Virginia Commonwealth

Arizona

This game will be played in New Orleans which obviously gives a big site advantage to Florida. The Gators will have the majority of the fan support for this game, especially since Butler doesn

Many people thought that Va Commonwealth did not deserve a NCAA Tournament bid, but the Rams have proven they belong with impressive underdog wins over USC, Georgetown, and Purdue. There was nothing misleading about any of those victories as VCU dominated all three games with easy 13, 18, and 18 point wins.

The Rams also defeated fellow Tournament teams in George Mason by 16 points and only lost to Old Dominion by 5 points in the CAA tournament earlier this month, both as 5-point underdogs, so tonight

Richmond has been one of the best teams in the A-10 Conference over the last few years, and they come into tonight

The Big East remains an overrated conference as evident by the fact that only 2 of the 11 teams in the NCAA Tournament made the Sweet 16 this season and both of those teams (Connecticut and Marquette) beat a fellow Big East opponent in the Round of 32 last weekend, so the conference had to have at least two teams playing this week. In fact, during the past seven years, the Big East has put 17 more teams in the NCAA Tournament than any other conference, but no team has made the Finals and only two teams have made a Final Four appearance since 2004.

Marquette was one of the weakest defensive teams in the Big East this season as they allowed 34.8% from three-point range (11th out of 16 teams) and 50.8% from two-point range (14th out of 16 teams) in conference play. This weak interior defense will be a problem tonight against a North Carolina squad that has a lot of size down low and is one of the biggest teams in the nation with 6

Butler

Arizona escaped with a pair of hard fought, but fortunate wins last weekend. The Wildcats were in a dogfight with Memphis in their opening game; Arizona won that game 77-75. Next they jumped all over Texas early and led by 11 points at halftime. But they allowed the Longhorns back into the game, and Arizona was actually trailing with just over 10 seconds left to play in the game. However, the ref called a bogus 5-second foul on Texas which allowed Arizona to steal a 70-69 win in that game. Despite winning those two games, Arizona showed some major weaknesses, and we expect Duke to take full advantage and expose those shortcomings.

Arizona

Connecticut has been on an eventful journey over the last three weeks. The Huskies won the Big East tournament after winning 5 games in 5 nights. They upgraded their seed line by about three or four spots because of their run, so they caught a couple of easy match-ups in their first two NCAA tournament games. But tonight, Connecticut

There

Central Florida made a big splash when they opened the season at 14-0 and found themselves ranked in the Top 25. But since then, the Knights have gone just 7-11 over their last 18 games. They won their last two games at home to advance in this CBI tournament, but don

Oklahoma St is fortunate to still be playing basketball this late into March. The Cowboys are not really a good team at all, and after numerous suspensions and off-court incidents, their tumultuous season should come to end tonight in Pullman, Washington. The Cowboys suspended Darrell Williams in mid-February after he was accused of sexual assault and then two weeks later head coach Travis Ford suspended point guard, Ray Penn, for violating a team policy. Those two guys were key contributors for Oklahoma St, and their absence showed in the Cowboys

Florida St is a one-dimensional team; the Seminoles have a very good defense but absolutely no offense. In fact, Florida St has the worst offense of any of the major conference teams in the tournament. They rate close to teams like Hampton, St. Peter

Arizona

After watching Kansas St beat Utah St on Thursday night, we saw absolutely nothing from the Wildcats that should change our thoughts on them. We played against K-St often earlier this season as we simply think this team is severely overrated and not that good. Their win over Utah St was unimpressive, and if the Aggies knocked down just a few of their wide open looks then they would be playing in this game tonight. Kansas St got a ton of second-chance points and they simply got the fortunate bounce of the ball all game long. They

The oddsmakers didn

This game will be played in Tampa which obviously gives a big site advantage to Florida. That fact is even more dramatic since UCLA is from the opposite coast and not many of their fans traveled across the country. This will be the closest thing to an actual home game for Florida as you can get in a tournament setting, and that only adds to the troubles UCLA will have in this game. The Bruins

Memphis has a deceptively good 25-9 record. The Tigers are really not that good of a basketball team. They played in the terrible CUSA, a conference which has seen its teams get crushed in postseason play recently. UAB got blown out a few nights ago, and three other league teams also lost in some lower-tier tournaments during the week. And despite winning the CUSA conference tournament, Memphis was one of the worst teams in the conference based on efficiency ratings; they were actually out-scored by league opponents.

