The buy sign is back on Niagara after the Purple Eagles won consecutive road games against Siena and Marist. 

I'm not impressed with Monmouth, which is 5-10 on the season and 2-7 on the road.

Niagara has covered five of the past six times versus foes with a losing record. 

NC Wilmington averages 80.3 points per game. Elon averages 74.5 points a game. But what makes this a strong Over play is both team's defenses are terrible, especially Wilmington's, and both teams have been playing at a faster pace since league play. 

Wilmington ranks 344th defensively surrendering 85.9 points a game. The Seahawks rank near the bottom in many defensive statistical categories. They have given up an average of 90.6 points in their last three games. Elon can take advantage with its solid outside shooting. 

The Over has cashed in 13 of Wilmington's last 16 games while the Over has cashed in Elon's past seven home games. 

There are a lot of ebbs and flows to the college basketball season. Connecticut was going through a low period. But I see a buy sign now on the Huskies following their 70-65 win against East Carolina especially being home. The Huskies have won the last seven times against Central Florida. 

Central Florida plays great defense, but their offense is woeful especially from beyond the arc. So the Huskies can pack in their defense and get away with it. 

Loyola-Marymount is better than perceived, but this handicap is based more on a fade of Gonzaga. The Bulldogs are down from past seasons and have padded their statistics on bad teams.

This is just Gonzaga's fourth true road game of the season. The Bulldogs are fat and happy after a 30-point blowout road win against Pepperdine. They are 2-9 ATS, however, following a point spread cover.

Kent State isn't a very good shooting tean. That's reflected in the Golden Flashes going Under the total in 13 of their last 19 games. 

Central Michigan is a strong defensive club ranking 27th in the nation in fewest points allowed at 64.3 per game. 

A big reason why the Chippewas have a strong defensive club is because they play at a slow pace. So I don't see a fast tempo in this matchup, which makes the Under very attractive. 

The road team has covered six of the last seven in this series and I see that continuing here. VCU is coming off a tough overtime road loss to St. Joe's. The Rams had won four in a row prior to that. I don't think LaSalle is better than VCU.

The Explorers are coming off a tough game, too, at Rhode Island. They could be without their leading scorer, B.J. Johnson. He is dealing with an ankle injury. 

Just think the wrong team opened as the favorite. Siena isn't very good. The Saints have a losing home mark while being outscored by six pointd per game at home. Going back to their last 16 home contests, the Saints have covered just five times. 

Wisconsin is way down from previous seasons. The Badgers also have a cluster injury problem in their backcourt. Among the Badgers who won't be playing is starting guard Brevin Pritzl, who has a head injury.

The Badgers haven't played well on the road going 3-9-2 ATS in their last 14 away contests. Rutgers, by contrast, has covered six of its last seven home games. 

Rutgers is in stop the pain mode having lost three in a row. This is a good spot for the Scarlet Knights to end that losing skid. 

Northwestern isn't anything special neither talent-wise nor size-wise. The Wildcats also hold just a minimal home court advantage with their on-campus arena being renovated. This is forcing them to play their home games in Rosemont at the huge AllState Arena.  

The Wildcats also may be without their third leading scorer, Bryan McIntosh. He's nursing an injured knee.

Nebraska has won three in a row. The Cornhuskers are averaging 75.8 points a game. That's their highest scoring average in more than 20 years. 

Texas State has gone Under in eight of its last 11 games. It's not a fluke. Only nine teams take more time per possession to shoot than Texas State. The Bobcats rank 27th defensively holding foes to 63.5 points. So that's a powerful Under combination. 

Maybe because Vanderbilt went into Christmas break hot averaging 86.5 points in its last two games. But this total is too high given the quality of Florida's defense and recent history between these two teams. The average combined total during the past three meetings in regulation is 131.3 points.The Gators should be extremely motivated to stop the Commodores, too, in a triple revenge spot.

This is the Conference USA opener for both teams - and it's too many points for Western Kentucky to be laying.

Conference USA is wide open this season with no clear-cut favorite. Louisiana Tech has the better record and also averages four more points per game than Western Kentucky.

The Bulldogs defeated Western Kentucky by nine points last season as a 12-point home favorite. Now look at the line. Good value here to Louisiana Tech. 

