Portland was a solid winner for us last night. The Pilots were in a great spot as they had rest and were fortunate to be playing a bad San Diego team that had just played the night before. Portland

William & Mary was flat in the first half last night, but they finished strong and outscored James Madison 40-21 down the stretch. The Tribe still failed to cover last night as a 5½-point favorite in their 70-65 win but W&M has been a much stronger play this season as an underdog. In fact, the underdog is now an incredible 18-6 ATS in all William & Mary games this season.

The Tribe is a dangerous underdog as they are a veteran and experienced team that won outright at both Maryland (+13) and Wake Forest (+17) this season. They also won outright as a 2½-point underdog versus Northeastern on February 13th and W&M dominated the game more than the 53-52 final score indicated. William & Mary led by 12 points at halftime and held a 16-point lead with 8:20 remaining in the game.

This is a favorable matchup for William & Mary as they rely heavily on the three-point shot and Northeastern has shown a weakness with their perimeter defense this season. Northeastern relies more on their interior scoring, but William & Mary has a solid 2-point defense and actually outshot the Huskies 67% to 42% from two-point range in the earlier meeting this year.

Northeastern will also be battling the fatigue factor today as they played a double-overtime game last night against Hofstra and escaped with a 74-71 win as a 5½ -point favorite. Northeastern has an extremely thin bench with their five starters playing the majority of the minutes every game, so fatigue will be an issue today. In fact, Northeastern

Portland is a very good team that has proven that already this season. The Pilots played an extremely difficult schedule with most of those games coming on the road; neutral court games against UCLA, Minnesota, and West Virginia and true road games at Washington and Nevada. They beat UCLA and Minnesota on back-to-back nights in a preseason tournament, so the Pilots know what it takes to win in a setting like they are playing in tonight; a conference tournament being played on a neutral court.

Their early non-conference road losses also toughened this team up for their conference schedule, and that

San Antonio has never been a good team when playing on back-to-back nights. The Spurs are a veteran team that is up there in age, so playing without rest isn

Saint Louis is a difficult to team to play because of the system they run under head coach Rick Majerus. The Billikens run complex offensive sets that just frustrate opponents into half-court games. And Saint Louis is most effective when they are playing a team that loves to run up and down the court at a frenetic pace. Majerus is too smart of a coach to allow his team to get caught-up in a running game tonight, and he

Tulsa was in a funk for the month of February; the Golden Hurricane lost five of their eight games during the month. However, all five of those losses came against very good teams in UTEP (twice), Marshall, and Duke. There was also a home loss to Memphis mixed in as well. There

Oklahoma City comes in off one of their worst games of the season; the Thunder lost by 29 points (119-90) at Denver on Wednesday night. We expected that loss though as we used Denver in that game because they were rested and OKC was playing on a back-to-back set. The Thunder played at home the night before and it was played at an extremely fast pace with three of OKC

Pepperdine has had a miserable season; the Waves are a pathetic 7-23 overall and 3-11 in conference play. On the road, the Waves are 2-12 with the only two road wins coming on neutral courts against a pair of non-board teams (Hampton and Monmouth-NJ). This team is just waiting mercifully for the season to end, and with tonight

The winner of tonight

Utah has alternated wins and losses over their last five games. The Jazz lost their latest, a 108-104 defeat at the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night. Off that upset loss, Utah has had a full two days to prepare for tonight

Washington

Evansville had the worst record in the Missouri Valley this season. The Purple Aces come into tonight at just 9-20 overall and 3-15 in conference play. However, they have a valid excuse as to why they have such a terrible record. Evansville

Oklahoma City is in a terrible scheduling spot tonight. The Thunder played at home last night and beat Sacramento 113-107. That game was played at an extremely fast pace, and with three of OKC

Tulsa was in a funk for the month of February; the Golden Hurricane lost five of their eight games during the month. However, all five of those losses came against very good teams in UTEP (twice), Memphis, Marshall, and Duke. There

Saint Louis is a difficult to team to play because of the system they run under head coach Rick Majerus. The Billikens run complex offensive sets that just frustrate opponents into half-court games. And Saint Louis is most effective when they are playing a team that loves to run up and down the court at a frenetic pace. Majerus is too smart of a coach to allow his team to get caught-up in a running game tonight, and he

Baylor has played some good basketball overall this season; the Bears are currently 22-6 and ranked # 22 in the country. However, they are just 9-5 in conference play and only three of those wins have come on the road with the wins coming by 7, 2, and 3 points in overtime. So this is a team that has won all close games on the road; they

Vanderbilt has had a fantastic season; the Commodores are an impressive 22-6 overall and 11-3 in conference play. They are still in the hunt for the outright SEC title and for a first-round bye for the conference tournament. But they find themselves in a terrible spot tonight at Florida; a game the Gators need a lot more than Vanderbilt.

