Utah State

Arizona State comes into tonight

Arizona comes into tonight

Syracuse lost their first game of the season on Wednesday night to an unlikely opponent. Boston College, with just 6 wins on the season going into that game, won 62-59 at Syracuse in overtime. The Orange were on the verge of losing for some time as five of their previous eight wins all came by 6 points or less. Off their first loss of the season, we expect Syracuse to play with a hangover in this game at Duke. The Orange should have lost their last road game at Pittsburgh, but they were fortunate to escape with a win after hitting a half-court shot at the buzzer; Syracuse trailed by 6 points with less than 2 minutes to play. The Orange have been extremely fortunate in their recent games, but we expect their luck to run out tonight in their toughest road game to date.

Duke comes in off a loss at North Carolina after blowing a 37-30 halftime lead. The Blue Devils will be glad to be back at home after playing three of their last four games on the road, and six of their last nine games on the road. Duke is a perfect 14-0 at home this season with eleven of those wins coming by 9 points or more. The Blue Devils gave Syracuse all they could handle in the first meeting, taking the Orange to overtime before losing 91-89. Duke was able to hit 15 three

Texas Tech is in a terrible scheduling and situational spot for this game at Oklahoma State on Saturday afternoon. The Red Raiders come in off a heartbreaking last-second 64-63 loss at home to Kansas. That loss on Tuesday night is going to linger with this team for awhile, especially when head coach Tubby Smith publically acknowledged how crushing the defeat was:

When these two teams met last month, Gonzaga was in a great spot to get a blowout win. The Zags did exactly that as they beat BYU 84-69. The Cougars were coming in off a triple overtime loss at Portland two night

Washington

When Vanderbilt and Missouri played in mid-January, the Commodores escaped with a 78-75 home win as 1.5-point underdogs. Vanderbilt won that game despite failing to control the pace; Vanderbilt is a slow team while Missouri is a team that likes to play fast. The fact that the Commodores won that game in the 70

This will be the second meeting of the season between Duquesne and St. Bonaventure. The Dukes won the first game 83-81 on their home court as 3-point underdogs. Duquesne trailed by 6 points at the half, but they out-scored the Bonnies 45-37 over the final 20 minutes to win the game. Duquesne shot 55.3% (26-47) from the field and 57.9% (11-19) from three-point land while also getting to the free throw line 33 times. Despite that, they only won the game by 2 points on their home court. Duquesne snapped their 4-game losing streak with an 83-71 win as 5.5-point underdogs at Rhode Island in their last game. They scored 83 points; they scored 68 points or less in their previous four games. The Dukes shot 56.6% (30-53) from the field and 44.4% (8-18) from three-point land. We can

Missouri State comes in off a close 60-58 home loss to Northern Iowa on Saturday night. That was a big game for the Bears as they were playing with revenge and they also had the ESPN cameras in the house. Missouri State rarely gets to play on national TV, and since they lost in disappointing fashion after coming back from a 10-point halftime deficit, we expect a letdown tonight at Illinois State. The Bears are 17-9 on the season, but they are just 4-6 in true road games this season. Missouri State

Delaware will be playing on the road for the first time in three weeks when they take on Towson tonight. The Blue Hens come in off four consecutive home games, and they

This will be the second meeting of the season between Notre Dame and Boston College. The Irish won the first game 76-73 in overtime on their home court as 6.5-point favorites. Notre Dame was extremely fortunate to win that game as they sent the game to overtime after hitting a free throw with 0.7 seconds left to play. Boston College led 29-26 at the half and they never trailed in the second half despite their best player (Olivier Hanlan) only scoring 5 points in the entire game. Notre Dame was dominated for the entire 45 minutes of that game, so to say they were lucky to win would be a big understatement. The Irish have played the majority of their recent games at home with four of their last five games being on their own court. Notre Dame is 0-6 in true road games this season, and they are just 1-7 overall away from home. They will also be shorthanded with Demetrius Jackson out because of academics and Garrick Sherman bothered by an injured finger.

