Indiana needed six games to beat Atlanta in their last playoff series. But we

Pittsburgh struck first in this series with a 3-1 home win versus the Nationals last night. Now they hope to get to Stephen Strasburg on Saturday afternoon. The right-hander has struggled on the road this year, going 0-2 with a horrible 5.19 ERA and 1.73 WHIP in three starts. Strasburg also showed some arm issues last game, although the team has pronounced him fine and ready for this start. The Pirates enter in good current form offensively, averaging 5.1 runs per game with a .268 batting average in their past seven games. They have also been strong at home this year, going 9-4 SU. The Nationals' bullpen has a weak 4.93 ERA on the road, and if Strasburg is injured again, the relievers will be counted on for multiple innings today.

Jeff Locke has beaten the Cardinals and Phillies on the road in his last two starts. Overall, he is 3-1 with a 2.83 ERA and 1.26 WHIP and he will have a leg up on a Washington lineup that has never faced him before. Washington is hitting only .222 against left-handed starters and just .207 in all day games this year. They won't have Jayson Werth due to his hamstring injury and Bryce Harper is struggling. The Pirates' bullpen has only blown two saves all season and has an excellent 1.97 ERA and 1.01 WHIP at home. There is solid value with the Pirates as a +1.5 runline home underdog today.

9* Play PIRATES (+1.5 runline).

New York was in full control of this series when they took a commanding 3-0 series into Game 4 in Boston. The Knicks came out sluggish in that game before rallying in the second half to take the game to overtime. They lost and returned home expecting a series-closing win in Game 5. But they lost that game as well. New York returns to Boston tonight for Game 6, and knowing how important this game is, we expect the Knicks to bring their

The home team has dominated all four games in this series and we expect that trend to continue in Game 5 on Wednesday night. Indiana won Game 1 by 17 points (107-90) and Game 2 by 15 points (113-98) while Atlanta won Game 3 by 21 points (90-69) and Game 4 by 12 points (102-91). The home team is a perfect 4-0 ATS in this series while the home team is 9-1 SU over the last ten meetings between the Hawks and Pacers. Atlanta was non-competitive in Games 1 and 2 on the road, and playing away from home has been a struggle for this team all season long. The Hawks are just 1-5 SU over their last six road games with their average loss coming by 10.2 points per game. Atlanta scored 102 points in Game 4 which snapped a 5-game skid in which they failed to crack the century mark. They

Memphis has dominated Los Angeles in the last two games just as we expected, and there

Denver has now lost back-to-back games after winning Game 1 on their home court. The Nuggets had every opportunity to win Game 3 on Friday night; they blew a 12-point halftime lead. Denver is now down 2-1 in this series and tonight

Memphis dominated Los Angeles in Game 3 just as we expected, and we

New York comes into tonight

Los Angeles and Memphis played truer to form in Game 2 as the Clippers hit a last second shot to win 93-91. In Game 1 we saw a fluky result when Los Angeles won by 21 points; that final was not a true indication of these two teams. The Clippers are riding high with their 2-0 series lead, but we do not expect them to be too carefree after tonight

Atlanta was never given a fair shot from the opening tip in Game 1. The officials completely ruined that game for them as they called a whopping 26 fouls on the Hawks. Indiana had a +20 (34-14) free throw attempts edge over Atlanta, and their 30 points from the line were 23 points more than the 7 points the Hawks scored from the line. Along with that, Atlanta head coach Larry Drew wasn

The Padres look to bounce back on Tuesday night behind Clayton Richard. The lefty missed his last start due to flu symptoms, but it worked out well as he now returns home where he is more comfortable. Richard has allowed 2 runs and 10 hits in two starts there. He has faced the Brewers six times going 2-2 with a 4.64 ERA. Milwaukee is 2-4 in six games against left-handed starters this season. San Diego has the bullpen advantage in this series as the Brewers have had their problems holding leads.