Florida is squarely on the NCAA tournament bubble at 20-9. The Gators need to notch a signature win to punch their ticket to the Big Dance and a win here almost certainly earns them an invitation. The Gators have been fantastic on their home floor this year going 13-3 with the two losses coming to Kentucky and Xavier. Florida

Portland has played some good ball on their current road trip; the Blazers have won and covered three of the four games with the lone loss coming in overtime. However, Portland was catching teams at the perfect time as all three of the teams they beat were either missing key players because of injury or suspension. Tonight, things will be much tougher for the Blazers because they are playing their fifth game in seven nights in the final game of a long road trip. Portland is already satisfied with the results of this trip, win or lose here, so there will be some lack of focus for tonight

Richmond is playing some terrific basketball right now, especially on the defensive end of the court. The Spiders have held their opponents to just 60 points per game on an incredible 38.7% shooting. And their defensive prowess will be a key in this game this afternoon as Richmond will look to force their style of play on Xavier.

Spiders

There

Ohio has shown a big discrepancy between their home and away results this season. The Bobcats have been fantastic on their home floor as they are 12-4 SU and 7-6 ATS. But on the road, Ohio is just 4-9 SU and 5-6 ATS with one of those wins coming at Indiana-Purdue. And a major reason for their road struggles has been their offense that shoots just 38.3% from the field and 33.9% from three-point land when playing in opponent

This game is a clash of styles. Miami (OH) plays very slow, preferring a half-court game. Kent St plays fast, preferring to get up and down the court. So the game comes down to pace, and the team that is able to control the flow will most likely cover the pointspread. Miami (OH) rarely gets caught playing fast, and in fact, they already frustrated Kent St this year in their 55-53 overtime win. The Redhawks forced the Flashes into a slow game, and there

Providence is on a seven-game losing streak. But look who they have played; Syracuse twice, Marquette, Georgetown, Villanova, and West Virginia. That

When UCLA lost at Oregon back in January, the Bruins were searching for an identity and a consistent style of play. But since that game, UCLA head coach Ben Howland has figured his team out. UCLA has gone 4-3 since that 71-66 overtime loss at Oregon with two of their losses coming to the better teams in the Pac-10, California and Washington. The other loss came last Sunday at USC (68-64); a game that came right down to the wire.

The Bruins are now playing a zone defense and that has allowed them to be much more competitive. It didn

Detroit has been one of the unluckiest teams in the NBA this year. The Pistons have had to juggle their lineup numerous times because of all the injuries they

Stanford isn

San Diego St is flying well under the radar this season. The Aztecs are playing some terrific basketball as they are currently 20-7 on the year and on a nice 8-2 run over their last ten games. San Diego St is certainly talented enough to make the NCAA tournament, but they need some signature wins to get an at-large invitation. And if they can steal a win tonight over a talented BYU team, the Aztecs will have a terrific shot at making the tournament.

Saint Louis is a difficult to team to play because of the system they run under head coach Rick Majerus. The Billikens run complex offensive sets that just frustrate opponents into half-court games. And Saint Louis is most effective when they are playing a team that loves to run up and down the court at a frenetic pace. Majerus is too smart of a coach to allow his team to get caught-up in a running game tonight, and he

Detroit has been one of the unluckiest teams in the NBA this year. The Pistons have had to juggle their lineup numerous times because of all the injuries they

Kansas St has had a fantastic season thus far; the Wildcats are currently 22-4 and ranked # 6 in the country. However, they are just 9-3 in conference play and four of those nine wins have come by six points or less. So this is a team that has won a lot of close games and they

When Los Angeles made a coaching change two weeks ago, the Clippers needed to rectify an offense that was stuck in reverse. Mike Dunleavy was replaced by assistant Kim Hughes, and Hughes was not shy in telling everyone his immediate intentions for the way he wanted the Clippers to play. "I hope we run like crazy," Kim Hughes said before his first game as the Clippers' head coach.

