MATT RIVERS
1. 150,000♦ South Carolina
2. 50,000♦ Nebraska
3. 50,000♦ Clemson
4. 50,000♦ Cleveland State
1. There is no doubt that Tennessee has a lot of talent and can score points in bunches but right now the Volunteers are really not all that and to get such a healthy number back with a very very capable South Carolina squad is a total coup! Bruce Pearl's squad has now dropped to 10-5 after losing three of their last four and they have done so in fairly dreadful fashion. The Vols were just blistered at home by Jodie Meeks and his 54 points as a decent but far from great Kentucky squad went to Knoxville and won by about 20. Before that the Vols lost at home to a reeling Gonzaga group that was all the way across the country, beat a fairly poor Georgia group and actually trailed by eight or 9 with about eight minutes to play and before that UT was blasted at Kansas against what is a fairly young and immature Jayhawk team as they were down by 20 right off the bat. I am not saying that Tennessee cannot regain some swagger because in due time they probably will but the home court advantage is now somewhat gone as they are far from invincible at this point and despite just getting drilled in LSU the Gamecocks are an extremely capable team that certainly has the upside to come in here and walk off the court a victor. Even with that bad last loss the 'Cocks are still a quality 12-3 including a win in Baylor on the road showing how Devan Downey and the fellas can take their game up to a pretty solid level in hostile environments. Do not sleep on Darrin Horn's team as they have been building a nice little nucleus over the past few seasons and are actually ready to be a good team this season led by Downey, Zam Frederick, Dominique Archie and Mike Holmes.Do not be shocked to see the Tennessee slide continue today!
2. The Huskers are not the most talented of teams there is no denying that but these guys are always extremely solid at home and for sure should beat a decent but far from great Kansas State team. The Wildcats have been a little better than most people thought going into the season but Michael Beasley is still gone and the road is never an easy place to play as we just saw in Kansas where Frank Martin's team was spanked in allowing 87 points.K State has now lost two straight games and are a poor 1-3 on the road including a loss in Eugene against an Oregon squad that is terrible this season and in Iowa against a mediocre Hawkeye team.Steve Harley and the home Huskers just lost at Iowa State but won four straight before that including upsetting Missouri at home in a similar spot. This is the exact situation where the home court proves to be absolutely monstrous as is usally the case in the Big 12 and to get Nebraska at home at this price is too good to pass up.
3. Wake Forest at Clemson may be the game of the day and that says a lot about these rising once again programs. Both the Tigers and Demon Deacons are undefeated and both are very very talented and very very good. I freely do admit that Dino Gaudio's visitors have looked the better this season and we just saw another example of that in the phenomenal win against North Carolina but I see this run coming to an end here as the road once again will prove to be too much.We saw last season how much potential the Tigers have as they stood toe to toe with North Carolina a bunch of times and should have won both if not for late collapses.Jeff Teague is great and the Deacs are blowing up for sure right now but Oliver Purnell's boys aren't too shabby led by Trevor Booker and KC Rivers and being in Littlejohn should be a tad too much for the surging but due to get whacked a bit Deacs. I expect high level hoops today but Clemson will prevail in front of their home fans as the rough and tough schedule finally catches up to a very good but still overachieving Wake Forest.
4. Cleveland State burned me on Thursday at Wiscy GB but I have not lost hope with the Vikings. I still believe that Cleveland State is one of the best teams in the conference and possibly thee best, save Butler. Wisconsin Milwaukee has had some recent success in the NCAA Tournament but things are not on that same level right now and even being at home should not be enough in this situation for what better be a focused Cleveland State team as another loss could start a skid.Rob Jeters' Panthers are 11-6 and have won six of seven but they are no longer an upper eschelon Horizon League team and I think we will see another indication of that here as the Vikings show winning in Syracuse was not just some random fluke.No rocket science here or anything as Gary Waters will have his team ready and J'Nathan Bullock will prove to be the best player on the floor.
KELSO
50 units TCU -2.5 @ Air Force
Rocketman
Miami Ohio @ Kent State
Play: 3* Kent State -2 1/2
Kent State is 33-4 SU at home the past 3 years. Miami Ohio is scoring only 57 points per game on the road this year. Kent State is scoring 79.9 points per game at home while allowing only 62 points per game at home this season. Kent State is 17-7 ATS overall vs Miami Ohio since 1997. Golden Flashes are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games after allowing less than 50 points in their previous game. Golden Flashes are 28-8-1 ATS in their last 37 games as a home favorite of 0.5-6.5. Golden Flashes are 8-3 ATS in their last 11 vs. Mid-American. Golden Flashes are 29-11 ATS in their last 40 games as a favorite of 0.5-6.5. Red Hawks are 1-5 ATS in the last 6 meetings in Kent St.. Red Hawks are 1-6 ATS in the last 7 meetings. We'll play Kent State for 3 units today!