 St. Mary's ranks third in the NCAA in adjusted offensive efficiency, has the second lowest turnover rate in the country and ranks 16th in the nation in shooting percentage. The Gaels also are ranked 12th in free throw percentage and 34th in 3-point percentage. Jock Landale is one of the best players in the country averaging 21.6 points a game and 9.5 rebounds.  So the Gaels definitely have the offense to cover this spread. This matchup sets up well for the Gaels to do just that. Dayton is playing just its second true road game. The Flyers last were on the road 16 days ago. The Flyers have a lot of inexperience. They are struggling to find their identity under first-year coach Anthony Grant. The Flyers don't have much height either. They are going to have problems dealing with the 6-foot-10 Landale.  The Flyers managed to hold off Georgia State, 88-83, in overtime during their last game as a six-point home favorite on Saturday. But they have not won back-to-back games all season. 

It's rarely wrong to look Under with San Diego. The Toreros have gone Under in 17 of their last 21 games. 

I see Ball State in a letdown spot after upsetting Notre Dame as an 18-point road underdog in its last game. 

I'm not high on Wisconsin this year. The Badgers are young and not overly talented. Greg Gard is not Bo Ryan.

 I like Temple in this spot. The Owls haven't played up to expectations losing twice as road chalk during their past three games. They are better than they've shown, which has made this line shorter than I thought. I see the Owls displaying their full potential in this spot. 

Winthrop has the offense to hang in against Georgia. The Eagles scored 85 points against Auburn and average 90.4 points per game. Winthrop has talent with Anders Broman and Xavier Cooks. 

I'm not impressed with Vanderbilt's offense and Kansas State's mix-and-match defense is tough particularly against non-conference opponents. The Under has cashed in 67 percent of Kansas State's last 53 non-league matchups. The Wildcats have held five of their seven opponents this season to under 60 points. A major plus to going Under in this matchup is that both teams prefer a slow tempo. 

Northwestern has been an early season disappointment opening 4-3, including losing its past two games. 

Illinois is a top-25 scoring team and Wake Forest is coming off its highest shooting percentage game under Danny Manning connecting on 61.5 percent against UNC Greensboro. So the oddsmaker has set a high total. The total is too high in my view. 

This is Illinois' first road game and first decent opponent. The Illini is averaging 89 points - all at home and against bad defensive teams. What's overlooked about them is the defensive improvement they've shown under first-year head coach Brad Underwood. The Illini ranks No. 2 in the nation in turnover margin and fifth in forcing turnovers. 

Wake Forest has played against weak defensive opponents, too. 

These are two Under the total teams - and that's the way I'm going here. 

The Under has cashed in five of Texas State's last six games, while Canisius is 7-2-1 to the Under in its last 10 games. Note that this matchup is at a neutral site, which also is a plus for the Under since neither team is familiar with the court and rims. The Golden Griffins are 8-3-1 to the Under in their last 12 neutral site games. 

The Golden Griffins don't play at such a slow pace as Texas State does. But they do have a tendency to play at the pace of their opponent. So look for a slow, methodical type of matchup that eats a lot of clock and results in a low-scoring result. 

Not only are these two outstanding 3-point shooting teams, but neither team forces many turnovers. Davidson has only committed just seven turnovers in its two games. The Wildcats lead the nation in 3-point percentage and in scoring at 109 points per game. 

Colorado is a monster 17-point favorite here against Quinnipiac. That's important because the Buffaloes could be playing three games in three day depending on how they fare. Colorado will play either Drake or Wake Forest on Saturday. So the Buffaloes figure to give their starters plenty of rest in a blowup situation, which is likely.

Providence is a strong defensive team. But Friars coach Ed Cooley wasn't happy with how his team defended in an 86-74 loss to Minnesota on Monday. Look for the Friars to play excellent defense here.

Washington showed a slower tempo in its first two games under new coach Mike Hopkins than last season under Lorenzo Romar. 

This game is being played at Madison Square Garden. Providence is 21-7 to the Under in its last 28 non-conference games. Washington has gone Under 10 of the last 12 times it has played at a neutral site. 

