Memphis will win, but only by single digits. Play the UTEP Miners at home this evening against the Tigers.
UTEP isn't good. I'll grant you that. The residue of the Billy Gillespie administration has pretty well worn off, and the Miners are 14-14 straight up and 6-8 straightup in conference play.
However, they are 8-5 at home against the spread, and 5-2 against the spread in home Conference USA games, and the fact that they're getting 12 points at home Thursday night is at least mildly crazy. True, they're playing Memphis who's undefeated in C-USA, but the Tigers do get a bit too much respect in Vegas (they're 13-12-1 against the spread overall).
Moreover, there are some serious connections between the UTEP program and Memphis. Miners' head coach Tony Barbee was an assistant at Memphis until 2006, assistant coach Milt Wagner worked for the Memphis program until last year as well, and another assistant, Tony Madlock played for Memphis. Familiarity breeds strategy, and I like UTEP as one of the only teams in the nation who plays faster than Memphis. They're going to go hard, press a ton, and I think it's unlikely they get completely blown out in this one.
Memphis should win, but in single digits. Take UTEP.
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Brian Gabrielle: UTEP +12 vs Memphis
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