Yovani Gallardo is 1-1 with a 5.24 ERA in four starts. One of his worst outings came on the road in St. Louis back on April 13th when he gave up 6 runs in that game. Gallardo lost 5-0 last year in San Diego after giving up 3 of those runs. Yonder Alonso (3-9), Will Venable (4-10) and Chris Denorfia (2-6) have good numbers against the Brewers

Milwaukee got embarrassed in Game 1 as the Bucks lost by 23 points (110-87). They played a terrible game on both ends of the court so the result wasn

Memphis came up short in Game 1 for us, but we have no hesitation in coming right back with the Grizzlies in Game 2. Los Angeles won by 21 points (112-91), but that result is not a true indication of how close these two teams really are. When they played a 7-game series in last year

Chicago was embarrassed in Game 1 as they lost to Brooklyn by 17 points (106-89). But the Bulls have shown an incredible ability to bounce back strong after terrible efforts, and we expect them to do just that tonight in Game 2. When coming off a loss in which they allowed 100 points or more, Chicago is 10-6 SU and 12-3-1 ATS this season versus tonight

This series is a rematch from last year

Tampa Bay lost again last night which now brings their current losing streak to four games and they are just 1-7 SU in their last eight games overall. The Rays have been particularly bad on the road this season, going just 1-6 SU and averaging only 2.0 runs per game with a weak .164 team batting average. Now they turn to Matt Moore who has yet to give up an earned run this season. However, Moore flashed a little wildness last time out, walking six Rangers in just over five innings of work. He lost his last start in Baltimore, giving up three runs and four hits in just four innings. Adam Jones (4-10) and Matt Wieters (5-8) have great numbers against the southpaw. Baltimore has been strong offensively at home this season, averaging 5.8 runs per nine-innings with a .273 batting average. The Orioles have also been solid in all games this season against left-handed pitchers, averaging 5.1 runs per nine-innings with a .282 team batting average.

Baltimore's starter, Chris Tillman, struggled in his season debut, but he pitched better in his second start last Thursday when he allowed just 2 earned runs in 5.1 innings in a 3-2 Baltimore win at Fenway Park. The righty beat the Rays last year at home when he out-dueled James Shields on July 26th in a 6-2 win. We'll continue to fade the Rays until they show some sort of offensive attack. They are averaging just 1.9 runs per nine-innings on the road versus right-handed pitchers this season with a miserable .154 batting average. The Orioles' bullpen gave up their first earned runs at home on Tuesday, but they still have a solid 1.72 ERA and 0.70 WHIP at home this season. Baltimore presents solid value as a +1.5 home underdog in this game tonight.

10* Play ORIOLES (+1.5 runline).

New York just won an all important game over Indiana last night. The Knicks clinched the #2 seed with that win which makes tonight

The Padres try to stave off being swept by the Rockies on Sunday as they send Clayton Richard to the mound. The southpaw is coming off a no-decision at home against the Dodgers after he gave up 2 runs and eight hits in five innings. Richard traditionally has been a better pitcher at home where he has an ERA under 3.00. His numbers against the Rockies are ugly, but twice last season he faced them in Colorado and gave up 11 runs and 18 hits. The last time he saw the Rockies at home was June 2011 when he gave up 1 run and five hits in seven innings.

Jorge De La Rosa makes his third road start of the season. He has given up 7 runs and 11 hits in just over 10 innings. The southpaw is 4-1 with a 5.79 ERA in 11 career starts against the Padres, but he hasn't seen them since 2011 and he hasn't pitched in San Diego since 2010. The Padres may not be winning, but they are hitting nearly .300 at home. If they get to the Rockies' starter, they'll face a poor Colorado bullpen which has an ERA right around 4.60 for the season. San Diego presents solid value as a +1.5 runline home underdog today.

10* Play PADRES (+1.5 runline).