New Mexico opened its season with a 147-76 win against Northern New Mexico. OK, Northern New Mexico isn't exactly Duke. But 147 points is 147 points. The Lobos are a run and press team playing very up-tempo under new coach, Paul Weir. Weir prefers this style in order to offset his team's lack of size.

Purdue is far more experienced than Marquette with six of its top seven scorers back. I believe Purdue will have a stronger focus, too, for this matchup. The Boilermakers also have a height advantage.

The Golden Eagles have just one senior, Andrew Rowsey, and Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski is searching for the right rotation.

Following this game, the Golden Eagles head off to Hawaii to compete in the Maui Invitation so focus may be an issue, too, especially for such an inexperienced squad with nine players in either their first or second season.

Purdue has a strong track record in non-conference games covering 23 of the last 32 times. 

TCU played a more difficult schedule that Central Florida, carries a higher RPI ranking, is playing its best ball and I trust Jamie Dixon and the Horned Frogs' passing ability to dent the Knights' outstanding defense. 

TCU is an excellent passing team and has a backcourt edge. I really like its ball movement. 

The Horned Frogs averaged 17 assists per game. Dixon has had ample practice and preparation time to combat the freak presence of ace defender 7-foot-6 Tacko Fall. 

The Horned Frogs can create good matchups based on their passing ability. Fall has to deal with fatigue never having played this many games before. I just don't believe he'll be as big a factor as perceived and Central Florida doesn't have enough offense to compensate if its defense isn't playing at a high level. 

Losing in their opening game of the Big 12 Conference Tournament is the best thing that happened to Kansas. That was two weeks ago and extra rest and motivation by that early exit have propelled the Jayhawks to peak at just the right time.  Kansas already is arguably the best team in the country and the Jayhawks have played extremely well in the NCAA Tournament blowing by UC-Davis and defeating Michigan State by 20 points. That pushed the Jayhawks' ATS mark to 6-1 when laying points in the NCAA Tourney.  Now the Jayhawks get another Big Ten team, Purdue. The Boilermakers lack the Spartans Big Dance Sweet 16 pedigree and while their defense is solid, it ranks among the bottom in steals and forcing turnovers. Kansas has the superior offense and it's in full throttle. The Jayhawks are averaging 87 points during their last five games. The Boilermakers' backcourt can't match Kansas' guard trio of Frank Mason III, Josh Jackson and Devonte' Graham. Those three are averaging a combined 50 points per game. Mason is especially rolling scoring 20 or more points in eight of his last nine games. Technically this is a netural site game being played at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo. The reality is that it's almost a home game for Kansas being just 35 miles east of Lawrence, home of the Jayhawks. Kansas is 14-5 ATS in its last 19 neutral site games, too, while Purdue is 2-5 ATS the past seven times. 
 

Rice is home here. That's bad news for Utah Valley, which is 7-10 on the road. Rice has too much offense for the Wolverines. The Owls ranked 24th in the country averaging 81.6 points a game. They are 13-5 at home. 

Rice also played in the stronger conference and holds a stronger power rankings for me than what this spread is. 

BYU's lack of depth and inexperience should prove fatal against Saint Mary's especially in such a short turnaround. The Cougars just defeated Loyola Marymount, 89-81, in the quarterfinals of the West Coast Conference Tournament on Saturday. 

The last time these two teams played the total went over by 43 1/2 points in regulation. Neither team has stepped up their defensive play.

The Wolverines are allowing 50 percent shooting from the floor when playing on the road. They rank third from the bottom in the Big Ten Conference in defensive efficiency. The over has cashed nine of the last 12 times when Michigan has been road chalk.

Nebraska has surrendered 88 points in two of its last three games. 

George Washington is playing well winning four in a row. So this line could hold up even if Dayton wasn't caught in a monster letdown spot.

The Flyers just captured the Atlantic-10 Conference title with a big revenge victory against VCU. The Flyers are going to the NCAA Tournament regardless of how they far in this matchup. 

The Colonials are tough at home. They've dropped just two conference home games with one coming in controversial fashion versus VCU. They've covered their last five at home versus opponents who had a winning road mark. 

UNLV is at one of its lowest points ever. The Rebels are in a letdown spot, too, following an upset home win against Utah State that halted a nine-game losing streak. UNLV went 1-7-1 ATS during the losing skid. 

