Defending Ohio State Will Be No Easy Task for Tenn
This Friday, the Buckeyes will take on Tennessee in what has the making of a very interesting matchup. The Volunteers are fresh off their victory over Ohio 83-68, and now get their second straight Ohio team.
So the Buckeyes will be playing for more than just a spot in the Elite 8, they will be playing to defend the State of Ohio and get revenge for fellow Buckeye John Groce and the Bobcats. All kidding aside, Turner and company have a tough task ahead of them.
On paper, Tennessee doesn't seem like that scary of an opponent. Their 27-8 record has some holes in it, especially their very average road record.
Not only that, but the Big Ten has shown that it is superior to the SEC in the tournament this season. Oh, and by the way, Tyler Smith isn't magically coming back.
It's the NCAA tournament though, so who cares about statistics? The reality is that Buckeye fans should be a little bit worried. Here is why...
Pearl may be one of the best X's and O's coaches in the business.
Let me start by saying that Bruce Pearl is one of the most annoying coaches in college basketball. Any coach that 1) shows up shirtless with a painted body to a women's basketball game, 2) is caught hitting on college girls , and 3) wears a bright orange jacket on the sideline won't get my vote.
Despite his obnoxious personality and love of coeds, the guy can flat coach. If there was ever proof of that, it has been this season.
After the marijuana debacle (that led to the departure of T. Smith), most every coach in the country would have lost this squad. Instead the Volunteers, under Pearl, have played inspired basketball.
What's most impressive is the brand of basketball Pearl has gotten these guys to play. With a team that Roy Williams or Rick Barnes would have tanked (maybe a .500 record if they were lucky), Pearl has been able to establish an uptempo style of basketball mixed with some stellar defense.
I fully expect Pearl to come in with a great game plan for the Buckeyes, and the week he has to prepare isn't a good thing.
Tennessee has played their best basketball against top tier teams.
You have to give it to UT, they have played great on the big stage. They were able to knock off both No. 1 Kansas and No. 2 Kentucky (almost twice) during the regular season.
Granted, both wins came at home, but it still was no small feat (especially considering they won both without Smith). The only team that can boast of anything close to this, would be Louisville with their sweep of Syracuse this season.
Make no doubt about it, this game against OSU is the biggest game they have been in since playing those teams.
Honestly, it is bigger, this is the Sweet Sixteen we are talking about. It even means more for UT considering they have never gotten past this round, EVER ! So, plan on getting Tennessee's best shot come Friday. They will be hungry like the wolf!
The Vols will play much deeper than the Buckeyes.
Pearl seems to have been able to make up for his lack of star power by playing every last man on his bench. They have 11 players averaging more than 10 minutes a game on the season (with no one over 30 min.).
Not only has this kept UT fresh, but it means that production comes from different places every night. Take for instances Melvin Goins' 15 points off the bench against San Diego State in the first round, or Cameron Tatum's nine points and Josh Bone's seven points against Ohio.
Not only is that impossible to game plan for, but one has to wonder how fresh the Bucks really are in comparison.
UT will be very physical inside the paint.
Tennessee could cause some matchup problems inside because of how physical they like to play in the paint. Wayne Chism and Brian Williams combined for 24 rebounds last game, and the Bucks on the other hand just got out rebounded by GT.
I think Lauderdale and Turner will do their job, but the rest of the team better get ready for a war inside. Pearl will happily bring in some of his guys off the end of the bench to bang people around (including his own son ).
If you watched UT play Kentucky in the SEC tournament you know that Pearl's boys don't mind playing a nasty game where everyone hits the boards.
A 68-Team Field?: Expand the NCAA Basketball Tourn
Everyone has heard the drumbeat to expand the NCAA Tournament.
Florida coach Billy Donovan, whose team was on the bubble and got in this season, is in favor of it. Other coaches are in favor of it.
It's easy to see why: Coaches are evaluated by making the tournament.
You make the tournament, you are successful. If not, athletic directors need to find someone who can make the tournament.
Most people I know are dead set against. They say expansion would dilute the field. But they say that more basketball is not the worst thing in the world.
So I have a compromise. The compromise would increase the field but keep the current structure.
My idea: Make it a 68-team field and have more play-in games. Instead of having one game, have three and make the winners play the No. 1 seeds.
Currently, the 15th and 16th seeds are warm-up games for the top seeds. Let's look at the 16th seeds: Lehigh, East Tennessee State, Vermont, and the winner of tonight's play-in game between Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Winthrop.