While the offense has improved, the defense has become worse. Los Angeles has allowed at least 109 points or more and 49% FG or higher in four of their past five games, going just 1-4 SU/ATS during that span. The Clippers did get a rare win on Saturday against an equally weak Sacramento squad, but Los Angeles now fits a negative 56-92 ATS situation tonight which plays against Class-D teams off a SU win and the Clippers are likely to struggle against a superior Charlotte team that will be extra focused after a loss in their past game.

Charlotte was in a difficult scheduling spot on Saturday as they had to travel to Milwaukee without rest after a big home upset win of Cleveland on Friday night. It was a revenge game for Milwaukee and the Bucks have actually been playing competitive basketball with Michael Redd out of the lineup. Charlotte was a perfect 2-0 SU/ATS in the two meetings with the Clippers last season, winning the two games by a combined 26 points, despite being favored by just 1 point in each game.

Play BOBCATS (-).

Utah concludes their four-game road trip tonight in Portland; the Jazz have won the first three games of the trip. But those three games came against three teams that currently have a lot of issues going on with injuries and trades. The Jazz caught those opponents at the perfect time and they took full advantage of the situations. But tonight, Utah is in a difficult spot with this game being their fourth over the last six nights and their final game of what has already been a successful road trip.

The Jazz are also catching Portland at the wrong time as the Blazers enter off their worst game of the season as they lost 96-76 to the Celtics two night

Saint Louis is a difficult team to play because of the system they run under head coach Rick Majerus. The Billikens run complex offensive sets that just frustrate opponents into half-court games. And Saint Louis is most effective when they are playing a team that loves to run up and down the court at a frenetic pace. Majerus is too smart of a coach to allow his team to get caught-up in a running game tonight, and he

SMU plays at a very slow pace, and their style of play will have a huge impact on this game. The Mustangs have only allowed more than 70 points five times all season long, and that is a major reason why this team doesn

Kentucky is an impressive 25-1, but there is one particular area in which they

When these two teams met two weeks ago, they were tied for first place in Conference-USA. That game was tied 30-30 at the half, and it was just a 3-point game for most of the second-half. But UTEP went on a late run and won by 14 points (73-59) which was a misleading final score. And today, Tulsa finally has their shot at redemption on their home court where they are a strong 15-1 on the season. Tulsa is one of the best teams in Conference-USA. The Golden Hurricane are absolutely loaded with talent and skill, and they return four starters from their 25-win team of a season ago. They are certainly a NCAA tournament team, but they still need all the wins they can get.

Their defense is phenomenal, especially at home. Tulsa is allowing just 61 points per game on just 36.1% shooting while holding twelve of their sixteen opponents to 65 points or less. With defensive numbers like that on their home floor, Tulsa is a bargain in this price range. And considering Tulsa has lost three of their last four games, and their previous game on their home floor, we expect one of their best performances of the season in this spot.

UTEP is also a very good team, but they

These are two of the top teams in the league and the edge goes to the Suns at home tonight where they stand a solid 18-7 SU. Phoenix is coming off a 97-107 road loss at Dallas on Wednesday, but Phoenix should bounce back this evening as they now fit a 62% ATS home revenge situation.

The Suns 102-101 loss at Atlanta on January 15th was misleading as Phoenix held a 5-point lead in the final minute of the game, but missed free throws and allowed Atlanta to hit a walk-off three-pointer at the buzzer for the win. Phoenix still got the pointspread cover and overall the Suns are a solid 3-1 SU/ATS in the past four meetings with every win coming by at least 5 points or more. The Suns have actually dominated the recent meetings by more than the final scores have indicated as Phoenix has held 12, 13, 19, and 37 point leads in those past four games versus Atlanta.

Phoenix is an explosive offensive team that is averaging 109.6 points per game this season and shooting a fantastic 48.6% FG, including 112.7 ppg and 49.6% FG at home. The Suns should have plenty of success against a struggling Atlanta defense that has permitted 50%, 51%, and 51% FG in their past three games.

Play SUNS (-).

Dartmouth is a terrible team and there is solid value going them in a basic straight-up win situation tonight. Columbia is also a weak team, but they are still much better than Dartmouth and Columbia is 3-0 SU the past three games against the terrible teams in the Ivy League (Dartmouth, Brown, and Pennsylvania). This includes an earlier 63-51 win versus Dartmouth last month.

