Austin Peay +2.5

[perhapsnot]

Can you help me see why they are the dog in this one?

They were competitive with vandy, and beat belmont by 15.
All 5 starters back who were tough last year.

Utah state was picked to be at or near the wac top, but haven't played well against mediocre/bad teams. They did win at home, but i think AP will win this with relative ease.

[regularguy]

Hey perhapsnot. Good eye. I think you're right on the money here.

To try to answer your question: I think that early in the season, especially in these lesser divisions, preseason polls (Utah State picked first in preseason coaches' poll) and individual stars (Jaycee Carroll) carry too much weight. That's all I can figure.

Utah State is not playing well at all. They have received three asswhippins on the road: 71-78 at Weber State (11/10); 69-83 at Cal Poly (11/15); 51-70 at UC Irvine (11/17). Those are not exactly final-four teams that Utah State has been beat by. Utah State has two home wins: 60-49 over Southern Utah and 77-58 over an institution of higher education known as Montana Western -- nothing there to get excited about.

Austin Pea, on the other hand is picked by many to be the cream of the Ohio Valley crop. And they are playing like they actually could be. They lost to top-50 Vandy 67-81 on 11/10, but, like you point out, they were in that game almost all the way. They convincingly beat a decent Belmont team (3-1, with a win over Cincinnati) 71-56.

Utah State is better at home, and these WAC teams can be brawlers, and Carroll will probably get his 15 to 20 points. But, nonetheless, this play on Austin Pea looks solid. Something is not right in Logan. If Austin Pea can shoot just a little bit, they should win this game handily.

I'll be on this one with you. Austin Pea +2.5.

[GitRDone]

Probably because Utah St has won 46 straight home games versus non-conference opponents.

[regularguy]

Probably because Utah St has won 46 straight home games versus non-conference opponents.

Very good point. Thanks for the heads up there.

I will be betting on that streak to end this evening, however.

[perhapsnot]

dang....austin peah...perhaps not.

half point.. richmond and virginia were winners though. Still rootin for oregon and san fran.

[pico]

A.p. did came back a lot from ht. gotta give them some credit. yeah, tough loss, losing by a small margin are the worst.