Does anyone expect any of those teams to beat Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse, or Duke?
The 15th seeds: UC Santa Barbara, Morgan State, North Texas, and Robert Morris. There is a chance they could beat Ohio State, West Virginia, Kansas State, and Villanova, but it is not likely. So, let the teams that would have been 15th and 16th seeds play each other.
By making some mid-major tournament winners compete in play-in games, it will allow three more teams to make the tournament. The "bubble teams" that would benefit could be from the power conferences or mid-majors. For example, this year's last three teams out—Mississippi State, Virginia Tech, and Illinois—would get into the tournament as double-digit seeds.
I know the biggest negative: No one will care about these play-in games. Well, there are some people who do not care now. But I will be watching the play-in game Tuesday.
Schools who play in these games will get more national exposure than they have gotten all season.
Ideally, I would want to keep the tournament as is. A 96-team field is a horrible idea.
But play-in (err, opening round) games at the bottom of the bracket would benefit teams that would be on the bubble in a normal season.
What do you think about expansion? If it is going to happen, would a 96-team field work? Let me know by posting in the comments section.
Copyright © 2010 Bleacher Report, Inc.
Georgia Tech at Duke - College Basketball Odds & Predictions
Georgia Tech vs. Duke - College Basketball Odds & Predictions: The No. 10 (AP) ranked Duke Blue Devils (17-4, 5-2 ACC) will host the 21-ranked Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech (16-5, 4-3) Thursday in a crucial Atlantic Coast Conference college basketball game at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C.(7 Eastern, ESPN2).
College basketball oddsmakers give a big edge to Duke installing them as 12-point favorites with a 145 total.
Duke will be happy to return to Cameron Indoor Stadium where they have won 14 straight games after going on the road and losing by 12 (77-89) at Georgetown on Saturday, Jan. 30.
Georgia Tech defeated Duke in Atlanta 71-67 in the schools first meeting of the season on Jan. 9. In that game Georgia Tech took advantage of some poor Duke shooting as the Blue Devils went 6-of-28 from three-point distance.
Georgia Tech's 21st-ranked (AP) basketball team passes the halfway point of its Atlantic Coast Conference schedule this week with an important pair of games within a 48-hour period, visiting Duke for a nationally-televised (ESPN2) game Thursday night at 7 p.m. and returning back home to meet NC State Saturday at 4 p.m.
Georgia Tech is tied for fourth place in the ACC standings. The Yellow Jackets have their best record through 21 games since the 2003-04 season and have beaten three top-25 teams in the last month, including the win over No. 5 Duke on Jan. 9, a 73-71 triumph at No. 12 North Carolina Jan. 16 and a 66-64 win over No. 17 Clemson on Jan. 19.
The Blue Devils remain the ACC's highest scoring team at 81.9 points per game, and in conference games only, they rank second at 73.4 per game.
The Yellow Jackets have been one of the better defensive teams in the ACC and the nation so far, ranking second in the ACC and fourth in the nation in field goal percentage defense (36.6 pct.) in all games, and second in the ACC in league games only (39.5 pct.). Tech ranks fourth in the conference and 18th nationally in lowest three-point percentage yield (.293) in all games, third in the ACC in league games only (28.0 pct.).
College Basketball Predictions: Georgia Tech will probably lose the game SU but cover as a +12 underdog.
(c) 1997-2009 Point Spreads "All Rights Reserved".
College Hoops Upset Alert - Florida State Seminoles vs. Duke Blue Devils
Atlantic Coast Conference rivals square off at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Wednesday night when the Florida State Seminoles (15-4, 4-10 ATS) get it on with the Duke Blue Devils (16-3, 12-6 ATS). These two teams met last season for the ACC Championship. The Blue Devils took out the Noles in that NCAA basketball betting affair, scoring a 79-69 victory to win the conference crown.
On Wednesday night, Coach K's club has been lined as 14-point favorites. You can find this and a 'total' of 140.5 posted right now at BetUS Sportsbook!
Florida State's NCAA basketball betting fans may have the worst ATS mark in the conference, but at least their team keeps winning games SU. On Sunday afternoon, the Seminoles finished off the season sweep of Georgia Tech, winning 68-66. The ''Bigs'' for FSU once again put together a solid effort, as F Ryan Reid, F Chris Singleton, and C Solomon Alabi combined to score 45 of the team's 68 points.