Oklahoma City got an important win last night at Golden State as they continue to battle San Antonio for the #1 seed in the West. The Thunder beat the Warriors 116-97 after shooting 50.6% (42-83) from the field and 44.4% (12-27) from three-point land. Oklahoma City also hit 87.0% (20-23) of their free throws. They played a perfect game, but they

The last time a team came into Chicago on a long winning streak they left with a loss. Miami was on a 27-game winning streak when they lost to the Bulls 101-97. The Knicks will attempt to do what Miami couldn

The Padres have their home opener on Tuesday night as they take on the Dodgers. Clayton Richard is glad to be home too. He's a much better pitcher there. Over the past three seasons, the southpaw has a 2.94 ERA at home holding hitters to a collective .234 batting average. He has good lifetime numbers against the Dodgers going 6-3 with a 3.16 ERA in 13 starts. Andre Ethier (4-28), Jerry Hairston Jr. (0-10) and Justin Sellers (1-8) have poor numbers against Richard. Los Angeles may have the star power, but so far they are hitting .231 and putting up 2.8 runs per game.

Josh Beckett goes for the Dodgers. He gave up 5 runs and six hits in six innings pitched at home to the Giants. Beckett lost last year to the Padres in San Diego despite giving up 2 runs and five hits in just over five innings. Mark Kotsay has faced Beckett the most and he has six hits in 18 at-bats. San Diego's offense hasn't been much better than the Dodgers, but they are home which should help them out. Petco Park's dimensions have been reduced a bit as well so that could help spark this offense. There

Michigan had scored 71 points or more in all of their tournament games prior to scoring only 61 points on Syracuse in their last game. Despite winning that game, we saw proof of something we knew going into the game against Syracuse. We used the Under in that game because Michigan is not a half-court offense, and they simply struggle to generate points against strong defensive teams. The Wolverines hit some lucky long-range three

Memphis comes in off a tough loss in Los Angeles against the Lakers on Friday night. The Grizzlies lost that game 86-84, but they were playing against the ref

Wichita State has been quite impressive in their first four tournament games. The Shockers blew out a good Pittsburgh team by 18 points (73-55), and they followed that up with a 76-70 win over a very good Saint Louis team. Wichita State then manhandled La Salle while cruising to an easy 72-58 win. The Shockers led Ohio State by 20 points for the majority of the second half in their last game before winning 70-66. Of the four remaining teams, Wichita State has played the toughest opponents to reach the Final Four according to my power ratings. And it just so happens that Louisville has played the weakest opponents on their way to Atlanta. The Cardinals score 55% of their points from 2-point range, but Wichita State matches-up extremely well as the Shockers allow a tournament-best 47% of their points to come from 2-point range. This will be the first game in this tournament in which the Cardinals actually face a tough match-up.

Louisville has been the best team in this tournament and there

The Red Sox head to Toronto to take on the Blue Jays after taking two of three games versus the Yankees. Felix Doubront makes his first start of the season. He is coming of a solid Spring start in which he held the Twins to six hits over five innings striking out six while walking one. The lefty is working on fixing his control issues and he walked just six thru 18 innings over his Grapefruit outings. The heralded Blue Jays offense hasn't shown up yet for the most part this season as they lost two of three games in Cleveland to the Indians.

Josh Johnson makes his first start as a member of the Blue Jays. Johnson had a good Spring although he gave up 4 runs in his last start on March 30th. Boston is hitting well this season and they have the bullpen advantage in this game as Toronto's unit is not as proven and not as fierce. The two teams have split their last 18 meetings in Canada so there's value in taking Boston on the run line in this game on Friday night.

9* Play RED SOX (+1.5 runline).

Iowa opened as a 2-point favorite over Maryland but money quickly came in on the Hawkeyes moving this line up 1

San Antonio inexplicably lost at home last night to the Miami Heat as 9

Duke

Michigan is extremely lucky to be playing in this game this afternoon. The Wolverines were dominated by Kansas on Friday night as they trailed by double digits for the majority of that game. Michigan trailed by 14 points with less than 7 minutes to play, and thanks to Kansas

Wichita State has been quite impressive in their first three tournament games. The Shockers blew out a good Pittsburgh team by 18 points (73-55), and they followed that up with a 76-70 win over a very good Saint Louis team. Wichita State then manhandled La Salle in their last game while cruising to an easy 72-58 win. The Shockers used very little energy in that game so they will be fresh for tonight