Leo "SCOOP" Skorupa
10* Louisville POD
6* Clemson
5* Providence
4* Texas AM
3* Syracuse
Matt Fargo
Arizona St. at UCLA
Play: Arizona St.
Arizona St. is going to be a little stokes for this game. The Sun Devils completely imploded in the second half against USC on Thursday as they blew a seven-point halftime lead while All-American James Harden was held to a career low four points as he failed to make a field goal for the first time ever. A lot of that credit goes to the Trojans defense, namely Daniel Hackett, who blanketed Harden the entire game and it should not surprise too many as he is considered one of, if not the best, defenders in the nation. Arizona St. is now 2-2 on the road and has dropped eight straight games in Los Angeles between the Galen Center, Pauley Pavilion and the Staples Center. The Sun Devils have dropped eight straight games to UCLA but this is the best opportunity to break that as past teams have not been nearly as good while Bruins teams have been right near the top. There is not much bad to say about UCLA so I won?t. Despite winning 15 straight home games, this will be the biggest challenge to date. With the exception of two slight disadvantages in major stat categories, the Sun Devils have edges across the board. He two exceptions are three-point field goal defense where UCLA is allowing 31.6 percent compared to 31.7 percent so that difference in minute. Also, UCLA is +6.0 in rebounding margin while the Sun Devils are +4.5 rpg in margin, another relatively small discrepancy. Arizona St. has everything else to its credit including the ever-important free throw shooting and assist/turnover ratio. And this is with playing a tougher schedule than the Bruins have faced so those numbers are even stronger. The Sun Devils have a very impressive 1.36 assist/turnover ratio which is 11th in the country. That ratio was 0.66 against USC on Thursday so that can be considered as aberration based on the rest of the season performance. As mentioned, the Sun Devils have not fared well against UCLA and this game could mean some big time payback. The Bruins embarrassed Arizona St. last season with victories of 21 and 33 points and there is no doubt the Sun Devils had this one circled. UCLA has run off 10 straight victories but a win against USC was the best of the bunch as the majority of those games were against garbage teams. That has been the case all season as the Bruins have struggled against the better teams on their schedule, losing to Texas and Michigan while beating the Trojans by only four points. Arizona St. falls into a solid situation based on the defense on both sides. Play on road teams in the second half of the season in a game involving two teams allowing fewer than 63 ppg after scoring 50 points or less. This situation is 29-8 ATS (78.4 percent) since 1997 and this is the first instance of this scenario this season. Arizona St. is a perfect 7-0 ATS in its last seven games following a loss against the number while the Bruins are 1-4 ATS in their last five games following a win against the number. Look for this one to be a battle with the Sun Devils having a great opportunity to snap those Los Angeles and UCLA losing skids. 5* Arizona St. Sun Devils
Scotty Spreitzer
25* CBB MORNING MASSACRE!
Florida State
ATS Sports Club
NCAA Hoops Mismatch Winner
Michigan Wolverines -4
HotPicksOnline
5* Maryland +4.5
5* Iowa St. +15.5
Rainman
Blowout Special
Nebraska
Lee Sterling
Underdog Special
Arkansas
Eddie Mush
Client Picks
4* UMASS +3
6* Utah (cbb) -16.5
6* UCF -2
8* CAL +3.5
8* Dayton +1.5
8* Delaware -4
10* Wake +2
12* Pitt +2.5
Larry Ness
7* Daytime Dominator
No. 8 Syracuse lost for just the second time this year on Wednesday, falling 88-74 at Georgetown, when the Hoyas made 12-of-21 three-pointers. The team's only previous loss came at home to Cleveland St (Dec 15), on a desperation 60-foot shot at the buzzer. It's back to the drawing board for Jim Boeheim's crew this afternoon vs No. 12 Notre Dame, which lost Monday at Louisville, when it was outscored 16-2 in overtime. The Irish are led by Luke Harangody (24.8-12.7), the Big East's scoring leader, plus Kyle McAlarney (16.6-2.6-3.4), who is making 47.9 percent of his threes. ND beat Georgetown at home 73-67 back on Jan 5 and last year, McAlarney made 9-of-11 three-pointers in a 94-87 win by the Irish over the Orange in South Bend. Joining Harangody and McAlarney in the starting lineup are the 6-9 Hillesland (6.4-5.9), 6-7 swingman Ayers (11.3-3.6) and McAlarney's backcourt partner, Jackson (11.6-4.6-5.9). The 6-10 Zeller (6.0-4.0) is really the only other main contributor for the Irish. Syracuse is determined to break a two-year NCAA drought and there is little doubt that at 16-2, the Orange on well on their way to doing just that. The 6-11 Greene (17.7-7.2) left after his freshman year but fellow freshman, PG Flynn (16.3-5.7 APG), has returned for his sophomore season and leads the team in scoring. Devendorf (14.3) and Rautins (10.6-3.1-3.4) join him on the perimeter, although Rautins is questionable for this game (knee). Two 6-9 guys will battle Harangody inside, Onuaku (12.3-8.0) and Jackson (7.2-5.7)plus the 6-8 Ongenaet (1.9-3.9) will help some as well. The 6-5 Harris (13.8-8.5) is a very good player and may be too much for Notre Dame's Ayers. Both teams score well, with ND averaging 81.6 PPG and shooting 41.4 percent from behind the three-point line. However, Syracuse averages 80.9 PPG and shoots 50.5 percent from the floor as a team. Syracuse's poor defensive performance against Georgetown (or was it just "lights out" shooting by the Hoyas?) is not typical, as the Syracuse defense has limited opponents to 27.9 percent shooting on threes this year. Expect the Orange to bounce back here and hand Notre Dame its second straight loss.