The Tigers have an extremely weak offense that cannot generate points easily. Memphis gets the majority of their points inside the paint, but they aren

Texas-San Antonio is in a difficult scheduling spot for this game. The Roadrunners had to play and win on Wednesday night just to get a chance to play in today

Utah St is a tough match-up for any team; the Aggies run a ton of half-court sets that are almost impossible to prepare for. And unlike in year

Gonzaga has been the class of the West Coast Conference for the past decade. The Zags have run roughshod over their league opponents, and they did it again this season with a 13-3 record in league play. But it was one of those three losses to St. Mary

Connecticut was the story of conference tournament week. The Huskies won the Big East tournament after winning 5 games in 5 nights. They upgraded their seed line by about three or four spots because of their run, but that run now sets them up in a big flat spot for this game. Their effort in New York was taxing, and the fact that they have to wheel back and play tonight leaves them little recuperation time. Aside from junior Kemba Walker, Connecticut is a young team that starts 3 freshman and 1 sophomore so they also have the inexperience factor working against them in this game. This is not an easy spot for Connecticut, especially when we look at their opponent.

Bucknell fits the profile we look for when backing a lower-tier conference team in the NCAA tournament. The Bison play at a very slow pace which allows them to hang around in games where they are the less talented team. Bucknell has held 27 of their 33 opponents this year to less than 70 points, and that fact alone makes them a dangerous underdog in this pointspread range. The Bison also hit their free-throws down; they connect on 78.6% from the line.

That

Princeton has the exact profile we look for when backing a lower-tier conference team in the NCAA tournament. The Tigers play at a very slow pace which allows them to hang around in games where they are the less talented team. Princeton has held 25 of their 31 opponents this year to less than 70 points, and that fact alone makes them a dangerous underdog in this pointspread range. The Tigers also knock their free-throws down; they hit 73.4% from the line. Princeton

Montana has the exact profile we look for when backing a lower-tier conference team in tournament games. The Grizzlies play at a very slow pace which allows them to hang around in games where they are the less talented team. Montana has held 24 of their 31 opponents this season to less than 70 points, and only 1 opponent scored more than 70 points on their home floor. And Montana

One of these teams belongs here, while the other team does not. Nebraska comes into tonight

There

Dayton is the higher seed in the NIT tournament at # 3, but this game will played at # 6 Charleston because the NCAA tournament games will be played on Dayton

This wasn

The Big East championship game figures to be an excellent display of basketball just like all of the other games have been in this tournament. Connecticut and Louisville have both been ultra impressive in their games, and both teams will once again put on a good show tonight. However, we see some significant edges for Louisville in this game, and we certainly expect the Cardinals to get the job done tonight in Madison Square Garden.

Connecticut will be playing their fifth game in as many nights, and since they also went to overtime in their game against Syracuse on Friday, the Huskies are at a big disadvantage. Louisville will be playing just their third game in as many nights, and this is the type of situation in which their double bye for this tournament becomes such a key factor. The Cardinals also played into overtime last night, but again, they still should have fresher legs than Connecticut. Louisville also matches-up well with the Huskies which gives them another major factor for this game that should propel them to victory.

In the two regular season meetings, Louisville won both games. The Cardinals

Oklahoma pulled off a big upset last night when they knocked off Baylor. The Sonners

South Florida played their game of the season last night against Villanova. The Bulls trailed by 16 points (49-33) at the half, and the end of their season was just 20 minutes away. However, South Florida somehow made a miraculous comeback and beat Villanova 70-69 after out-scoring the Wildcats by 17 points (37-20) in the second half. That win was improbable, and since South Florida used up a ton of energy to win that game, we expect the Bulls to be completely out of gas for tonight

These two teams will get the CUSA tournament underway in El Paso this afternoon. Central Florida is the #9 seed and they are favored over lower seeded #8 East Carolina. And despite this game being played on a neutral court, the Knights own a huge site edge over the Pirates. Central Florida is in El Paso for the third time in six weeks. The Knights had to travel there twice this season after one of their scheduled games with UTEP was postponed due to weather and power issues. And when they did play that game against UTEP, the Knights had one of their best offensive games of the season in a solid win.