There are currently 347 teams in Division-1 basketball and my power ratings rank Dartmouth as one of the bottom 10 teams in the nation. Dartmouth is 0-8 SU in conference play this season, losing by an average of -15.6 points per game. Dartmouth is a horrendous offensive team, shooting just 35.7% FG in league play and only 63.3% FT and also ranking dead last in rebounding margin (-7.1 rpg).

Columbia is 4-1 ATS in their past five games and their SU road underdog win at Pennsylvania last week qualifies Columbia in a solid 79-38 ATS situation tonight.

Play COLUMBIA (-).

St. Mary

The Lakers have played surprisingly well during the past four games without Kobe Bryant in the lineup, but they are now facing their most difficult test against the Boston Celtics. Kobe Bryant is listed as doubtful tonight and is unlikely to play and even if he makes a surprise appearance, he will not be fully healthy. Bryant leads the team in scoring (28.0 ppg), assists (237), and steals (85).

Boston has underperformed this season, but the main reason has been injuries and the Celtics are finally healthy again with Paul Pierce back in the lineup. Boston lost their final two games before the All-Star break as the chemistry of the team was disrupted and Pierce was not fully healthy. That is no longer the case and Boston should perform well tonight on the national stage against the defending World Champions.

Boston is a solid 18-9 SU on the road this season and the Celtics have revenge from a narrow 90-89 home loss on January 31st.

Play CELTICS (+).

The Suns are one of the hottest teams in the league right now. They

Saint Louis is a difficult to team to play because of the system they run under head coach Rick Majerus. The Billikens run complex offensive sets that just frustrate opponents into half-court games. And Saint Louis is most effective when they are playing a team that loves to run up and down the court at a frenetic pace. Majerus is too smart of a coach to allow his team to get caught-up in a running game tonight, and he

Kentucky is an impressive 24-1, but there is one particular area in which they

Connecticut remains an overrated team and this line is too low tonight. My power ratings favor Villanova by 11½ points using all games this season and my conference only ratings favor the Wildcats by 15 points using just Big East games this season. Villanova stands 11-1 SU in the league, while Connecticut is only 4-8 SU.

The return of head coach Jim Calhoun did not help at all as Connecticut lost outright on Saturday, 48-60, as a 7-point home favorite versus Cincinnati. UConn remains a bad offensive team as they are shooting just 43.8% FG in conference games with a weak 0.9 assist/turnover ratio which ranks dead last (16th) in Big East games.

Connecticut is a solid defensive team, allowing just 39.7% FG, however Villanova is also a strong defensive team that ranks 3rd in Big East games, allowing only 41.4% FG. Villanova holds a substantial offensive edge as they shoot 49.0% FG on offense in conference games and they average 19.1 points more per game on offense that UConn.

Connecticut is just 8-14 ATS in all games this season, while Villanova is a profitable 16-7 ATS. Connecticut is also a poor 1-8 SU on the road/neutral court games this season, including 0-6 SU in true road games. Villanova is 11-0 SU at home this season, winning by an average margin of +18.6 points per game, and Villanova should be able to extend the margin down the stretch as the Wildcats are one of the best free throw shooting teams in the nation, hitting 75.9% from the charity stripe, including 75.4% in conference play.

Play VILLANOVA (-).

When UCLA lost at USC back in early January, the Bruins were searching for an identity and a consistent style of play. They were coming into that game in terrible form, and we played USC (+ 1) in that game because the two teams were simply far apart at the time. USC cashed an easy winner for us in their 67-46 romp; the worst UCLA loss to their cross-town rival since the 1944-1945 season.

But since that game, UCLA head coach Ben Howland has figured his team out. UCLA has gone 4-2 since that 21-point loss at USC with one of the losses coming in overtime at Oregon. The other loss came last Saturday against California; a game we used Cal simply because they have superior talent and had lost to UCLA as a 14-point favorite earlier in the year. So that was an excusable blowout loss, and a game we just draw a line through.

The Bruins are now playing a zone defense and that has allowed them to be much more competitive. It didn

The oddsmakers incorrectly priced this game as they opened the West a favorite. But sharp money has come in on the East and we certainly agree with that move. The Western Conference has better overall teams, but the Eastern Conference has just as much talent at the top with individual stars such as LeBron James, Dwight Howard, and Dwyane Wade.