Daytime Dominator on Syracuse
Las Vegas Insider (71.4% run)-Day
It was a "break out year" for the Buffalo football team (MAC title and a bowl bid) and the basketball team is hoping it can follow suit. That won't be easy, as the Bulls were 10-20 last year, including 3-13 in the MAC but Reggie Witherspoon's team has shown more than a few "signs of life" this year. The Bulls are 9-5 (1-1 in MAC play) and host Ohio U (9-6 / 2-0) on Saturday. Buffalo does not have an answer for the Bobcats' 6-6 Tillman (20.1-9.4), who may be this year's MAC p-o-y, but other than him, the matchups are good. Tillman's joined by fellow 6-6 senior Orr (10.9-3.3) in the frontcourt but Ohio has little size. The 6-7 Washington (5.3-4.3) has been OK but the 6-10 van Kempen continues to be a major bust. PG Allen (6.3-4.1) is solid and is joined in the backcourt by freshman Coleman (9.9-3.5-2.9) plus swingman Freeman (8.3). The key this year for the Bulls has been their depth. They have all five starters back from last year plus 10 players are averaging at least 10 MPG. Pierce averaged just 7.6 PPG last season but leads the team this year, averaging 15.6-3.9-2.2. The 6-3 Betts averages 12.0 PPG and a team-high 7.3 RPG. Swingman Gamble averages 9.6-5.5-3.6 and guard Andy Robinson 8.5 per. The 6-9 Fedetov missed most of LY with a knee injury but is back healthy averaging 4.4-2.3 plus 6-7 freshman Titus Robinson (3.5) and the 6-7 Boudreau (4.6-3.7) can both help out inside vs Tillman. Ohio's first-year head coach John Groce (former Ohio St assistant) is still tinkering with his starting lineup, while the Bulls are set. They lost both games to the Bobcats last year but should be well-prepared here for their conference home-opener. The good news is that they catch Ohio off back-to-back wins over Kent St (last Sunday) and at Miami-Ohio on Wednesday. The Bobcats are "ripe for the taking" in this one.