Boston College returned a loaded team of talented and experienced players with 98% of their offensive production and 96% of their defensive production back from last season. But the season has been a disaster with the Eagles coming into this game with an ugly 6-18 record. Four of those six wins have come at home, and since they

Both teams come into this game off back-to-back losses at Arizona and at Arizona State. The difference in the losses is the fact that Oregon was competitive both games, losing by 2 points in each game while Oregon State lost one of the games by 22 points. Oregon State will be playing their third consecutive game away from home, and that

San Francisco has a good looking 15-10 record on the season, but it should be noted the Dons have played an unbalanced schedule thus far. They

When Utah and UCLA played in mid-January, we released a Best Bet selection on Utah +2 at home. The money agreed as the game was bet down to a pick, and Utah won 74-69. The main reasons we liked Utah in that game was the fact they were undervalued at that point, playing on a strong home court, and they were going to be able to dictate a slow pace. Despite winning, Utah did not control the pace as much as we expected, especially in the second half when UCLA scored 43 points. The Utes also allowed UCLA to take 63 shots in that game while only taking 53 shots of their own. With the rematch now in Los Angeles, we see no possible way in which Utah can dictate the tempo, and ultimately that will be their undoing in this game. Utah is just 1-6 in true road games this season; they got their first win on Thursday night at USC. They were expected to win that game as they were 4.5-point road favorites. Off that win, we expect a letdown in this game, especially since Utah already beat UCLA earlier this season.

UCLA comes in off an 18-point blowout win at home over Colorado on Thursday night. The Bruins are 14-1 at home this season where 12 of those wins have come by double digits. UCLA

This will be the second meeting of the season between Xavier and Marquette. The Musketeers won the first game 86-79 on their home court as 4-point favorites. Xavier was in terrific form going into that game as they were on a 7-game winning streak, and they also covered the spread in their previous five games. Things are different for the rematch as Xavier

Siena will make an hour trip to face their rival Marist on Friday night. The Saints have dominated this series recently as they

St. John

Boise State

We went against Evansville on Sunday and cashed an easy winner on Bradley. But we

Syracuse is 23-0 and one of two undefeated teams in college basketball; Wichita State is the other. However, Syracuse has played the majority of their games at home this season. They

Wake Forest is a team that needs to play fast in order to have success. The Demon Deacons have nine losses on the season with seven of them coming when they were held to less than 70 points. One of their losses also came when they landed right on 70 points. The team

Marquette has failed to live up to their lofty expectations this season. The Golden Eagles come into this game with a 13-10 record, but know that ten of those wins have come on their home court. Marquette is just 2-6 in true road games and 3-8 overall on the road. They

Western Kentucky has a solid 16-7 SU record this season, but the Hilltoppers are not covering pointspreads. They are just 9-11-1 ATS this season, including their recent 0-3 ATS slide. Western Kentucky won all three of those games, but those wins only came by 1, 4, and 5 points. The Hilltoppers

Creighton has an impressive 19-3 record this season. However, the Blue Jays are a dominant home team where they are 13-0 on the season. Away from home, Creighton has not been the same team and they only have a 6-3 record. Creighton blows out their opponents on their home court where their average win comes by a whopping 20 points per game. Their smallest win came by just 3 points, and it was against St. John

Evansville is the youngest team in the country, and their poor play on the road this season can be attributed to that. The Purple Aces are just 2-9 away from home this season with their average loss coming by a whopping 14.2 points per game. Evansville

Oakland comes into this game off back-to-back losses with their last being at home versus Cleveland State. The Grizzlies now take to the road where they have been absolutely terrible this season. Oakland is 1-12 away from home, including a 1-10 record in true road games. The Grizzlies are just 2-11 ATS on the road based on the posted pointspread for this game. Oakland

Wichita State is one of the best teams in the country. The Shockers are a perfect 24-0 and they have a legitimate shot at winning the national title this season. We really have no negatives to recite about Wichita State, but the Shockers are not in the best of scheduling spots. This is a quick turnaround from their close win at Indiana State on Wednesday night. There are only three teams in the Missouri Valley Conference that have a positive scoring margin in conference play: Wichita State, Indiana State, and Northern Iowa. The Shockers survived the other night by 7 points as 4-point road favorites. Now they must do so again on a back-to-back road set while laying more points; the inflated line gives us a lot of value with the home underdog.