Syracuse comes into today

Florida Gulf Coast has been the talk of the NCAA tournament after upsetting Georgetown and San Diego State. The Eagles are the first #15 seed to make the Sweet 16, so it was easy for the media and public to jump on the bandwagon. However, beating Georgetown and San Diego State was not that impressive since both of those teams had serious flaws and they were simply mediocre teams. Georgetown has now been eliminated by a double-digit seed in five straight NCAA Tournament appearances, while San Diego State came from an overrated Mountain West Conference that went just 2-5 SU in the NCAA Tournament this year. Florida Gulf Coast will now be taking a major step-up in class tonight against Florida; the highest rated team in my power ratings. On the surface, the pointspread may look high, but keep in mind Florida Gulf Coast closed as a 14-point underdog against Georgetown, and a 7

Michigan had the luxury of playing two virtual home games so far in this tournament. The Wolverines played in nearby Auburn Hills, and they had a massive home crowd advantage against South Dakota State and VCU. The location helped Michigan greatly because they are a very young team without much experience. It also didn

Arizona was quite impressive in their first two tournament games. The Wildcats blew out a very good Belmont team by 17 points (81-64), and they followed that up with a 23-point win (74-51) over Harvard. The biggest weakness for Arizona coming into this tournament was their weak 3-point defense. But the Wildcats stopped that leak in a big way as they held Belmont and Harvard to just 28.9% (13-45) shooting from beyond the arc. That

Marquette was terribly over-seeded at #3 for this tournament, and we saw this team get extremely lucky in their first two games. The Golden Eagles trailed throughout their game against Davidson, and they hit a last-second layup to win. Marquette was in a dog fight with Butler before pulling that game out 74-72. The Golden Eagles went 23-8 during the regular season, but the majority of those wins came on their strong home court where they went a perfect 16-0. Marquette went just 5-6 in true road games and 2-2 on neutral courts; 4-2 now after winning two games in this tournament. Marquette played 8 tournament teams away from home during the regular season and they did not beat a single team in regulation time. And that trend continued with their two, last-second wins over Davidson and Butler.

Miami won in a blowout in their first tournament game as they beat Pacific 78-49. But the Hurricanes were in a battle with Illinois after Miami shot the ball poorly in that game. The Hurricanes hit just 40.0% (22-55) from the field and 36.0% (9-25) from three-point land in their 63-59 win. We expect Miami to play much better tonight, and their best game lays over Marquette

Los Angeles was in a good spot last night for their game in Dallas. The Clippers went into that game with two full days of rest, and it was their first game of a 4-game road trip. They beat Dallas handily in their previous two matchups, but the Clippers came up short in their 109-102 overtime loss. Chris Paul played after being a game-time decision with a knee injury; he was on the court for more than 39 minutes. In fact, six players were on the court for more than 30 minutes which means they will be a little fatigued for tonight

Maryland has played a lot of games lately, and the Terrapins may hit the wall tonight. Coming into tonight

Denver is matching win for win with Miami; the Nuggets come into tonight

Miami won again last night to push their winning streak up to 26 games. The Heat played without Dwyane Wade last night and they beat Charlotte 109-77. Miami shot incredibly well as they hit 50% (38-76) from the field and 43.3% (13-30) from three-point land. They also hit 20 of their 23 free throws. But tonight they are in a difficult scheduling spot as they are playing on back-to-back nights with this also being their third game in four nights. Miami plays at Chicago on Wednesday night, and have to believe they see that game as more of a challenge than tonight. Miami is just 2-7 ATS as a double digit favorite during their current winning streak, and they

Illinois is a mediocre team at best and their 23-12 record speaks to that. Yes, they did play in the ultra-tough Big 10, but the Illini were thoroughly out-played and they are the only team to be playing in this tournament that had a negative efficiency margin in conference play. Illinois was able to advance because they were facing another weak team in Colorado, and that game came right down to the final few minutes. Illinois needs to play at a quick pace while making a lot of three