Central Florida is staying in the same hotel and playing on the same floor where they

One of the biggest rivalries in college basketball takes on even more meaning tonight as the winner of this game will win the ACC regular season title. The game figures to be a dandy, just as the first meeting was in Durham. The Blue Devils were able to win that game 79-73, but they needed a huge second half to get it. North Carolina controlled the first half as they took a commanding 14-point lead (43-29) into halftime. But Duke owned the second half by out-scoring the Tar Heels 50-30 on their way to a 6-point win. Tonight is the rematch, and after the way North Carolina blew that first game, they

These two teams come into their regular season finale much differently. Purdue is playing some of the best basketball in the country; the Boilermakers are 25-5 on the season and they are on a 7-game winning streak. Iowa comes into this game at 10-19 and on a 6-game losing streak. The Hawkeyes have just 3 wins over their last 17 ballgames. On paper, this game is a certified mis-match in favor of Purdue. And unless Iowa plays way above their capabilities and Purdue pulls a no-show, this game shouldn

If Notre Dame wins this game, the Irish will have a shot at sharing the Big East regular season title. They also need Pittsburgh to lose to Villanova, but that is unlikely to happen considering how much Nova has regressed in recent weeks. And since Notre Dame just beat Nova by 21 points on Monday night, they also realize that their chance for a league title is extremely slim. Notre Dame will obviously still come to play in this game, but they are in a very difficult situation in which it

Washington

There

This is a huge game in the SEC as the winner will own at least a share of the regular season title. Alabama and Florida both own outstanding defenses, and this game figures to be a low-scoring, defensive struggle for the full 40 minutes. There

When you look at this game from a simple current form perspective, there appears to be a clear-cut choice in Notre Dame. The Irish have won 9 of their last 10 games, and they are also a perfect 16-0 on their home court this season. Villanova is off back-to-back home losses, and the Wildcats have also lost 4 of their last 6 games. However, when you dig a bit deeper into this game and match-up, there

Northern Iowa

The winner of this game will win the regular season Missouri Valley Conference title and also get the #1 seed for the upcoming conference tournament. Wichita St could have already wrapped up both spots, but the Shockers inexplicably lost at home to Southern Illinois and they also lost at home to Missouri St back in early January. This game will also have huge implications for both teams come selection Sunday since they are both on the bubble for the NCAA tournament.

Wichita St has been a much better team on the road than at home this season. The Shockers own a 9-1 record in true road games (8-0 in conference play) while going just 12-4 on their home court. They

This is the final regular season game for both teams, and only one team is looking for the season to end. Southern Illinois comes into this game at just 12-17, and after going through a season full of bad play on the court and legal troubles off the court, the Salukis have mailed it in. They are just 2-8 over their last 10 games with a non-conference win and an unbelievable upset win at Wichita St. The team failed to show-up for their final home game on Wednesday night as they lost by 18 points to Missouri St.

Now the Salukis will play their season finale on the road at Indiana St. This looks like another no-show spot for Southern Illinois, and since they are out-classed by the Sycamores, this game could turn ugly real quick. Indiana St won in Carbondale 77-72 just ten days ago. The Sycamores led by 9 points at the half, and they simply controlled that game from start to finish. Indiana St also shot 32 free throws in that game which was 9 more than Southern Illinois shot. That

Tonight

The Iron Bowl is a much bigger rivalry in college football than it is on the basketball court. Auburn and Alabama play much closer games on the gridiron than on the hardwood; 7 of the last 10 meetings in this series have seen winning margins of 10 points or more. And that was exactly the case when these two teams met back in mid-January; Alabama won at Auburn 68-58. We don

These two teams couldn

Both teams went through a rough patch recently; Syracuse went 2-6 prior to winning their last two games while Villanova went 3-5 prior to winning their last two games. Neither team has been covering pointspreads either with both teams just 3-7 ATS over their last 10 ballgames. The poor recent runs both straight-up and against the spread makes it extremely difficult to lay points in a game like this, and it

Georgia Tech is a lot worse than their bad 11-14 record already indicates. The Yellow Jackets are an inefficient team on both ends of the court, and they are basically a two-man team with Iman Shumpert and Brian Oliver. Those two guys combine for the majority of Tech

When these two teams met three weeks ago, it was a non-competitive blowout win for Ohio St. The Buckeyes won that game by 23 points (87-64) on their home floor. But that result was not a true indicator of Purdue; it was just one of those games in which nothing went right for them while everything went Ohio St

Central Florida made a big splash when they opened the season at 14-0 and found themselves ranked in the Top 25. But since then, the roof has caved in for the Knights as they are just 2-8 over their last 10 games. They have won their last two games to break their 8-game losing streak, but don

