#8 North Carolina Tar Heels (15-3) vs Virginia Tech Hokies (11-6)
The North Carolina Tar Heel are looking to recover from one of the worst drubbings of a top team in recent memory.
Author: The Wiesguy
The Wiesguy is a newcomer to the handicapping scene. Hailing from Toronto, Canada he is always sweet on the underdogs and you can often find his thoughts, musings and picks at moneydogs.blogspot.com.
Wake Forest Demon Deacons (10-7) vs #4 Duke Blue Devils (15-2)
It has been a while since Wake Forest was a team to be reckoned with in the ACC. They won their conference opener but have lost the last 2 including an embarrassing home loss to NC State by 36 points last time out.
#16 Connecticut Huskies (13-3) vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish (11-6)
The Connecticut Huskies may have lost a couple of road games recently but I don’t think they are too much to get excited about. This team still has just 3 losses on the season and is loaded with talent including a couple of potential lottery picks.
Saturday January 14
Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce, South Bend IN
11:00AM
Moneyline: Connecticut -125, Notre Dame +105
Spread: Connecticut -2
O/U: 131
Connecticut
They got back to winning beating West Virginia earlier in the week and have a chance to get on a nice run with their schedule over the next couple of weeks including two games against Notre Dame, this one on the road. No need to worry about the Huskies, Kemba is gone but this is still a final four capable team.
Those two potential lottery picks are Jeremy Lamb and Andre Drummond. Drummond may be just a freshman but he is one of the most imposing figures in college basketball. He shoots 61% from the floor but needs to improve at the line so they can leave him in late in tight games. That is assuming the ball would ever get away from Lamb in those situations, he is simply one of the smoothest players in the land. He averages 18ppg but is so fluid out there it looks like he could average 25 if he forced it a little more. This is a great duo and the supporting cast is pretty good too. This looks a bit like last year’s team that peaked at the right time. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Notre Dame
I feel like the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the team in the Big East that nobody talks about – maybe it is because they don’t play football in the league. Last year this team was very good and a dropoff was expected after significant graduation losses but nobody could have envisioned that their top player, slick shooting forward Tom Abromaitis would be forced to sit out the year due to injury. They have played a tough schedule and scrapped out some nice wins including winning at Louisville. They enter Saturday on a two game win streak.
With Abromaitis out it has been easier for guard Jerian Grant to emerge. He didn’t play a minute last year but leads the team in scoring at 13ppg. He and fellow sophomore guard Eric Atkins log serious minutes but they have to on a team that just doesn’t go very deep. The last real threat to be concerned with is forward Jack Cooley. He may have a bad haircut but he is a legit big averaging close to a double-double. The Huskies throw size on the floor in waves and he will have to be able to have some success scoring in close for the Fighting Irish to have a chance at upsetting Connecticut.
Spread Pick: Connecticut -2
O/U Pick: Over
Score Prediction: Connecticut 71 – Notre Dame 65
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Oklahoma State Cowboys (9-7) vs #4 Baylor Bears (16-0)
The Oklahoma State Cowboys have been trading wins and losses for the last 5 games. That pattern looks likely to continue as they visit a perfect Baylor team on Saturday – they won their last game just in case you didn’t know where I was going with this.
#9 Georgetown Hoyas (13-1) vs West Virginia Mountaineers (11-4)
The Georgetown Hoyas are certainly one of the feel good stories of the season so far. After losing a couple of top guards they were expected to hover in the middle of the Big East but I guess nobody told the players that.
Saturday January 7
WVU Coliseum – Morgantown, WV
12:00PM
Moneyline: West Virginia -135, Georgetown +115
Spread: West Virginia -2
O/U: 131.5
Georgetown
All they have done is rise to #9 in the rankings with 4 victories over top 25 teams among their 13 victories, including ending Louisville’s run at perfection on their own homecourt. They are off to a 3-0 start in the conference with an impressive win over Marquette earlier this week. The question is whether they can keep it up.
Georgetown has been winning with a little bit of everything. They can play great defense but can also score. Now that he doesn’t have to share the ball as much, senior guard Jason Clark is having his best season ever, as is fellow senior forward Henry Sims. This team has lots of size and good athleticism but I wonder if they will eventually get exposed by teams that have great guards. They operate non-traditionally with their leading assist guy being Sims in the middle. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
West Virginia
West Virginia has been solid this season and it looks like they are probably going to position themselves well for the postseason. They have a huge opportunity to make a statement with back to back games against ranked teams beginning with a visit from Georgetown on Saturday. The Hoyas enter the game ranked in the top 10 so a victory might actually jump the Mountaineers into the rankings.
In terms of productivity it is hard to find a better one-two, inside-outside combo than West Virginia’s Kevin Jones and Truck Bryant (don’t let the name fool you, Truck is the guard). The two seniors average just under 40ppg with both enjoying their finest season’s yet. But college hoops is more than just a game of 2 on 2 which is why WVU despite having an elite duo are not elite – their depth is questionable. Morgantown is buzzing these days after the football team’s demolition of Clemson in the Orange Bowl. It is a hard place to win and this game should be a good contest from start to finish. G-Town may have the great record but I am not sure there is a huge difference between these two teams.
Spread Pick: Georgetown +2
O/U Pick: Under
Score Prediction: Georgetown 65 – West Virginia 63
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#14 Florida Gators (12-3) vs Tennessee Volunteers (7-7)
The Florida Gators may already have 3 losses but don’t be tricked into thinking this is not one of the best teams in America.