Minnesota has been up and down all season long, and their inconsistency has plagued them all year. The Gophers came into their NCAA tournament game on Friday on a 3-game losing streak and as losers of 11 of their previous 16 games. Minnesota took advantage of an ill-prepared UCLA team and won 83-63. UCLA will fire their head coach after that poor showing so we

Charlotte has had a dreadful season as they come into tonight

North Carolina got a pretty easy opponent on Friday as the Tar Heels were never threatened in their 78-71 win over Villanova. But their competition takes a major jump in class here with Kansas, and we expect North Carolina

California beat UNLV 64-61 on Thursday night, not because of how good they played, but rather more like how bad UNLV played. The Rebels were completely unprepared for that game and they shot just 32.2% (19-59) from the field and 30.0% (6-20) from three point land. California is a 2-man team with Allen Crabbe and Justin Cobbs; they scored 32 of California

Sacramento played Denver a little less than three weeks ago and the Kings lost at home 120-113. They were competitive in three of the four quarters which is a good sign for tonight

Memphis continues to fly well under the radar; the Tigers come into today

Oklahoma is a very experienced team that returned 86% of their possessions and 83% of their minutes from last season. Head coach Lon Kruger is in his second full season at Oklahoma and the Sooners played up to their expectations this season. Oklahoma comes into tonight

Northwestern State had a pretty good season as the Demons went 23-8 overall and 17-3 in the Southland conference. However, they played the fourth weakest non-conference schedule of all the NCAA tournament teams and the three teams below them have already lost. Northwestern State plays at an extremely fast pace, but they will be unable to control the tempo in this game. Florida plays the opposite way as the Gators play at slow pace and their style will dictate this game. The Demons

Detroit has had a rough season; the Pistons come into tonight

James Madison is in a very difficult situational spot for today

Belmont has been everybody

Davidson had another terrific season as they went 26-7 and won the Southern conference tournament to earn the automatic NCAA bid. This program is no stranger to the tournament, and head coach Bob McKillop is tremendous. Davidson

Bucknell had a terrific season; the Bison went 28-5 overall and 15-2 in conference play. Four of their five losses came by 3 points or less, and they played extremely well against a couple of Big 10 teams earlier this season. Many believe the Big 10 is the best conference in the country and Bucknell won at Purdue and only lost by 3 points at Penn State. The Bison only lost by 2 points at Missouri, and they beat other tournament teams New Mexico State and La Salle. The Bison play at an extremely slow pace, and their half court style of basketball allows them to be competitive against the bigger name teams. Bucknell also has a very efficient offense that shoots 45.5% from the field and 36.0% from three-point land. Their defense is also fantastic as they hold opponents to just 57.7 points per game on 37.9% shooting from the field and 30.9% shooting from three-point land.

Butler has proven themselves on the big stage over the last few years. But this year

Valparaiso is a sneaky good team that should give Michigan State all they can handle. The Crusaders went 26-7 this season and they were a profitable 17-12-1 ATS in their lined games. Valparaiso has solid core of veteran players led by Ryan Broekhoff and Kevin Van Wijk who both average double digits per game. Valparaiso has a very good offense that averages 71.5 points per game on 48.7% shooting from the field and 37.5% shooting from three-point land. The Crusaders played a pair of tough, non-conference games on the road at Saint Louis and at New Mexico and they showed well in those games. Valparaiso lost both of those games by 13 points as their defense held the Billikens to only 62 points and the Lobos to just 65 points. Valparaiso was only a 6

Boise State is a very streaky team; they win or lose games in bunches. The Broncos come into tonight

Middle Tennessee State had an outstanding season, but the Blue Raiders got very little attention. They come into tonight

Ohio is disinterested in playing this game tonight in Denver. The Bobcats lost their chance for an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament when they lost to Akron in the MAC championship game. Ohio played in the NCAA tournament last year, and they made it to the Sweet 16 after upsetting Michigan and South Florida. They eventually lost to North Carolina in overtime so the fact that they missed the tournament this season is extremely disappointing to them. They also have long travel out to Colorado for this game, and they