Northern Iowa has a losing record at 11-12, but they

Cincinnati comes into this game with an impressive 22-2 record and they are ranked #7 in the country. But the Bearcats are not as good as their record indicates in our opinion. Cincinnati has won a lot of close games, and they

Boise State is in a terrible situational and scheduling spot for this game at Utah State on Saturday night. The Broncos come in off their biggest home game in 14 years when they hosted #5 San Diego State on Wednesday night. The Broncos controlled that game for over 37 minutes; they led by 14 points in the second half. San Diego State hit a game-winning three with 4.2 seconds left to play. Boise State will have a very difficult time getting over that game, and since they have to travel and play in a very tough place, we expect a major hangover from the Broncos. They already beat Utah State 78-74 earlier this season so they have little motivation against the Aggies.

Utah State snapped a 5-game losing streak with an 83-75 home win over Nevada on Wednesday night. During the Aggies recent losing streak, they played three games on the road and lost a home game in overtime to a 20-1 San Diego State team. So it

Texas comes into this game on a 7-game winning streak with one of those wins coming over Kansas State. The Longhorns won that game 67-64, but they failed to cover the spread as 5.5-point home favorites. Texas is a team that needs to play ultra-fast to be at their best, but they are not going to get their preferred fast pace in this game. Texas has been extremely fortunate in their schedule thus far as they

San Francisco has a good looking 14-9 record on the season, but it should be noted the Dons have played an imbalanced schedule thus far. They

Washington comes into tonight

Wyoming is a scrappy team that gives their opponents fits. The Cowboys play at an extremely slow pace, and that makes it difficult for their opponents to get separation. Wyoming has held all 21 of their opponents to less than 70 points in regulation time this season, and six of their seven losses this season have come by 8 points or less with three losses coming by 3 points exactly. Wyoming has given New Mexico fits recently, and that includes a 3-point overtime loss earlier this season.

New Mexico comes into tonight

Minnesota is in a tailspin right now. The Golden Gophers have lost back-to-back games and four of their last six games overall. Minnesota lost their last game at home as 10.5-point favorites against Northwestern. The Gophers are also without their best player as Andre Hollins is out with an ankle injury. Minnesota

San Diego State is 19-1 on the season and they are currently ranked #5 in the country. However, this is a dangerous spot for the Aztecs, and we do not expect them to leave Boise with a win. San Diego State does not match-up well against the Broncos, and that has been evident in recent meetings. Boise State has taken the Aztecs to the wire in all seven meetings between these two teams over the last few seasons. Six of the seven games have been decided by 6 points or less with five of those games decided by 4 points or less. San Diego State won 69-66 at home earlier this season, but they lost in Boise 69-65 last season.

Boise State is a very good team people know little about. The Broncos won 21 games last season and they played in the NCAA tournament. They returned four starters from that team, including two of the best overall players in the Mountain West conference (Derrick Marks and Anthony Drmic), and also the league

Kansas was rolling thru the Big 12 prior to Saturday

Notre Dame always brings their best efforts against the top teams. Head coach Mike Brey is a sharp game planner for games like this, and we expect the Irish to slow this game to a crawl. Notre Dame has faced a tough schedule already this season with games at Iowa, at home against Duke, and neutral court games against Indiana and Ohio State. The Irish beat Duke, so this team can play despite only having a 12-10 record. Notre Dame has been competitive in their ten losses as eight of them have come by 8 points or less. The Irish come in off a confidence-building overtime win on Saturday so they are riding some momentum coming into tonight

Iowa comes into tonight

Oklahoma is playing much better than people expected as the Sooners come into today

Pacific is walking into a hornet

These two teams just met two weeks ago in Ames with Kansas winning 77-70 as 2.5-point road underdogs. Iowa State was in a difficult spot for that game as they were off their close, high-scoring loss at Oklahoma two days prior and their best player, DeAndre Kane, was playing on a severely sprained ankle. Despite that, Iowa State was tied 36-36 at the half with Kansas. The Cyclones also shot terribly in that game as they hit just 31.4% (22-70) from the field and 16.0% (4-25) from three-point land. Iowa State comes into the rematch in much better shape, and their 3-point shooting will be a key factor. Kansas has allowed 25 made three

Oklahoma State is 16-3 on the season with their three losses coming against good teams by close margins. The Cowboys lost by 5 points to Memphis on a neutral court in a revenge game; Oklahoma State beat Memphis by 21 points earlier this season. The Cowboys other loss came as expected at Kansas State by 3 points, and they lost by 2 points at Kansas. The Cowboys are a tough team to play against because they have a wealth of scorers on the court at all times. And that is especially true when their opponent has a weak defense, just like their opponent tonight, Oklahoma. The Sooners

