December Hoops

Western Mich +1

Georgia St -1

Long Beach St. +14

North Carolina -14

VCU +4

Richmond -4

Valparaiso -12

Toledo +12

Seton Hall +3

Massachusetts -3

St. John's -11

Fordham +11

St. Joseph's +7

Creighton -7

Illinois-Chi +5

Illinois St. -5

Cal Poly SLO +16

UCLA -16

Missouri St. +5

Oklahoma St. -5

I would have to believe that Long Beach State and North Carolina would put up some points but the travel across country and the 3rd game of a 7 game roady, I would not be so certain Long Beach’s shots would continue to fall. VCU/Richmond falls into the same category as ODU/Dayton. Both games should be the two most enjoyable from a viewer’s perspective on Saturday’s card. VCU has won the last six games in the series, but they were also favored in all six of those games of the Black & Blue Classic. The last three years in the series, the games have gone like this: Richmond builds a nice lead, Richmond fails to show up in the 2H, Richmond loses. They’ve been flat out horrendous in the second half of these games, and a bunch of that credit goes to the VCU defense. This year, they get to play at home, and I think they have the better team. They depend on the 3-ball a bit too much for my liking, but they got a nice case of revenge here, along with a week to prepare. VCU may be quicker, but Richmond is the lengthier and more physical squad. Richmond rebounds well, VCU does not. The physical presence should be the difference in the ball game. This could be a good spot for Missouri State. Oklahoma State’s been involved with the OT game with Lasalle last Saturday and then put everything they had into a nice situational spot with revenge at Tulsa the other night. I think it’s a flat spot for them and their next three are Bama, Stanford, Gonzaga..

Central Mich +13

Louisiana State -13

Ball St. +1

DePaul -1

Gonzaga +8

Notre Dame -8

New Mexico St. +16

New Mexico -16

San Diego +33

San Diego St. -33

Pepperdine +4

Fresno St. -4

Eastern Kent +22

Minnesota -22

Murray St. -3

Chattanooga +3

Rider +8

Drexel -8

Niagara +17

St. Bonaventure -17

Two pretty comical projections. There is a slight chance Depaul is an underdog, at home, to a MAC squad. And the San Diego/SDSTU game. San Diego needed overtime to beat San Diego last year. Doesn’t look like they’ll need it this year. Tough spot for Gonzaga to get trounced then travel east, could be tough for Notre Dame to bounce back as well. Neither New Mexico or New Mexico State have played a game this week, so the return game of this matchup is fresh in their mind. I had the over in the first matchup, and will look at the under here. New Mexico State should have trouble scoring and gut feel is New Mexico embarrasses them. I can only hope for a small # on Murray State as this is the classic matchup of a really defensive minded team going up against a bunch of JUCO players finishing out their final two years of eligibility. I’ve mentioned Schulman and his method of bringing in 2-year players rather than four year players a couple times this year in their conference matchups where they’ve started 2-0. I’m just not very fond of the idea chemistry wise, and it could be an embarrassment against an experienced defensive squad in Murray State. Chattanooga has yet to play a team with a slow pace that includes a tough defense. They should struggle to hit 55-60 even playing at the heckle-jeckle frantic up and down that they play at. Murray State being on the road for what seems like an eternity (6 straight) is a slight scare, and if this game is lined anywhere close to the 140’s like it has been the past few years, all value points to the under. I’m also scared of the fallout in the loss to Morehead. Quite a bit of emotion was put into that game, and if they don’t put it behind them real quick, they won’t have a shot at revenge come February b/c they’ll be out of the race...

Can they on a given day? Sure. But that program is in a full downward spiral. I think half the teams in the Big East could beat them with four players...and I'm serious.