Minnesota is starting to resemble the scrappy team we saw earlier this season. The Timberwolves got Ricky Rubio back on the court a few weeks ago, and they just recently got starters Andrei Kirilenko and Nikola Pekovic back on the court. That duo played together for the first time last night, and the results were excellent. Minnesota beat New Orleans after shooting 56.2% (36-64) from the field; they also got to the free throw line 27 times. The Timberwolves assisted on 50% of their made baskets which is something this team has been missing. Minnesota is a completely different team with their three starters all back on the court, and they

Oklahoma City has shown a real home/road dichotomy since the beginning of February. Since then, Oklahoma City is a sterling 10-1 SU at home and just 4-5 SU on the road. The Thunder have not been good against the spread in those road game either as they are just 2-7 ATS versus tonight

The A-10 tournament played to form as #2 VCU will play #1 Saint Louis for the conference title this afternoon. This will be the second meeting of the season between these two teams. Saint Louis won the first game on their home court as they beat VCU 76-62. The Billikens shot the ball incredibly well in that game as they hit 55.3% (26-47) from the field while VCU only shot 44.4% (24-54) from the field. However, VCU dominated the boards in that game as they out-rebounded Saint Louis 15-7 on the offensive glass. Saint Louis was only a 2-point favorite on their home court in that game, and since they are now laying more points in this game on a neutral court presents some good value with the Rams.

VCU is built to play fast and force their opponents into mistakes and turnovers. Saint Louis is disciplined and only turns the ball over on 17% of their possessions so the match-up may not seem to favor VCU. However, we like the fact that the Rams are very good on the glass, and their ability to get offensive rebounds will give them a lot of second-chance points in this game. We also like that VCU played in two competitive games to reach this game while Saint Louis played in a pair of non-competitive blowouts. Saint Louis is a really good team and if they made a deep run in the NCAA tournament we wouldn

Syracuse has come to play in the Big East tournament. The Orange came into the tournament in a slump as they had lost four of their last five games to close the regular season. But they

North Carolina came thru for us last night with an easy win and pointspread cover in their 83-62 blowout of Florida State. That was a great setup for the Tar Heels, but today

Florida State has won three straight games including last night

Arizona has won back-to-back games by double digits after losing their previous two games on the road at USC and UCLA. The Wildcats controlled their game against Colorado last night as they led by 14 points midway thru the second half. Colorado made a run, but Arizona held strong and won 79-69. Tonight

Iowa is quietly playing some good basketball right now. The Hawkeyes have won seven of their last nine games and one of those losses came by just 4 points. Iowa comes into tonight

LSU beat Georgia 68-63 yesterday afternoon, but the Tigers will face a superior opponent in Florida today. LSU was facing a Georgia team that has a limited offense, and the Tigers were able to take advantage of that. They jumped out to a 39-19 halftime lead, but they needed to hang on after Georgia out-scored them 44-29 in the second half. LSU allowed the Bulldogs to get to the free throw line 30 times, and Georgia also out-rebounded the Tigers 45-31, including 18-10 on the offensive glass. Despite their win, LSU was lucky, and if they repeat that performance here, they

Washington has been treading water in the Pac 12 all season. The Huskies are not that good of a team, and that is obvious from their 18-14 record, including a 10-9 record in conference play. Washington beat their in-state Washington State last night for the third time this season. That was a meaningful win for the Huskies, and they may suffer a bit of a letdown in tonight

Texas A&M has been an up and down team all season. The Aggies have an overall record of 18-14, but they are just 8-11 in conference in play. They padded their record with a slew of early season cupcakes, and their stay in the Big 12 tournament should be a quick one. Texas A&M beat a dreadful Auburn team last night 71-62, but they were extremely unimpressive in that win; the Aggies face a much stiffer challenge tonight against Missouri. Texas A&M won the only regular season match-up 70-68 at home versus Missouri, but the Aggies shot the ball extremely well in that game. Texas A&M shot 50% (28-56) from the field and 50% (6-12) from three-point land.