The Seminoles' only advantage in this game against the Blue Devils might be on the inside, because Gs Deividas Dulkys, Derwin Kitchen, and Luke Loucks don't have the ability to hang on the outside. Florida State has the worst free throw shooting percentage in the conference at 64.8%; it will have to shoot better than the 59.3% it mustered from the charity stripe on Sunday to pull off the upset in Durham.
Even though Duke fell to NC State earlier in the week, it fired back on Saturday night with an impressive 60-47 win at Littlejohn Coliseum against the Tigers.
As has been the case for the Blue Devils the majority of the season, the starting five carried the way. Not only did the first five on the court play all but a total of 25 out of 200 total minutes against Clemson, but they also scored every one of the 60 points. G Nolan Smith had himself a heck of a night converting 8 of 13 shots from the field to total a team-high 22 points. F's Kyle Singler and Lance Thomas, as well as G Jon Scheyer also tallied double digits in scoring.
The Seminoles have a history of being quite the nuisance against Duke. Even though they only have four outright victories against the Blue Devils over the L/12 years, they're a solid 9-3 ATS in the L/12 overall meetings.
For whatever reason, Florida State has been particularly effective at Cameron Indoor Stadium as well coming in on the right side of the NCAA basketball betting line each of its L/5 visits. HC Leonard Hamilton's defense has the ability to keep the Dookies on the outside, as the tall trees on the inside are imposing figures. Bank on the Seminoles defense keeping this game close throughout, and allow their betting backers to cash yet another winning ticket against the Blue Devils.
Rose's Recommendation: 2* Florida State Seminoles
Rating Scale 1* - 5*
(c) 1994-2009 BetUS.com. All Rights Reserved.
Bulldogs vs. Ramblers Preview | Pick
Butler: 14-4 SU, 7-11 ATS
Loyola of Chicago: 12-5 SU, 7-5 ATS
The Loyola Chicago Ramblers will host the Butler Bulldogs at the Joseph J. Gentile Center in Chicago on Thursday night.
Loyola Chicago won the last meeting by a narrow 71-67 victory on February 16 of last year.
The Ramblers' Geoff McCammon scored 26 points, going 6 of 7 from 3-point range, to lead his team to a 55-50 victory Friday night to cross town rival Illinois-Chicago. Courtney Stanley had seven assists for the Ramblers, who broke a three-game losing streak with the win. The Ramblers held edges of 42.9 percent to 30.5 percent in shooting and 41-31 in rebounding and knocked down 5-of-8 long-range attempts in the second half while holding the Flames to a dismal 18.5 percent shooting effort from the field. The Ramblers dominated in the inside post outscoring UIC 29-18 from the paint.
Meanwhile the Bulldogs thumped Youngstown State 91-61 on Saturday as Shelvin Mack scored 24 points to lead his team to their sixth straight victory. Matt Howard helped with 22 points, while Willie Veasley had 13 points and Zach Hahn had 12 in the win.
Butler scored the game's first eight points and finished the game shooting 57 percent while their defensive play held the Penguins to 46 percent. Butler's 7-0 Horizon League record is driven by their conference leading scoring offense that shoots an average of 50 percent from the field. They play solid defense and dish out a team average of 14 assists per game. The Bulldogs improved to No. 20 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll this week and ranks 23rd in the latest RPI standings.
The Bulldogs are 5-1 in road games, with their only loss coming at UAB. The Ramblers are 7-1 at home.
Butler vs. Loyola of Chicago Odds
The odds makers have the Bulldogs as -12 -point favorites in this one.
A Few Trends:
Butler is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Butler is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Loyola of Chicago
Butler is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Loyola of Chicago
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Butler's last 5 games when playing on the road against Loyola of Chicago
Loyola of Chicago is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games at home
Loyola of Chicago is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Butler
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Loyola of Chicago's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Loyola of Chicago's last 5 games when playing at home against Butler
Free Bulldogs vs. Ramblers CBB Pick
Expect Butler to come on strong and finish winning by double digits.
(c) CappersPicks.
Laettner's 3 Team Parlay -Texas vs. Texas A&M, Kentucky vs. Auburn and Kansas vs. Texas Tech
Former college basketball and NBA superstar Christian Laettner has a can't miss three team parlay just that for you, in his latest BetFlix video picks.
In the first game, Laettner likes the No. 1 Texas Longhorns over the visiting Texas A&M Aggies. On the year, Texas is 16-0 straight up, and 8-4 against the spread, while their visitors are 12-4 and 7-5 against the spread.
To Laettner, the difference in this one will be down low. Texas has two potential All-American's in seniors Damion James and Dexter Pittman.