Clemson got embarrassed in Pittsburgh on Tuesday night; the Tigers lost that game 76-43. Clemson

BYU is in a terrible situational and scheduling spot for this game at Gonzaga. The Cougars will be playing their fourth consecutive road game, and they

Tennessee

Both teams come into this game on losing streaks. Oregon has lost four consecutive games after opening the season at 13-0. Washington has lost back-to-back games after winning five of their previous six games. Oregon has faced four good offenses in their last four games, but they will be getting a class relief tonight against Washington

Arkansas comes into tonight

Clemson is a scrappy team that gives their opponents fits. The Tigers play at an extremely slow pace, and that makes it difficult for their opponents to get separation. Clemson has held 16 of their 17 opponents to 66 points or less this season, and 13 of their 17 opponents to less than 60 points. Three of their four losses have come by 6 points or less. Overall, the Tigers

Kansas State is 14-4 SU on the season. The Wildcats are a sound team that plays slow and solid defense; the exact type of team that gives Texas fits. Kansas State has won the last three meetings in this series while holding the Longhorns to just 49, 69, and 57 points. The Wildcats have held 15 of their 18 opponents to 68 points or less this season, and if they do that in this game, Texas will be hard-pressed to get any type of margin. Kansas State

Maryland snapped their mini 2-game losing streak with a solid 74-66 win over Notre Dame last Wednesday night. That win has galvanized this team according to multiple reports with practices leading up to tonight

Louisville is 15-3 this season and the defending national champs, but the Cardinals are an afterthought to many right now. The reason for that is the fact Louisville

Oklahoma State is 15-2 on the season with their two losses coming against good teams by close margins. The Cowboys lost by 5 points to Memphis on a neutral court in a revenge game; Oklahoma State beat Memphis by 21 points earlier this season. The Cowboys other loss came expected at Kansas State by 3 points; we had a Best Bet against Oklahoma State in that game. The Cowboys are a tough team to get separation from because they have a wealth of scorers on the court at all times. Oklahoma State has given Kansas fits in the last two meetings, and in fact, they beat the Jayhawks on this court last season 85-80.

Kansas is off three consecutive emotional games, and we expect that to catch up to them in this game. The Jayhawks were stunned by San Diego State at home two weeks ago; that loss snapped their 68-game home winning streak against non-conference opponents. Since that loss, Kansas won 90-83 at Oklahoma, crushed their arch rival Kansas State 86-60, and won 77-70 at Iowa State on Monday night as 2.5-point road underdogs. That win in Ames was one circled on their calendar after some antics occurred in their last trip there. In what projects to be a high-scoring game, we

UCLA is 14-3 SU this season, but the Bruins have been fortunate in their match-ups. UCLA is a team that needs to play ultra-fast in order to have success; the Bruins are one of the fastest teams in the country in pace. But today they will be playing one of the slowest teams in college basketball as Utah loves to grind teams in the half court. UCLA has faced just one team that tried to slow them down this season, and that resulted in a 17-point loss to Duke after scoring just 63 points. UCLA is off a high-profile win at Colorado on Thursday night, and today

This is a big rivalry game in the Big West conference, and it

Both teams come in off ugly losses in their last game. NC State was waxed 76-45 at home by Virginia. The Wolfpack shot an ugly 28.9% (13-45) from the field and a woeful 20.0% (2-10) from three-point land. Virginia scored more points in the first half (48) than NC State scored in the entire game. NC State

Boise State

Kentucky is 12-3 on the season, but 10 of those wins have come at home. On the road, the Wildcats are just 2-3 SU, including 1-1 in true road games. Kentucky comes in off a 71-62 win at Vanderbilt on Saturday, but the stats say they were actually out-played in that game. The Wildcats were out-shot 50.0% (25-50) to 42.6% (26-61) from the field and out-shot 30.0% (6-20) to 27.3% (6-22) from three-point land. The difference came at the free throw line as Kentucky hit 13 times from the line while Vanderbilt only hit 6 free throws. Even from the stripe, the Wildcats only shot 59.1% (13-22). So while their 9-point road win looks good, the reality is that Kentucky played a sub-par game and was fortunate to escape with a win.