Missouri comes into tonight

Texas Tech has been dreadful all season. The Red Raiders come into today

These two teams just played on Saturday in their final regular season game of the season. Boise State beat San Diego State 69-65 to split the season series after the Aztecs held on for a 1-point win (63-62) back in February. Boise State is playing much better basketball down the stretch after suffering thru a losing streak that coincided with injuries. The Broncos are now a healthy team, and they

The Los Angeles Lakers are playing their best basketball of the season right now. The Lakers have won four straight games and nine of their last eleven games overall. Their offense is in tremendous form as they are averaging 105.4 points per game on 44.7% shooting from the field and 34.7% shooting from three-point land. Los Angeles won in Orlando last night so they will be playing on a back-to-back road set tonight. However, the Lakers have excelled in this role so far this season as they own a 5-3 record in this spot. Their three losses came to the Nuggets, Spurs, and Bulls so they were playing upper echelon teams and were supposed to lose. Los Angeles scored 100 points or more in 7 of those 8 games, and if that pattern holds true tonight, the Lakers will win this game with ease.

Atlanta was in a terrific scheduling and situational spot for their game last night in Miami. The Hawks failed to show up in a 98-81 loss, and that is not a good sign for a team that has lost six of their last seven ballgames. Atlanta

Cincinnati has played terrible basketball down the stretch. The Bearcats are just 3-6 over their last nine games with a 5-point win over UConn and an 8-point win in overtime at home against South Florida. This team has had trouble scoring the basketball all season long, and in a tournament game on a neutral court, they cannot be trusted when laying points. Cincinnati has scored 68 points or less in 12 straight games while averaging just 57 points per game during that stretch. They

Atlanta hasn

This is the third meeting of the season between Saint Mary

Indiana looked like the best team in college basketball early on this season. But the Hoosiers haven

Illinois has lost two of their last three games after winning their previous five games in a row. Both of their recent losses have come on the road; they lost by 13 points at Michigan and by 8 points at Iowa. The Illini offense was awful in both of those games as they scored just 58 and 55 points after shooting a combined 34.2% (39-114) from the field. They will face another stiff challenge this afternoon against the stout Ohio State defense that allows just 55.7 points per game on their home court while holding opponents to just 36.7% shooting from the field and 29.9% shooting from three-point land.

Ohio State has won four consecutive games after losing three of their previous four games. The Buckeyes won 67-58 at Indiana in their last game, and they will carry over that momentum into this game which will be the final home game of the season. Ohio State is 15-2 on their home court this season with 11 of those wins coming by 10 points or more. It has been 17 days since Ohio State has played a game at home so they will be ready with a solid effort in front of their fans. The Buckeyes have covered the pointspread in three of their last four games with the lone loss coming when they beat Northwestern by 10 points when laying 11. Illinois is on a 0-4 ATS slide while failing to cover those games by a combined 23 points. Ohio State is playing much better basketball right now so we

Central Florida comes into tonight

San Diego State closed out their home schedule with a solid win over Air Force on Wednesday night. That win was preceded by a road loss at New Mexico, and it was the Aztecs fourth consecutive road loss and their fifth road loss in six conference games. San Diego State

Kansas State has quietly played some good basketball this season. The Wildcats come into this game with a 25-5 record, but they are getting very little recognition. As good as they

Oklahoma City is in a terrible scheduling and situational spot for tonight

Wisconsin comes into tonight

Kentucky surged for three games after losing Nerlens Noel for the season. The Wildcats beat Vanderbilt, Missouri, and Mississippi State after losing by 30 points at Tennessee in their first game without Noel on the court. Kentucky

Butler comes in off an embarrassing loss at VCU on Saturday. The Bulldogs lost that game 84-52, and the 32-point loss was their worse conference loss in 27 years. Butler has now lost two games in a row as they also dropped a 65-61 home game previous to their no-show at VCU. Since that ugly loss, Butler seniors Andrew Smith and Emerson Kampen held a players-only meeting on Monday at Smith