Kentucky is the class of the SEC, and not by a little, by a long mile. The Wildcats are simply the most dominate team on both ends of the court and they are loaded with talent. When facing the mediocre teams of the conference, Kentucky just has too much offensive firepower and too much defense for these teams to stay close. And that

This game is the first of the annual BracketBuster weekend in college basketball. These BracketBuster games were designed for the mid-major teams; a way for them to play each other and be measured against a similar team that has a close RPI rating. These games are often critical for earning at-large bids in the NCAA tournament, and tonight

Washington has righted their ship after losing 3 consecutive road games. The Huskies have played spectacular basketball in their last two games; they beat California 109-77 and Stanford 87-76. Off those two big wins, we expect Washington to carry that momentum over to tonight

This is one of those rivalry games in which you can just toss out the records of both teams. Arizona is a very good team with a very good record at 20-4, and we know they are an ultra-talented bunch. Arizona St has a terrible 9-14 record, but that record isn

Wichita St will be looking for some payback tonight at Northern Iowa. The Shockers were upset 77-74 at home as 8

UNLV head coach Lon Kruger is one of the best in the country. And he

These two teams just met last month in California and the Bears were able to escape with an 88-81 overtime win. That game was a tale of two halves as California dominated the first half while Washington St dominated the second half. Both teams shot the ball extremely well with the Cougars hitting 46% (29-63) from the field and the Bears hitting 51.7% (31-60) from the field. But there were two big discrepancies in the game as Washington St connected on 11 three

This game is Michigan St

North Carolina is a team still flying well under the radar right now despite winning 10 of their last 11 games and covering the spread in 5 straight games. Everybody remembers the Tar Heels losing by 20 points at Georgia Tech on a Sunday night primetime game three weeks ago. That one bad performance has cast a negative opinion on North Carolina, but there

Indiana St is not in good form at all coming into tonight

Utah

Winning back-to-back conference road games is always tough, especially when you are laying points in both games. Arizona is in the second game of that exact set as they favored at California. The Wildcats won and covered (78-69, -2

This will be the second meeting of the season between Illinois St and Wichita St; the Shockers won 65-51 last month. But a lot has changed since that game, especially for Illinois St. The Redbirds were mired in a 3-game losing streak heading into that game, but they

On the surface, Arizona St doesn

Indiana St is not in good for at all coming into today

This is an awkward trip for St. John

On the surface, Arizona St doesn

Duke comes into tonight

This will be the second meeting of the season between Illinois St and Northern Iowa; the Panthers won 46-44 three weeks ago. But a lot has changed since that game, especially for Illinois St. The Redbirds were mired in a 5-game losing streak heading into that game, but they

These two teams just met a little over two weeks ago and South Florida beat Providence 79-72. But that game was an extremely favorable scheduling spot for South Florida as the Bulls were returning home off a road loss while the Friars were playing their third straight road game while mired in a 5-game losing streak. It was also the third game in 8 days for Providence so they were clearly up against it.

Despite all of that, Providence held a 12-point lead (41-29) at the half. The fatigue set in during the second half as South Florida out-scored them by 19 points (50-31) on their way to a 7-point win. South Florida won the game at the free throw line as they hit 82.6% (19-23) while Providence hit just 52.6% (10-19). But with the site change and a different scheduling situation, we expect a totally different game tonight in Providence.

The Friars come in off a road loss at Seton Hall, but that is excusable since they scored upset wins over Louisville and Villanova in their previous two home games. Back at home tonight, Providence should have little trouble with South Florida who is winless on the road (0-9) this season with their three road conference losses coming by 8 points or more. Providence is also looking for some payback as they

These two teams just met three weeks ago and Penn St was able to hold on for 57-55 win. The Nittany Lions did a terrific job of controlling the pace and not allowing Illinois to get out in transition. But despite grinding that game into a half court scrum, and forcing Illinois to play out of their element, Penn St was still only able to win that game by 2 points on their home court. Tonight

North Carolina is a team flying well under the radar right now. Everybody remembers the Tar Heels losing by 20 points at Georgia Tech on a Sunday night primetime game two weeks ago. That one bad performance has cast a negative opinion on North Carolina, but there

New Mexico is in an extremely difficult scheduling spot for this game tonight. The Lobos are off a huge upset win over BYU on Saturday, and now they have to take to the road and lay points into one of the hottest pointpsread teams in the Mountain West Conference. Air Force has covered 6 of their 7 conference games this season with the only loss coming by a single point.

