Season Record 194-186-1, +0.650 units
Yesterday: 1-0, +1.75 units
SAN FRANCISCO +9 (2.5 UNITS) - The Dons have had a lot of extra practice time to adjust to Eddie Sutton's more disciplined system in the month of January and have looked solid in all their January efforts. The team is buying into Sutton's system and this team has talent.
LASALLE -3 (2.5 UNITS) - A cloud of controversy surrounds head Coach Majerus and this team is absolutely pitiful on the road. In 5 road games this season, the Billikens have scored 58, 56, 40, 39 and 20 (it's hard to believe the 20 as I type it). That's an average of 42.6 ppg and they are 0-5 in such games with an average loss of 21.4 points per game. The Explorers are 7-10 but have been competitive in every game this season and have now won 3 out of 4 and have been playing solid defensively.
BRADLEY +2.5 (2.5 UNITS) - Bradley is just a different team with Ruffin back and Wichita State lost another rotation player in Griskenas who is lost for the season and have lost 7 of their last 8 including 4 in a row at home. Bradley looks to avenge and earlier loss when they were without Ruffin and are just the better team.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS -3.5 (2.5 UNITS) - Southern Illinois has played one of the toughest schedules in the country. Kenpom has their opponents overall offenses ranked 28th and opposing defenses ranked 4th while Creighton's schedule is ranked 224th and 39th. Creighton has overachieved this year and is extremely young with 9 of 14 roster players making their first trip to a hostile Carbondale environment. Creighton beat the Salukis last year for the MVC title and you can be assured the Salukis come out and fire their best shot tonight on ESPN with an experienced squad. To add to the electricity of the environment, the ESPN Gameday crew will be hosted on the Southern Illinois campus tomorrow and the pressure should prove to be too much for this Bluejay team.
Other leans that haven't made the cut yet: Gonzaga +12.5, Illinois-Chicago +14, Duquesne -10, Richmond +4.5