Our team of writers and handicappers hand out their College Basketball picks and predictions for Wednesday, February 18.
Georgia Tech at Wake Forest, 7:30PM ET
Letdowns against inferior opponents have plagued Wake Forest over the past month. A loss to lowly Georgia Tech was especially perplexing.
After continuing their success against Top 25 teams, the eighth-ranked Demon Deacons look to avenge what was perhaps their most embarrassing defeat of the season when they host the last-place Yellow Jackets in an ACC matchup Wednesday night.
Wake Forest (19-4, 6-4) improved to 16-0 and earned the No. 1 ranking after a 78-68 win at then-No. 10 Clemson on Jan. 17. The Demon Deacons have beaten two ranked teams since and are 4-0 in such games this season.
After facing the Tigers, though, Wake Forest lost four of six before beating then-No. 25 Florida State on Saturday. That stretch included a Jan. 28 win over Duke - then the top-ranked team in the country - but also a last-second 76-74 loss to the Yellow Jackets (10-14, 1-10) three days later.
It is Georgia Tech's only ACC victory, and a prime example of the struggles Wake Forest has had against lower-tiered opponents. The Demon Deacons' last three defeats have been versus teams from the bottom half of the ACC standings.
Wake Forest coach Dino Gaudio believes his team gets overconfident, leading to lackluster play.
NCAA Free Pick: Georgia Tech – Best Line: +14 Sports Interaction
Wichita State at Illinois State, 8:05PM ET
All games in this series since 1997
WICHITA ST is 13-12 against the spread versus ILLINOIS ST since 1997
WICHITA ST is 14-11 straight up against ILLINOIS ST since 1997
7 of 10 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL since 1997
Games over the last 3 seasons
ILLINOIS ST is 4-1 against the spread versus WICHITA ST over the last 3 seasons
ILLINOIS ST is 3-2 straight up against WICHITA ST over the last 3 seasons
3 of 5 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
All games played at ILLINOIS ST since 1997
WICHITA ST is 6-5 against the spread versus ILLINOIS ST since 1997
ILLINOIS ST is 7-4 straight up against WICHITA ST since 1997
3 of 4 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL since 1997
Games played at ILLINOIS ST over the last 3 seasons.
ILLINOIS ST is 2-0 against the spread versus WICHITA ST over the last 3 seasons
ILLINOIS ST is 2-0 straight up against WICHITA ST over the last 3 seasons
2 of 2 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
NCAA Free Pick: Wichita State – Best Line: +9 Sports Interaction
South Carolina at Mississippi State, 8:00PM ET
All games in this series since 1997
MISSISSIPPI ST is 7-6 against the spread versus S CAROLINA since 1997
MISSISSIPPI ST is 7-6 straight up against S CAROLINA since 1997
4 of 6 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL since 1997
Games over the last 3 seasons
MISSISSIPPI ST is 1-1 against the spread versus S CAROLINA over the last 3 seasons
MISSISSIPPI ST is 1-1 straight up against S CAROLINA over the last 3 seasons
2 of 2 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
All games played at MISSISSIPPI ST since 1997
MISSISSIPPI ST is 3-2 against the spread versus S CAROLINA since 1997
MISSISSIPPI ST is 4-1 straight up against S CAROLINA since 1997
1 of 2 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL since 1997
Games played at MISSISSIPPI ST over the last 3 seasons.
S CAROLINA is 1-0 against the spread versus MISSISSIPPI ST over the last 3 seasons
S CAROLINA is 1-0 straight up against MISSISSIPPI ST over the last 3 seasons
1 of 1 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
NCAA Free Pick: Mississippi State – Best Line: -2 Sports Interaction