Saturday January 7
Thompson Boling Arena
11:00AM
Moneyline: Florida -350, Tennessee +290
Spread: Florida -7.5
O/U: 146
Florida
All of their losses have been in true road games and two of them were at Syracuse and Ohio State. The loss at Rutgers might be a head scratcher but, like I said this team is very good, not perfect, team, blessed with maybe the best backcourt in America and a terrific post player. I am not sure about their overall depth but this team can hang with pretty much anybody and is probably going to beat Kentucky when they host them later this season.
It is really hard not to like that backcourt, both in quality and quantitt The Gators have an amazing 4 guards averaging 9 or more point per game with Kenny Boynton leading the team with 9ppg. I would still like to see them throw the ball more often to Patric Young. who is a load to handle down low. because even though the guards are great he offers an amazing physical mismatch almost every night. Any game this team is shooting well they are very tough to beat.
Tennessee
It is a shame what has happened at Tennessee with the departure of former coach Bruce Pearl. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
I was a big fan of the program, their success and their style of play. I don’t want to pretend to know all the details but weren’t the infractions pretty minor, especially given how he has elevated the program to new heights. Right now they are entering SEC play with just a .500 record. New coach Cuonzo Martin has this team playing hard and they seem to rise to the occasion, playing their top opponents very well even though they haven’t broken through yet with a victory. This team should be able to compete in a mediocre SEC.
The talent level in Knoxville is below what we are used to seeing, giving lots of players a chance to step forward. The one player who really stands out is guard Trae Golden. As a frosh he never really found a way to contribute regularly but this year with the extra playing time he is leading the club with 14ppg. His play against Florida is going to be especially important because he is also their leading distributor and will have to guard one of the Gators great guards. Forward Jeronne Maymon is another player who will have his hands full as he try to keep Young out of the paint. He is their leading rebounder but unfortunately the matchup is not unfavourable. Pretty much all of them are that way for the Vols in this one.
Spread Pick: Florida -7.5
O/U Pick: Over
Score Prediction: Florida 83 – Tennessee 69
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NFL Power Ratings For Wild Card Weekend
Each week during the heart of the NFL season, and once or twice during the NFL Preseason, we’ll gather the troops around the roundtable and hash out the NFL Power rankings. We check out the stats, looks at the records, and, most importantly, we take a close, close look at the heart of each team.
Categories
NFL Game Capsules – Week 17
NFL Game Summaries – Week 17 Capsule Matchups
Week 17 in the NFL is in the books. The Weisguy takes over for Matt and offers up these recaps for your NFL viewing pleasure.
Detroit Lions vs Green Bay Packers
The Detroit Lions clinched a playoff berth last week and for all intents and purposes this is somewhat of a meaningless game.
NFL Handicapping – Bears vs Vikings
The Chicago Bears have lost their last 5 games to fall out of the playoff race and under .500. Truth be told I never really saw them as a legit contender and if they finish at .500 that seems about right, even though their path to getting there was different than expected.
Bell Helicopter Armed Services Bowl
BYU’s first season as an independent was a success. They finished 9-3, which is a nice record, especially given they made a QB change midseason, which was really unexpected given what we saw of highly toued Jake Heaps at the end of last year.
Categories
NFL Power Rankings – Week 17
NFL Football Power Ratings For Week 16
Each week during the heart of the NFL season, and once or twice during the NFL Preseason, we’ll gather the troops around the roundtable and hash out the NFL Power rankings. We check out the stats, looks at the records, and, most importantly, we take a close, close look at the heart of each team.
Categories
NFL Game Capsules – Week 16
NFL Game Summaries – Week 16 Capsule Matchups
Week 16 in the NFL is in the books. The Weisguy takes over for Matt and offers up these recaps for your NFL viewing pleasure.
CFB Handicapping: Broncos vs Boilermakers
Usually Big Ten vs MAC matchups happen in September, this is a rare December chance for the little sister conference to exact some revenge for early beatdowns.
West Virginia Mountaineers (8-2) vs #6 Baylor Bears (10-0)
Friday Ddecember 23
Orleans Arena – Las Vegas, NV
9:00PM
Orleans Arena – Las Vegas, NV
9:00PM
Moneyline:
Spread:
O/U:West Virginia
Spread:
O/U:West Virginia
The West Virginia Mountaineers have been pretty solid in the early part of their season.
When they lost to Kent State some might have panicked prematurely but other than that the only blemish on their record is a loss to Mississippi State away from home. This team may not be as good as it has been in the past but it will have plenty of chances to steal some impressive wins against top teams in conference play. Still their toughest test of the year might be against a highly ranked Baylor team.
WVU features a great inside-outside duo in forward Kevin Jones and guard Truck Bryant. Jones is having a super season averaging 20 points and 11 rebounds while Bryant has increased his scoring all the way to 16ppg. Against Baylor it is going to be important for both to play well, especially Jones who might find it difficult battling all the size the Bears have up front. The rest of the squad will have to chip in too but it is this duo that gives the Mountaineers a chance against top teams.
Baylor
Baylor is taking their momentum from the gridiron and applying it to the hardwood…and then some. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
The Bears are a perfect 10-0 this season and if they can get into Big 12 play unscathed they have a great chance of having a season for the ages. There is a lot of talent on this team and with every game they seem to be figuring out how to play together. This club has a very high ceiling.
One of the reasons that ceiling is so high is because their best player, Perry Jones, is just scratching the surface of his potential. He is possibly the top pick in next year’s draft and has definitely stepped up his game. Perhaps watching a few from the sidelines to start the season sharpened his focus. The only thing holding his numbers back might be the fact that Baylor is playing few close games and they have amazing depth up front with Quincy Acy and freshman Quincy Miller. As long as their guards are steady this team should continue to soar.
Spread Pick:
O/U Pick:
Score Prediction: Baylor 74 – West Virginia 64
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Minnesota Vikings vs Washington Redskins
The Minnesota Vikings haven’t won a game since their bye week – 6 losses in a row.