The Rebels are 3-17-2 ATS during their last 22 road contests. 

Fresno State is 12-2 at home and has covered 14 of its last 18 home games.

The Bulldogs closed hot last season capturing the Mountain West Conference Tournament and they're peaking again this season winning and covering each of their last four games. 

I see a clear buy sign on LSU taking this boatload of points against a Mississippi State that has fallen down and can't get up. The Bulldogs have dropped seven games in a row. They are 1-4 the past five times as home chalk. They haven't been this high of a favorite since Jan. 25. 

LSU got its confidence back upsetting Tennessee, 92-82, as a six-point home 'dog during its last game this past Wednesday. The Tigers have increased their scoring in each of their last four games.

This has been an underdog series with the team taking the points going 8-2-1 ATS.  

I'm going to ride Rider here. Rider has won and covered its past three games winning each game by double digits. This includes a 93-82 victory over the Jaspers on Feb. 22 in this spread range at home. The Broncs are peaking at the right time. 

Although this matchup is on a neutral court, Manhattan doesn't have the defense to stop Rider. The Jaspers give up nearly 78 points a game allowing foes to shoot better than 45 from the floor. Rider is averaging 98.3 points in its last three games.

Manhattan has failed to cover the last four times when getting points. The Jaspers are 1-4 ATS in their last five Metro Atlantic games, too, and were blown out by Iona in their last game losing 72-51 as an 11-point road 'dog this past Friday. Rider beat Iona on the road, 103-85, just three games ago. 

Indiana has the stronger backcourt, is in revenge mode and in stop-the-pain mode. Another factor is I just don't trust Northwestern in a key game especially on the road. 

The Wildcats upset Wisconsin, but still have dropped four of their last six games. They've covered only one of those last six games. 

Mercer has covered eight of its last 12 games but is off a loss. However, the Bears have a great track - 9-1 ATS - following a defeat.

The Bears have revenge, too, for a narrow home loss to UT Chattanooga, whose motivation has been greatly lessened following a loss to ETSU that ended the Moccasins' title hopes in the Southern League. 

George Washington is an average Atlantic 10 team. But they are the superior team here and can take advantage of the Minutemen's struggling defense that has yielded an average of 81.8 points in the last five games. UMass has lost seven of its last eight games.

This is more a fade on Eastern Kentucky than a play on Jacksonville State as the Colonels have lost five in a row. 

Jacksonville State is in revenge mode for a 57-52 home loss to the Colonels on Jan. 26. The Gamecocks shot just 30 percent from the floor in that game and shot nine fewer free throws than Eastern Kentucky.

Jacksonville State has a winning SU road mark while covering 64 percent of its lined road games. Eastern Kentucky is 4-17-1 versus foes with a winning road record. 

Fresno State got hot in mid-February last season ending up capturing the Mountain West Conference Tournament. The buy sign is on the Bulldogs again as they've won and covered their last two games.

The Bulldogs have played San Diego State tight during the past two seasons splitting four games with their losses coming by three and six in overtime. 

The Aztecs aren't scary anymore at home where they haven't been drawing a full house. Only three times this season have the Aztecs covered at home. They've been bad in this role, too, going 2-7 ATS when laying more than seven points.

Drake is going through growing pains this season. But the Bulldogs did beat Loyola, 102-98, late last month. That was the fifth time they've covered against Loyola in the past six meetings. This has been an underdog series, too, with the 'dog getting the money the past five times. Loyola is 1-5 in its last 6. The Ramblers are off a tough loss to Missouri Valley Conference co-leader Illinois State falling 65-63 this past Sunday. A long shot rimmed out at the buzzer that would have given Loyola the victory. So it' going to be difficult for the Ramblers to get up for this game, let along cover a big number like this in the defensive-minded Missouri Valley. 

Rider may not have its full intensity, which is needed to cover this mid-range number, after upsetting Iona on the road this past Sunday as a 9 1/2-point 'dog. Rider had lost four of its previous five games before pulling the upset.

Manhattan won the first meeting between the two schools, 76-73. I don't see Rider covering a number this big in the rematch. The Jaspers have covered seven of the past eight times at Rider.