Air Force has played much better this season than most people realize. The Falcons are a more athletic bunch than previous teams so they

Oklahoma State comes into tonight

Arkansas comes into tonight

St. John

Bowling Green has had a rough season; the Falcons are just 12-17 on the year, including an ugly 1-11 away from home. They come into tonight

Cincinnati was in a very good scheduling and situational spot for their home game on Saturday against Connecticut. The Bearcats were off back-to-back road losses and returning home to play the injury-riddled Huskies off a grueling overtime game in which they lost by a single point. Cincinnati was supposed to blow Connecticut out of the gym in that game, but they didn

NC State comes into tonight

Colorado St snapped their mini 2-game losing streak with a 74-67 home win over Fresno St on Wednesday night. But even that win was uninspiring for the Rams, and after going through a gauntlet schedule, Colorado St seems to be a bit fatigued right now. Tonight they have to take to the road and play in a difficult place at Boise St, and we expect another sub-par effort from Colorado St. The Rams are a good team, but they just need some time to regain their earlier season form in order to play at their peak level.

Boise St is playing much better basketball down the stretch after suffering thru a losing streak that coincided with injuries. The Broncos are now a healthy team, and they

Indiana St was in a terrific situational spot for their last home game against Drake. But the Sycamores were flat for that game which is not a good sign at all. There

Valparaiso has played good basketball all season, but the Crusaders are in a difficult scheduling spot for this game at Wisconsin-Green Bay on Saturday afternoon. Valparaiso needed a second-half comeback in their last game to beat Youngstown St, and since that was the final home game for their seniors, we expect a letdown this afternoon. The Crusaders have struggled in their recent games at Wisconsin-Green Bay losing their last two trips there, including a 75-60 loss last season. Valparaiso needs to play fast to be at their best, but the Phoenix play at a much slower pace at home and that will take the Crusaders out of their comfort zone.

Wisconsin Green-Bay finally returned home for their last game and they won 78-61. That game was preceded by 3 straight road games which were part of a stretch where the Phoenix played seven of their previous ten games away from home. Today will be their final home game of the season, and since this will be just their fourth home game since January 19th, we expect a solid performance. Wisconsin Green-Bay is 12-2 on their home court this season because of their terrific defense. The Phoenix holds opponents to just 57 points per game on 37.5% shooting from the field and 31.1% shooting from three-point land. This is a great spot for the home team so we

Dallas is not in good current form right now. The Mavericks have lost three games in a row as their offense has scored just 84, 90, and 99 points in those games. Dallas

Gonzaga is a very good team, there

Dallas has played terrible basketball in their last two games, and we expect their bad play to continue in Memphis tonight. The Mavericks lost at home last night to the struggling Milwaukee Bucks, and that result certainly isn

Milwaukee won last night in Dallas after out-scoring the Mavericks 29-20 in the fourth quarter. But that win proved nothing because Dallas is not playing good basketball right now. And neither is Milwaukee. Prior to that win, the Bucks were just 2-9 over their previous eleven games. Their recent trade for J.J. Redick really made no sense, and there are just way too many similar players on the floor at the same time. Milwaukee

Toronto has alternated wins and losses since the All-Star break, and the Raptors come into tonight

Drake has been able to survive their multiple injuries this season, but tonight we expect everything to catch up to them. One of their better scorers, Jordan Clarke, is battling a nagging knee injury still and he is listed as a game-time decision. With Clarke out, Kori Babineaux has been picking up the slack for the Bulldogs and head coach Mark Phelps called him the

Cleveland has come out of the All-Star break playing some good basketball. The Cavaliers are 2-1 SU and a perfect 3-0 ATS with their lone loss coming at Miami by the score of 109-105 on Sunday night. However, this is a terrible situational and scheduling spot for Cleveland, and it got worse with the announcement that Kyrie Irving is going to miss tonight