James and Howard were strong 2 years ago when the East won 134-128. Last year, the West throttled the East by 27 points (146-119) and the East is out to atone for that embarrassment. The Western Conference is also short-handed due to injuries as Kobe Bryant, Brandon Roy, and Chris Paul will not play tonight. Kobe and Paul were great last year in the West win, but neither will be on the floor tonight.

The East has won three of the past five meetings, and with the West playing without two of their top scorers, the East should notch another win tonight. The East also has plenty of size with Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh to battle the West down low. The East has the better overall starting lineup and they will present match-up problems for the West.

Play EAST (-).

Missouri St has been a surprise in the Missouri Valley Conference this season. The Bears were one of the worst teams in the league last year, and they

We played New Mexico the other night and they cashed an easy winner for us in their wire-to-wire 76-66 victory at UNLV. But New Mexico was in a perfect scheduling spot for that game and they simply caught UNLV at the right time. And that was a huge win for the Lobos as it catapulted them into a first-place tie with BYU for the regular season conference title. After jumping up a spot, New Mexico may get complacent here and not bring their best effort, especially since they beat Utah by 17 points (74-57) back in early January.

However, giving Utah any type of edge will be costly for New Mexico. The Utes have always enjoyed one of the strongest home court edges in college basketball. The Huntsman Center is just a difficult place to play, and considering Utah lost their last home game as a big favorite, we expect a big bounce back effort tonight. The Utes lost one other conference home game, and that was only a 2-point defeat to a very good San Diego St team.

Utah enters off a confidence building win at TCU. That win has sparked nothing but positive vibes and energy throughout the team, and it will carry over to tonight. Utah also has a nice match-up edge in their favor. Their three-point defense leads the MWC at just 30.9%, and with New Mexico a perimeter oriented team, it will be tough for them to hit outside shots consistently. Utah also owns the better overall defense and they hit their free-throws at a 75% clip (67.7% for New Mexico). The last two games on this court saw a Utah 1-point win and a New Mexico 1-point win. We expect another close game here with Utah having a terrific shot at stealing the win.

Play UTAH (+).

Washington

All of the C-USA teams have played second fiddle to Memphis over the last four years. Memphis just had the superior teams over that time, but that is certainly not the case this season. The Tigers are not the best team in the conference this year as there are two teams better than them, Tulsa and UTEP. Memphis

Butler has steamrolled the Horizon League for the past few years, but there is one team that has a history of beating the Bulldogs. Cleveland St is the only team to have beaten Butler twice over the last two seasons, and there

The second-year players have a tremendous advantage over the first-year players as the veterans are used to the pressure and spotlight of the All-Star weekend. Another major advantage is that some of the second-year sophomores played in this game last season and are therefore familiar with one another.

The Sophomores have dominated this contest in five of the last six seasons, winning by 41, 10, 27, 24, and 20 point margins. Last year the Sophomores only beat the Rookies by six points (122-116), and that was the smallest margin of victory since 2002. That close game shows just how talented the Rookies were last season, and six of those nine players return here for the Sophomore team.

The only other close game recently was in 2006 when the Sophomores won 106-96, but the non-covering 10-point win (as an 11½ point favorite) was misleading as the Sophomores held a 23-point lead in the game. Overall, the Sophomores have led by 43, 23, 29, 30, and 20 point margins in five of the previous six meetings.

The Sophomores also have a guard/center combination that are teammates in O.J. Mayo/Marc Gasol (Memphis) and a 7-foot combination of Marc Gasol/Brook Lopez that will be playing together and should provide extra familiarity and teamwork tonight along with a big advantage in the paint.

Play SOPHOMORES (-).

Saint Mary

Mississippi is one of the better teams in the SEC even though their overall win/loss record may not reflect that. The Rebels are 17-6 on the season, but just 5-4 in conference play. However, they played an extremely tough non-conference schedule with road losses against some of the best teams in the country; Villanova and West Virginia. In conference play, the Rebels lost at Kentucky and at Tennessee in overtime. They

Orlando hit a rough patch during the first three weeks of January. The Magic went 2-7 over that stretch, and after a game against the Celtics, Dwight Howard called for a players-only meeting to straighten things out. And despite Howard calling his teammates together, the players actually called Howard out as they were disappointed in what he was doing on and off the court. That meeting has done wonders; Orlando is 6-1 since and Howard is on an absolute tear as he is averaging 21.7 points, 14.7 rebounds and 3.7 blocks per game.