Las Vegas Insider on Buffalo
Oddsmaker's Error- NCAAB
Kansas St was very unhappy when Huggins left Manhattan to return to his alma mater (West Va) after just one season (23 wins and an NIT bid). The Wildcats promoted assistant coach Frank Martin, giving him his first-ever head coaching job. With a little help from spectacular freshman Michael Beasley (26.2-12.4) and a healthy Bill Walker (16.1-6.3), the Wildcats garnered an NCAA bid (beat USC in the 1st round) and finished with 21 wins. However, both Beasley and Walker left for the NBA. Martin has talent in Manhattan but questions still surround this team. Sophomore guards Pullen (14.2-3.7 APG) and Brown 910.1) have been joined by Miami-Fla transfer Clemente (12.3-3.1 APG) but I for one (I'm NOT alone), am not a big fan of the former Hurricane. There are no Beasleys or even Walkers up front but 6-8 redshirt freshman Samuels (9.7-4.9), the 6-8 Anderson (9.7-4.9), the 6-10 Kent (8.5-6.0) and swingman Sutton (8.3-4.9) are an untalented group. However, the Wildcats have not played very well in unfriendly surroundings. They lost a couple of two-point decisions in Las Vegas (Kentucky and Iowa) and then lost at Oregon, which has dropped SEVEN of nine games since. After an 11-3 non-conference mark, the Wildcats scored only 53 points at home to Oklahoma in an eight-point loss and then allowed 87 points at Kansas in a 16-point defeat, to open Big 12 paly 0-2. They'll have their work cut out for then here against Doc Sadler's 'Huskers. Nebraska is an odd team, which basically starts five guards. The 6-5 Dagunduro (11.0-3. and the 6-4 Anderson (5.1-4.4) are the team's best rebounders and six players average 23-plus minutes (McCray gets about 18 minutes, averaging 7.0-3.5), The 5-11 Harley (12.35-3.7-2.3) is the team's leading scorer, followed by Dagunduro, the 6-3 Henry (9.5-3.5-2.3) and the 6-2 Velander (8.9). Nebraska is 10-1 at home this year, with its lone loss coming right before Christmas (12/23), when Maryland-Balt Co. came to Lincoln and shot 57.1 percent in a two-point win. That game was just a fluke and let me point out that with Beasley and Walker leading the way, the Wildcats weren't able to beat the 'Huskers here in Lincoln last year (Nebraska won 71-64), so why would anyone think the Wildcats can win this year? They can't and the price makes this a bargain.
Oddsmaker's Error on Nebraska
Conference 10*-CBB
Thad Matta can sure coach but he's finding out it's "tough sledding" when top players keep leaving early. Two years ago it was Oden and Conley 'jumping ship' after the team's Final 4 run (lost national championship game to Florida) and LY it was the 7-1 Koufos (14.4-6.7) bolting after a solid freshman season (Ohio St won the NIT). However, Koufos was hardly the only loss for Matta. He lost the terrific Butler (15.0-5.9 APG), a solid player in forward Hunter (9.9-6.5), a key role player in Terwilliger and even his top assistant, who left to take the head coaching job at Ohio U (John Groce). If all that wasn't bad enough, 6-5 swingman Lighty (9.7-5.7), who had been a part of the team's 59 wins the last two seasons, was lost to an injury after seven games this year (return unknown at this time). The 7-1 Mullens, who the Blue Ribbon CBB Yearbook touted as "Newcomer of the Year," has been far less than that, averaging 8.3 PPG and 4.1 RPG as a freshman. The 6-7 Turner (15.7-6.9) is the team's most talented player plus sophomore guard Diebler (11.3-3.5-2.7) and freshman swingman Buford (10.3-3.5) are both very good. As for Michigan, no one doubted that John Beilein wouldn't dwell too long on last year's 10-22 (5-13 in the Big 10) mark. Everyone was RIGHT. Michigan is ranked No. 25, although the Wolverines could fall out of the rankings (win or lose here), after getting beat Wednesday night at Illinois (led by one at the half but lost 66-51). However, Illinois is a very underrated team and Michigan shot a season-low 32.2 percent for the game (6-of-29 as a team in the second half) and was held 20 points below its season scoring average. Do not expect a repeat performance here in Crisler Arena, where the Wolverines are 10-1. The lone loss came back on 12/31 against Wisconsin, when the Badgers shot 59.7 percent and Michigan just 39.2. Michigan has two terrific players in 6-5 swingman Harris (18.7-7.6-4.7) and the best big man in this game, the 6-8 Sims (15.9-8.0). Now that Arizona transfer Lucas-Perry (11.4) is eligible, the perimeter is pretty solid, as he joins freshman guards Novak (6.8-3.1) and Douglass (4.4) plus sophomore Grady (5.6). The 6-10 Gibson (4.1-2.1) is still a "work in progress" but he does add bulk. This is just Ohio State's fourth true road game this year. The Buckeyes won at Miami-Florida on Dec 2 but have since lost 68-59 at Minnesota and 67-58 at Michigan State. Note the fact that OSU couldn't reach 60 points in either of those games and that Michigan owns a home win over Duke plus a win over UCLA (at MSG) already this year. Last year's "sad-sack" team beat Ohio State here in Ann Arbor 80-70, as Harris had 27 points and Sims 22, so there is little reason to think that this year's team can't do the same. John Beilein is going for his 500th career NCAA win and I expect it to come in impressive fashion.
10* Michigan.
Lenny Del Genio
DUKE
Rocketman
DEPAUL
RON RAYMOND
5* CBB UNDERDOG GAME OF THE MONTH! (78% WINNER)
Air Force +2.5
EARLY CBB PICK PACK PICKS
Hofstra +3.5
Baylor Pk
Air Force +2.5
Clemson -2
Indiana +5