07 and were served a little payback by the Buckeyes, 62-49. Ohio State was the six-point fave in that matchup, running its all-time series record to 6-4 against Florida.
Thad Matta's gang warmed up for Tuesday's game by skating past North Carolina A&T last Friday, 102-61. The mismatch failed to make the NCAA betting board.
Ohio State features four starters returning from a year ago, with the missing piece being All-American Evan Turner who was the second over pick by the Philadelphia 76ers in this past June's NBA draft. If Friday's game against the Aggies is any indication, the Buckeyes aren't going to miss Turner at all. Matta and the Buckeyes enjoyed a huge recruiting class that included small forward Deshaun Thomas who came off the bench to lead Ohio State with 24 points while grabbing eight boards.
The Buckeyes ruled the glass with a 55-17 rebounding gap over North Carolina A&T. Jared Sullinger (19 points) and Dallas Lauderdale (12 points) posted double-doubles in the game with 14 and 13 boards respectively. Lauderdale also added eight blocks. If there was a shortcoming for OSU on the stats sheet it was long-range shooting where the Buckeyes canned just five of their 22 three-point attempts.
While the Buckeyes were busy dismantling NCAT last Friday, Florida was taking down North Carolina-Wilmington by a 77-60 count. The Gators failed to cover the 26-point line in shooting a tad better than 49 percent from the field, 6-of-19 from beyond the arc.
Senior Chandler Parsons, one of the returning five starters from a year ago, paced four Gators in double digits with 16 points. Kenny Boynton scored 10 but was ice-cold from the outside without a single three-pointer in six attempts.
Both teams were listed as runner-ups by oddsmakers in their respective conferences. Florida was a plus 150 choice behind Kentucky to win the SEC East, with the Gators going off at 20/1 to take the national title. Ohio State was originally a 3/1 choice in the Big Ten behind both Purdue and Michigan State. Robbie Hummel's preseason injury dropped the Boilermakers in the rankings, however, pushing the Buckeyes up behind the Spartans.
In a scheduling flip-flop, the Gators and Buckeyes will each meet common foes in their next games. Florida's next game is at home in the O'Dome on Thursday when they host North Carolina A&T while Ohio State heads back to Columbus to take on NC-Wilmington this Saturday.
Tips and Trends
Butler Bulldogs at Louisville Cardinals
BULLDOGS: The last time Butler took the court against a D-I team, they were playing for the National Championship. The Bulldogs will enter tonight's road contest as the 18th ranked team in the country. While not expected to duplicate what they did last year, the Bulldogs still have plenty of talent to make another deep run in March. C Matt Howard will look to build on last year's Horizon League Player of the Year award, where he averaged 11.6 PPG and 5.2 RPG. His teammate Shelvin Mack is the preseason pick to be this year's conference player of the year. PG Ronald Nored is the team leader and the reigning co-defensive player of the year in the Horizon league. Last season, the Bulldogs won an astounding 33 games. Butler will look to use their experience they gained last year when taking the court tonight against a talented Louisville team. The Bulldogs are 45-21-1 ATS in their last 67 non-conference games. Butler is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 Tuesday games. The Bulldogs are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games overall.
Bulldogs are 4-1 ATS last 5 road games.
Under is 5-0 last 5 non-conference games.
Key Injuries - None Reported.
Projected Score: 68 (SIDE of the Day)
CARDINALS: (-1) Louisville is in rebuilding mode, as they are replacing 4 key starters from last year's team. The Cardinals are also struggling to deal with the surprise loss of F Samardo Samuels, who went to the NBA. The good news for Cardinals faithful is the fact they have a strong freshman class thanks to Coach Pitino. With no known stars, Pitino has stated that his team will go back to his "kamikaze" style of defense. Louisville will look to play full court defense, ensuring that the Cardinals play the style of basketball they want. Replacing more than 50% of the Cardinals scoring and assists won't be easy, but you must respect the program. Over the past 9 seasons, Louisville has won 72% of their games. The Cardinals are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games against a team with a winning SU record. Louisville is 2-8 ATS in their last 10 Tuesday games. The Cardinals are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 home games. The Cardinals are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games overall.
Cardinals are 1-6 ATS last 7 non-conference games.
Over is 6-2 last 8 non-conference games.
Key Injuries - F Jared Swopshire (hernia) is doubtful.
Projected Score: 64