On the season, the two are Texas' leading scorers and rebounders, as they combine to average over 30 points and 18 rebounds per game to lead the Longhorns. And the scariest part is that they're only getting better as the season goes on, as the two dominated down low against Iowa State Wednesday night, in Texas' 90-83 victory.
Because of Pittman and James, Laettner likes Texas to win by 15, so be sure to check the line on game day and make your bet accordingly.
In the second game of the parlay, Laettner has the Kentucky Wildcats (17-0 SU, 8-7 ATS) over the Auburn Tigers (9-7 SU, 3-7 ATS) at Auburn.
While all the talk surrounding Kentucky has been on the unbelievable play of freshman John Wall (averaging 17 points and seven assists per game), Laettner likes another Wildcats freshman, DeMarcus Cousins, who does the dirty work. On the season, Cousins is averaging 15.3 points and almost 10 rebounds a game, and he too seems to be getting better every game. Cousins had his best performance of 2010 about a week ago, when against Louisville he went off for 18 points and 18 rebounds in the win.
The one concern Laettner has for Kentucky, is that at times they tend to ''dribble a little too much,'' which often leads to lulls in their half-court offense, and can make the Wildcats turnover prone. Still, Laettner believes it won't be enough to hold back Kentucky, from winning this game by at least 15 points.
The final game in Laettner's can't miss three team parlay is the Kansas Jayhawks (15-1 SU, 6-7 ATS) taking on the Texas Tech Red Raiders (12-4 SU, 6-4 ATS) in Lawrence. Kansas is coming off an impressive 84-72 road victory over a feisty Nebraska Cornhuskers team on Wednesday night.
Expect Texas Tech to be able to keep this game close early, says Laettner, because of head coach Pat Knight, son of the great Bobby Knight. The younger Knight has the Red Raiders playing their best basketball in years, and an NCAA Tournament berth is a realistic hope at this point.
Even still, Kansas center Cole Aldrich will be tough for the Red Raiders to handle down low. Aldrich is averaging a double-double on the year, and Laettner thinks if he can just pick up his point production a little, Kansas will be nearly unbeatable.
Although Texas Tech will be able to keep this game close early, expect Kansas to pull away late. This game is at Phog Allen Fieldhouse, a place that Kansas is virtually unbeatable, and is already 11-0 at this season.
When you're placing your college basketball bets, go to the man with the answers, former NCAA All-American Christian Laettner.
He likes Texas, Kentucky and Kansas to all win comfortably this Saturday and you should too. Don't miss your chance to get into the college basketball betting action today!
(c) 1994-2009 BetUS.com. All Rights Reserved.
College Basketball Betting: Connecticut at Georgetown Preview
If you threw the numbers "13" and "12" at me in regards to Connecticut and Georgetown basketball this year my Jeopardy-style response would have been, "What is the number of losses that each team has this year?"
Nope. The numbers "13" and "12" are the respective rankings for the Huskies and the Hoyas as they enter their marquee matchup at noon on Saturday at Georgetown. Somehow these two teams, despite significant personnel losses in the offseason, have managed to work their way into the Top 15. So, in my opinion, that has vaulted both teams into the elite level of Most Overrated Teams In The Country along with Kentucky and North Carolina.
Talk about living on reputation.
Georgetown's resume is not terrible. However, it's certainly not, in my humble opinion, befitting of the No. 12 team in the nation. Their best wins this year were over two other teams that have secure positions on the Extremely Overrated Train: Butler and Washington. Each of those teams started the season in the absurd position of the Top 15 and was each ranked in the Top 20 when the Hoyas took them down. However, reality has set in and right now they are both fringe Top 25 clubs.
Now, those are the best two wins on the Georgetown schedule. They also beat Temple, 46-45, in one of the uglier games of the year. But I feel like those three victories over second- and third-tier clubs can be cancelled out by a home loss to Old Dominion and a road defeat at middling Marquette.
Connecticut's resume is even worse. According to the numbers they have played a decent schedule but the results have been less than impressive. Their best wins have come over No. 59 Seton Hall and No. 63 Harvard. Yeah, you read that right. And both of those games were at home and eight points and six points decided them, respectively. The Huskies also barely managed to hold off third-tier teams like William & Mary (by nine), Hofstra (by nine), and Notre Dame (by 12) in games that were closer than the scores suggest.
Further, Connecticut has been beaten in their only three games against Top 56 teams (Cincinnati, Kentucky and Duke) and they are just 1-3 in road or neutral site games.