The Lobos played in a fast-paced game against BYU; they won that game 86-77. They spent a ton of energy going up and down the court in that game while shooting a high percentage from the floor. New Mexico shot 50.8% (31-61) from the field and 40% (8-20) from three-point land. They also made 16 of their 19 free throws. That

Texas has played terrific basketball this season, but the Longhorns are in an extremely difficult scheduling spot for this game tonight. Texas enters off three huge games, at Oklahoma St, at Kansas, and home against Missouri. Many thought they

These two teams are heading in opposite directions. Drake comes into this game with a 1-5 record over their last six games and a 2-7 record over their last nine games. Illinois St has won and covered their last two games after suffering through an 8-game losing streak. Drake did play excellent in their last game which was a close 73-70 loss at home to one of the best teams in the Missouri Valley (Missouri St). But that close loss as a 9

Kentucky returns home off back-to-back road games at Alabama and South Carolina. The Wildcats split those two games so they didn

Indiana St was in a terrific spot for their game against Evansville on Wednesday night. The Sycamores were looking for revenge after blowing a 17-point lead at Evansville earlier this season. Indiana St once again was leading Evansville by 17 points, but the Sycamores blew that game as well just like the first meeting. They ended up losing 66-63 which handed them their first home loss of the season. It was Indiana St

Minnesota has gone through a boatload of issues this season, from injuries to suspensions to arrests. But somehow the Gophers have been able to produce on the court despite the multiple distractions surrounding them. Minnesota lost starting point guard Al Nolen last Saturday in their win at Michigan. Without Nolen, the Gophers were left without a true point guard because his backup was already out. Head coach Tubby Smith had to move shooting guard Blake Hoffarber to point guard for their game with Northwestern. And not only did Hoffarber have to switch positions, but Smith also had to move a forward to the shooting guard spot and play three centers on the floor at the same time. But none of that mattered as the Gophers beat Northwestern 81-70 on Wednesday night.

However, that game was at home and against a mediocre Northwestern team that has an extremely weak defense. Minnesota was able to get by that game without doing too much work; the Gophers shot 53.3% (24-45) from the field and they held a whopping 46-11 free throw edge. And even with everything going their way on their home court, Minnesota was still only able to win that game by 11 points. That result shows us that Minnesota is in some trouble going forward and that trouble begins in today

Michigan was in a terrific scheduling spot on Saturday as they hosted Minnesota off a pair of back-to-back road games. The Wolverines also had a major pace advantage in their favor, but despite all of their edges, they still couldn

Illinois St was 0-8 in conference play before beating Southern Illinois on Sunday night. But their 0-8 record looked much worse than it actually was. The Redbirds had to play all 8 of those conference games over a 21-day stretch. That was simply too tall of a task for a young team. But they had 5 days to get ready for their last game, and that showed as they finally broke their losing streak. Off that confidence building win, we expect Illinois St to carry that momentum over to tonight

St. John

This is the second meeting of the season between these two teams. Evansville won the first game 64-59 on their home court back on New Year

NC State is in a terrible scheduling spot for this game tonight. The Wolfpack just played on Sunday afternoon, and that wasn

These two teams just met two weeks ago with Southern Illinois pulling out a close 4-point (63-59) home win over Illinois St. That game was tied at the half and it was close throughout. It showed that despite being on a current 8-game losing streak, Illinois St is just as good as Southern Illinois and possibly a better team because they were able to take the Salukis down to the wire on their home floor.

Illinois St has been close in a lot of their games, and in fact, the Redbirds have held at least a 5-point lead in six of their recent eight losses. Going back further, they

Arizona is a supremely deep and talented team that has one of the best players in college basketball. Derrick Williams will be a certified NBA lottery pick when he comes out, and anytime we can get this many points with a player of his caliber, it

This is certainly the marquee game in college basketball tonight as #10 Texas A&M takes on #11 Texas. Since A&M comes into this game at 16-1 and Texas is

Kentucky is the class of the SEC, and not by a little, by a long mile. The Wildcats are simply the most dominate team on both ends of the court and they are loaded with talent. When facing the mediocre teams of the conference, Kentucky just has too much offensive firepower and too much defense for these teams to stay close. And that