1* 162-161
2* 29-31
3* 7-8
4* 1-1
5* 1-1
Spent some time on the plane back from Kiawah getting the record straight. I think it's right now.
1* Nebraska Cornhuskers -1.5
The travel recently for the the Boilers has been rough. Going back a couple weeks, they have been from Los Angeles, to College Park. They haven't played consecutive games in the same gym since Jan. 14. Now they had back across the plains to Nebraska, to a place that gets rowdy as hell, to face a team that can score in bunches. Purdues defense has been less than desireable in conference play, and against this Husker offense, that's bad news if you ask me.
1*Notre Dame Fighting Irish +11.5
SMU doesn't have the home court advantage I'd thought they'd have in conference play. They are 3-2 at home in conference, and their 3 wins are by a combined total of 18 points, the first of those wins was by 14. The math aint good recently. The Irish are well coached, depsite not having Markus Burton, they've been competitive with the upper tier programs. The Mustangs have holes in their defense, and asking them to get enough stops to win by a dozen seems to be too much.
1* Auburn/Vanderbilt Over 161.5
Auburns defense is really going to find themselves in a hole if they don't figure out how to stop the 3 ball. Bama just scored 96 and shot 52% from 3. Auburns 3pt defense is 280th in the country. They welcome in the 'Dores tonight, who just so happen to be extremely good shooters of the basketball. Their defense though....while some gawdy numbers are out there, when they play the top tier SEC games, they aren't stopping much. They just gave up 92 to OU (not considered a top tier SEC game), also have given up 80, 90, 93 and 96 against the better teams in conference. I'd put Auburn on that "better team" list.
1* BYU Cougars -4.5
At some point, the bleeding has to stop. The Cougs have lost four straight. Three of them to top 10 teams. But you have to think that they need to just beat the shit out of someone soon, and I'm thinking the Colorado game next is going to be a large number, so hoping to buy low in this spot. Conference road games are tough as hell, but this Baylor team doesn't defend shit that isn't at the rim. They also just left it all in Ames where they nearly took down the Cyclones. They also have the weird Louisville game on Saturday too. Just seems like a bad sport for the Bears, and an absolutely desperate spot for the Cougars.
1* Marquette Golden Eagles +9.5
From what I'm seeing, 80ish% of the money is on Nova, and the line has come down 2 points someplaces. That's a bad sign for Cat backers. KenPom also has this as a 13 point game. Marquette does have revenge here, they lost the first meeting by 3. They also have won three of their last five, so maybe Shaka has finally found something to build on. The Cats shoot the three well, but that's also the strength of the Eagles D. Nova doesn't push with any urgency or pace, leading to only four of their nine conference wins being by double digits.
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