The Magic are currently on a 10-2 run and they are certainly playing some of the best basketball in the league right now. Their two losses were both close; a 5-point loss at Memphis and a 1-point home loss to Washington. And they

Back in early November, UNLV went into New Mexico and did what very few teams can do, and that is win in The Pit. New Mexico has one of the strongest home courts in all of college basketball, and the Lobos

Richmond is playing some terrific basketball right now, especially on the defensive end of the court. The Spiders have held their last five opponents to just 55 points per game on an incredible 37.7% shooting. And their defensive prowess will be a key in this game tonight as Richmond will look to force their style of play on Rhode Island.

Spiders

Indiana St is quietly flying well under the radar in the Missouri Valley Conference. One of the main reasons why this team has gone unnoticed is the fact that many people wrote them off when they lost their three top scorers to injury. However, the Sycamores have played terrific basketball without those guys on the court; they

Illinois enters off a big home over Michigan St on Saturday night. Normally, we

When Texas lost at Oklahoma on Saturday, tonight

Many may think the Saints caught lightening in a bottle to reach the Super Bowl this season. But that

Oregon has been pointing towards this game since losing to Oregon St back on January 10th. We remember that game well as we had a play on the Beavers in their 64-57 win as 8-point underdogs. Oregon St came into that game in a perfect spot as they were off their biggest home loss in school history and they were catching the Ducks off back-to-back underdog wins at Washington and Washington St. It was a perfect spot for Oregon St and they took advantage of the situation.

Tajuan Porter, Oregon

Southern Illinois may have turned the corner in their last five ballgames. The Salukis are just 3-2 in those games, but the two losses came by just 1 and 3 points. They had a shot to win both of those games late, and if so, they could be on a nice 5-game winning streak right now. They come into this game off a nice win over Missouri St where four guys scored in double digits. That

South Carolina is just 13-8, but they

Washington was one of the favorites for the Pac-10 title. But the Huskies struggled early on because they weren

These two teams are tied for first place in Conference-USA which makes tonight

California was the Pac-10 preseason favorite. But the Bears had a ton of injuries early on and they really struggled because they weren

Illinois St comes into tonight

The consensus on Gonzaga coming into this season was that the Zags were going to regress after losing a ton of talent from last year

San Antonio is currently on their annual

The pointspread on this game is not even close to what it should be. Detroit is a very talented team in the Horizon League despite their mediocre 14-8 win/loss record. The Titans are not a typical team in the conference; they are the biggest team in the league and they are the exact type of team that gives Butler fits because of their size and rebounding edge. Butler beat Detroit 64-62 in overtime in early January, but the Titans had five blocked shots and also out-rebounded Butler 38-28 in that game.

Butler head coach Brad Stevens certainly knows the quality of Detroit

This is the second meeting over the last eleven days between these two teams. Utah St beat Idaho 60-48 after extending their lead down the stretch. But the game was much closer throughout, and tonight

Phoenix struggled for much of January as they were still adjusting to not having Leandro Barbosa on the court. Barbosa is their best second unit player and he

Golden St

Michigan has turned things around recently, but their win/loss results have kept the Wolverines as an undervalued team to the pointspread. They are just 5-5 over their last ten games, but four of their five losses have come by 6 points or less. And they

Connecticut is really missing head coach Jim Calhoun on the bench. Calhoun has missed the last four games because of medical reasons, and the Huskies have just not been able to overcome his absence. The Huskies have lost a couple of close games back-to-back, and the bubble looks like it

Wichita St is the second best team in the Missouri Valley Conference behind Northern Iowa. And what separates the two is UNI

Phoenix has been struggling lately; they are just 3-7 over their last ten games. But they have a valid excuse for the poor performances. Leandro Barbosa, their best second unit player, has been out after getting surgery on his wrist. Barbosa is the Suns

Portland has been very unlucky with the amount of injuries they

UTEP is a very good team out of Conference-USA. The Miners won 23 games a season ago and went to the finals of the CBI tournament, and they return four starters from that team. They also added two high-impact transfers in Derrick Caracter (Louisville) and Christian Polk (Arizona St). This year