Arkansas comes into this game at 11-4, including a strong 9-1 at home. Their lone home loss came on Saturday in overtime as Florida nipped them 84-82. The Razorbacks were facing a tough opponent in the Gators as they play at a much slower pace than Arkansas prefers and Florida

Wyoming is a scrappy team that gives their opponents fits. The Cowboys play at an extremely slow pace, and that makes it difficult for their opponents to get separation. Wyoming has held all 15 of their opponents to less than 70 points in regulation time this season, and five of their six losses this season have come by 8 points or less with three losses coming by 3 points exactly. Wyoming has given Boise State fits recently as they are 3-2 SU against the Broncos with the two losses coming by just 7 and 2 points.

Boise State covered the spread for us in their 69-66 loss at San Diego State on Wednesday night. The Broncos were catching the Aztecs off their big win at Kansas, and Boise State is a tough match-up for San Diego State. That was a game they had circled, and off the close loss, we expect a letdown tonight. This game will be a grind, and Boise State head coach Leon Rice is well aware of that fact.

California is in a very difficult situational and scheduling spot for tonight

Marquette was picked to win the Big East, but their season has not gone as planned so far. The Golden Eagles come into tonight

Boise State is a very good team people know little about. The Broncos won 21 games last season and they played in the NCAA tournament. They returned four starters from that team, including two of the best overall players in the Mountain West conference (Derrick Marks and Anthony Drmic), and also the league

Iowa is a team we

Oklahoma State is a very good team, but they are in a tough spot for today

This game has a lot of meaning for Notre Dame after things got out of hand over the summer. Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey was an assistant at Duke under Mike Krzyzewski, and the two were friends. But things got ugly when Notre Dame decided to join the ACC. Krzyzewski was publicly critical of Brey and Notre Dame, and the two debated the issue in public. This game is very important for Notre Dame, and especially Brey. Duke will be playing their first true road game of the season. The Blue Devils have a young team, and even though there are ultra-talented, the atmosphere may get the best of them.

Notre Dame always brings their best efforts at home against the top teams. Brey is a sharp game planner for games like this, and we expect the Irish to slow this game to a crawl. Notre Dame has a lot of veteran talent, and they own one of the best backcourts in the country. They won 25 games last season, and they returned 7 of their 9 top players from that team. Notre Dame has also faced a tough schedule already this season with games at Iowa, and neutral court games against Indiana and Ohio State. One of Duke

Oregon is a perfect 12-0 SU this season, but the Ducks have been fortunate in their match-ups. Oregon is a team that needs to play ultra-fast in order to have success; the Ducks are one of the fastest teams in the country in pace. But tonight they will be playing one of the slowest teams in college basketball as Utah loves to grind teams in the half court. Oregon has faced just one similar team this season, and that was a close 71-64 win over Illinois. That game was on a neutral court but in Oregon

BYU is in a very difficult scheduling spot for tonight

This is a tournament game and it will be played at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn so neither team has the home court advantage. There is one team that holds some key advantages that will ultimately decide this game, and that team in Stanford. The Cardinal start an experienced team of 3 juniors and 2 seniors that won the NIT championship two years ago. Stanford is a big team as well as they rank 14th in the country in that department. The Cardinal offense is tough to prepare for because they run the intricate triple-post, and Michigan head coach John Beilein is concerned.

These two teams met earlier this season in Santa Barbara with Utah State winning 71-64. However, UC Santa Barbara

LSU is a sneaky good team this season. The Tigers come into tonight

Indiana State is a very good mid-major team. St. Louis is also a very good mid-major team. But this game is not being priced like that at all, and there

Belmont has made a name for themselves with NCAA tournament appearances in the last few years. However, this year will be different for the Bruins as they lost a lot from those teams. Belmont comes into tonight

This game will be played at Madison Square Garden, and both teams are quite familiar with the court having played on it countless times. Pittsburgh and Cincinnati are also quite familiar with each other from being in the Big East conference. Pittsburgh comes into this game with a perfect 10-0 record. The Panthers best win came on a neutral court against Stanford; they won that game by 21 points (88-67). Pittsburgh is playing extremely well as a team as their four returning veterans have meshed well with their influx of freshman talent. The Panthers

This is a heated rivalry series that has been dominated by BYU in recent years. The Cougars have won seven straight meetings, but we expect that streak to end tonight. BYU is a team that needs to play ultra-fast in order to have success; the Cougars are the second fastest team in the country in pace. But tonight they will be playing one of the slowest teams in college basketball as Utah loves to grind teams in the half court. BYU was held to less than 70 points in one game this season and they lost by 13 points to Wichita State. The Utes have held 8 of their 9 opponents to less than 70 points this season.