So between the two of them, the No. 12 and No. 13 teams in the country are 2-5 against teams in the Top 56, 0-3 in the Top 25, and a combined 9-12 against the spread. To me that screams one thing: overrated.
But none of that will matter on Saturday when these teams get together to bang heads. Regardless of where their actual value at the window lies one of these teams is going to score their "best" win of the season this weekend.
Connecticut has actually started to play better basketball and has covered the spread in three of four contests. That includes a hard-fought victory over Seton Hall on Wednesday and a strong home win over Notre Dame last weekend. Saturday's game will be their second conference road game, with the first being a loss at Cincinnati last week.
The Huskies are enormous. Their average player is 6-foot-5 and their "effective height" ranks No. 11 in the country. Six of their top eight scorers are 6-7 or taller and this team routinely has three exceedingly athletic players at 6-9 or larger on the court at the same time. They are No. 44 in the country in rebounding margin and No. 29 in offensive rebounding.
Georgetown doesn't have the same level of overall height but the effectiveness of their height is on par with the Huskies. The Hoyas are actually No. 31 in the land in rebounding margin and they are elite at No. 6 in defensive rebounding. Georgetown only uses four frontcourt players in their regular rotation but three of them are 6-9 or larger.
Needless to say, whichever team can control the glass should win this game.
Another critical frontcourt factor will be fouls and fatigue. Georgetown relies on the highest percentage of starters minutes of any team in the nation, with four guys playing more than 83 percent of the total minutes for this team. Because the Hoyas have a thin bench it will be important for them to maintain their intensity for 40 minutes while also keeping their best player, Greg Monroe, on the floor. If Monroe, the 6-11 center and unquestioned best player on this Hoyas club, gets into foul trouble this one could get ugly.
While the marquee players for each team, Monroe for Georgetown and Stanley Robinson for Connecticut, reside in the frontcourt another key determinant in this game will be which club's guards perform better.
Georgetown has the edge in overall productivity out of its backcourt. Chris Wright (14.4), Austin Freeman (14.1) and Jason Clark (10.6) each average double-figures in scoring and all three players shoot 38 percent or better from three-point land. The trio has also been instrumental in helping the Hoyas become one of the most efficient offenses in the country (No. 11 in field goal percentage, No. 86 in three-point shooting, and No. 80 in free throws) while also being one of the toughest defenses (No. 12 scoring, No. 20 field goal defense) in the nation.
For Connecticut, sophomore point guard Kemba Walker has been thrust into the role of floor leader and hasn't been that bad (12.9 points, 5.9 assists and a nearly 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio). Off-guard Jerome Dyson is also the team's leading scorer at 19.9 points per game while serving as one of their top perimeter threats.
The problem for Connecticut is that they have zero depth behind Walker and Dyson and that both players can be prone to stretches of shoddy ball handling and inconsistent shooting. Neither player shoots better than 41 percent from the floor and they combine to average about seven turnovers per game. Fatigue could be a factor in their issues, as they are the only guards on the roster that average more than nine minutes per game and the only backcourt players in the top eight in scoring.
The edge in this game has to go to Georgetown because they are at home and because they have at least beaten a Top 50 team (although Connecticut's average loss to Duke, UK and UC was by less than five points per game). The Huskies are playing just their second true road game and they are facing a team that shouldn't be bothered by Connecticut's size and physicality. The Hoyas have a better stable of guards and they execute their Princeton offense better than UConn's throw-it-at-the-basket-and-get-an-offensive-rebound attack.
Georgetown has also won three straight in the series and the home team has won the game in five of the last six meetings. There was no line released at the time this article was written but I expect that it will be around Georgetown -4.5. Now, the underdog is a solid 4-1 ATS in the last five meetings but the average spread in those games was around -10.0.
The Huskies are 4-1 ATS in their last five trips to Georgetown and the Hoyas are just 9-19-1 ATS in their last 29 games overall (7-19 ATS in conference play).
No matter which team wins, the victor may actually become a loser at the window as a result of their performance. Since we've established that both of these teams are slightly overrated at the moment and that neither has been particularly strong at the window I think we've got a spot here where the winning team will become even more inflated while the loser will "get a pass" on losing to such "a good team". Regardless, a gambler's best bet might even be to sit this game out and then reap the benefits of fading both teams in the aftermath of what should be one of the more competitive games of the weekend.
Robert Ferringo is a professional handicapper and he has gained around +160 Units and $12,000 for his $100 bettors since mid-February in college basketball.
(c) Doc's Sports Services.
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