Creighton is an extremely young team that is still learning the intricate offensive and defensive schemes of head coach Dana Altman. The Blue Jays have really struggled on the road this year as they are just 2-9 SU and 3-8 ATS. They did win their last game which came at Bradley, but as we often see, teams step-up when their best player is not on the floor. P

Stanford isn

Saint Louis continues to get little respect from the oddsmakers. The Billikens have covered four of their last five games, and they actually should have covered the other night at George Washington. They lead for the majority of that game, but they couldn

Butler was in a similar spot last Friday night. Butler went into that game off a terrific offensive effort; they won their previous game by 30 points after they scored 91 points while shooting 56.6% from the field and 54.5% from three-point land. The Bulldogs were not as sharp in their next outing as they escaped with a 48-47 win at Loyola-Chicago as a double-digit favorite.

Tonight, Butler comes in off a 29-point win after they scored 84 points at Illinois-Chicago. The Bulldogs shot 54.9% (28-51) from the field and 42.9% (9-21) from three-point land. They also hit 19 of their 23 free throw attempts. But we expect Butler to be in a battle tonight because they struggle when facing teams that like to play at a slow, half-court pace like they do. And that

California was the Pac-10 preseason favorite. But the Bears had a ton of injuries early on and they really struggled because they weren

Chicago won again on Monday night; they beat the Spurs 98-93 after closing the final minute with a late 7-2 scoring surge. The Bulls have now won three consecutive games as significant sized underdogs (+ 6 or more in all 3 games). But Chicago is in an extremely difficult scheduling spot for tonight

Northern Iowa is the best team in the Missouri Valley conference, but Drake is the hottest team in the conference right now. The Bulldogs have won five straight games, and they

The Lakers are in the midst of a season-long eight game East Coast road trip. They

Saint Louis has developed a pattern ever since head coach Rick Majerus took over. The Billikens usually get out of the gate slowly as they lean all of the intricacies of Majerus

Milwaukee has been one of the unluckiest teams in the NBA over the last few seasons. The Bucks have had to juggle their lineup numerous times because of all the injuries they

Tulsa is the best team in Conference-USA. The Golden Hurricane are absolutely loaded with talent and skill, and they return four starters from their 25-win team of a season ago. They are certainly a NCAA tournament team if they stay healthy, and the fact that they are catching this many points against an overachieving UAB team presents some fantastic value tonight.

The Golden Hurricane are one of the biggest teams in the conference, with 7-footer Jerome Jordan being one of four players 6-6 or taller in the starting lineup. The shortest player is 6-3 guard Ben Uzoh, who averages a team-high 16.3 points per game. UAB is unable to match that size, and it

There

San Antonio is in a great spot tonight to get a much needed blowout win. The Spurs come into this game off back-to-back home losses to the Jazz and Rockets. Their defense was terrible in those games as they allowed 105 and 116 points respectively. But the Spurs have had two days off since, and they

Georgetown has been quite impressive so far this season. The Hoyas are 15-3 with a majority of those wins coming in blowout fashion. Their three losses have all been close by 4, 3, and 5 points. Two of those losses came in conference games on the road, at Villanova and at Marquette. Those close losses prove that the Hoyas can play anywhere, and they won

Missouri St has been the surprise of the Missouri Valley Conference this season. The Bears were one of the worst teams in the league last year, and they

There were some people questioning New Orleans coming into last week

The Jets got a great match-up last week against San Diego, and they once again get a favorable opponent this week in the Indianapolis Colts. New York completely took the Chargers out of their game of throwing the football, and with the Colts being a team built in a similar way, it

Arizona has quietly played some good basketball in their conference games. The Wildcats are only 3-3 SU, but all three of their losses have been close as they

Duke had one particular game circle for this year; that game was Clemson back on January 3rd. The Blue Devils were drilled by 27 points by Clemson last year, and wanted to atone for one of their worst losses in quite a long time. Duke got their revenge in a big way as they waxed the Tigers 74-53 in that first meeting three weeks back. Now tonight, Clemson is the team bent on making-up for their awful performance at Duke, and getting them as a small home underdog in a spot like this is certainly a plus.

Clemson is extremely talented, and they

Houston is a much better team than their 10-8 record indicates. The Cougars have lost some games they should have won; in fact seven of their eight losses have come by 7 points or less. Over the past few years, Houston has been a bad match-up for Memphis since head coach Tom Penders took over 6 years ago. And there