Utah is a much improved team this season. The Utes come into tonight

This game will not be on Oregon

Gonzaga comes into tonight

This is a Big Five rivalry game in the city of Philadelphia, and these games are always close and competitive.

California is 6-2 on the season, but this will be their first true road game. The Golden Bears are just 1-2 ATS in the three games they

Boston College came into this season with high expectations as they returned 98% of their offensive production and 96% of their defensive production from last season. The Eagles got off to a rough start by losing their first three games of the season. Since then, Boston College has gone 3-1 SU with their lone loss coming by just 2 points (72-70) to a very good Connecticut team. The Eagles have played a hard schedule thus far with opponents like Providence, Massachusetts, Washington, and the aforementioned Connecticut. Tonight

Memphis and Oklahoma State just played 12 days ago on Oklahoma State

Iowa was a very good team last season that won 25 games and made it to the NIT finals. The Hawkeyes return just about everyone from that team, and they

Villanova is a deep and experienced team that returns 73% of their production on the offensive and defensive ends of the court. The Wildcats are 5-0 so far this season and they are certainly facing their toughest opponent to date. However, Villanova matches-up well with Kansas as they have multiple guys that can score in double digits; five players did so in yesterday

Iowa was a very good team last season that won 25 games and made it to the NIT finals. The Hawkeyes return just about everyone from that team, and they

This is a big rivalry game in the state of Utah and one between two coaches that are very close friends. Utah State is 4-0 SU and ATS on the season and that is a major reason they are laying points in this game. However, the Aggies have played an easy schedule and they

Massachusetts is a much better team than people realize this season. The Minutemen will get notice after their play in this tournament, especially if they win the Charleston Classic tonight on national TV. UMass is 5-0 this season with solid wins over good teams like Boston College, LSU, Nebraska, and New Mexico. The Minutemen have a veteran team that starts 3 seniors and a junior; the team won 46 games over the last two seasons. They play at a fast, pressuring pace and that style is difficult for opponents to handle, especially when playing their third game in four nights.

Clemson is also 5-0, but the Tigers have played an extremely soft schedule full of teams that are in rebuilding mode. Clemson is taking a major step-up in class against Massachusetts tonight. The Tigers were picked to finish 14th out of 15 teams in the ACC this season by many pundits. Clemson HC Brad Brownell wasn

This game will be played on a neutral floor in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Florida State comes in with a 3-0 record but the Seminoles have been untested with wins over inferior teams Jacksonville, Central Florida, and Tennessee-Martin. This year

Memphis and Oklahoma State are two very good teams, but this game is priced as if the Cowboys are the significantly better team. That

Florida Atlantic has little to work with this season. The Owls lost their top two scorers from last season, and those two players were basically the whole team. One of those players was Greg Grantt who is also the school

Weber State is one of the best teams in the Big Sky conference this season. The Wildcats won 30 games last season and they return their top four starters. Overall, Weber State brings back 63% of their offensive production and 71% of their defensive production from last year

Detroit had some good seasons over the last few years. The Titans won 20 games last season, but that was with an experienced senior-laden team. Detroit is very young and inexperienced this season as they only return 17% of their offensive production and 31% of their defensive production from last year. Not only are four starters gone, but Detroit

UC Santa Barbara will be a very good team this season coming out of the Big West conference. The Gauchos return 92% of their offensive production and 86% of their defensive production from last season. Ten players return in total which means the team has tremendous depth. UC Santa Barbara easily won their season opener 76-50 over inferior Hawaii Pacific; ten guys played at least 9 minutes or more in that game. HC Bob Williams is in his 16th season and he

Pennsylvania returns a stacked team this season. The Quakers have 100% of their offensive and defensive production back from last season. Penn has a terrific backcourt with Miles Cartwright and Tony Hicks. Monmouth HC King Rice is well aware of that duo:

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

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

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

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