Saturday Chatter

[regularguy]

I don't really know the Ivys, and I don't feel like laying that chaulk with St. Mary's (although it might not be a bad wager), so here's a place for some brainstorming about Saturday. Anybody see anything?

Here are some teams I might be interested in:


Notre Dame v. Marquette
(Just a hunch at this point.)

USC at Washington State
(Is the wrong team ranked?)

Colorado v. Oklahoma
(Colorado losing, but giving some teams some fits.)

Texas Tech at Nebraska
(Pat hungry for win number one; still 902 behind Dad.)

Penn State at Michigan
(Penn State has some redeeming qualities; Michigan doesn't.)

Nevada v. Hawaii
(Nevada gelling a bit. Hawaii inconsistent and not traveling well.)

Baylor at Kansas
(Talented Baylor team wants a number in front of their name again, and gunning for it. What's to lose?)

Louisville v. Georgetown
(Louisville tearing it up lately. An elite team (#6) coming to town. Motivation. Might the Cards get a few points in this one, at home?)

Utah State v. San Jose State
(Utah State playing well -- very, very good shooting team. All-American Jaycee Carroll leading the way. San Jose State still San Jose State, on the road; they showed no heart at all at Nevada.)

All depending on the lines of course.

[rjt721]

ILouisville v. Georgetown
(Louisville tearing it up lately. An elite team (#6) coming to town. Motivation. Might the Cards get a few points in this one, at home?)

No chance. I like the Cards quite a bit here, but I'm hoping for -3 and can't envision a scenario with which they're anything less than that. They certainly won't be dogged at home. If you look at it from the perspective that G-town was a 3-pt. dog at WVU (clearly an inferior team than L'ville), I'm inclined to think the Cards, pretty much the consensus most talented team in the conference by most in the preseason, and playing their best ball - fresh off a blowout W at Marquette, I almost think the books may hang a Louisville -4 as the opener, although 3 seems plausible.

USC at Washington State
(Is the wrong team ranked?)

Was initially leaning USC here, but that was mostly under the notion that Wazzou knock off UCLA tonight. 3-straight home losses for Wazzou, coupled with SC's domination over a UW team that's notoriously tough at home, and I think the value is completely gone in playing against WSU, maybe to the point where they're a short home fave here and worth a play.

Penn State at Michigan
(Penn State has some redeeming qualities; Michigan doesn't.)

Kinda like UM here. Think they're improving and this presents one of the few winnable games in conf. play. PSU's win over MSU was an anomaly, IMO, and without Claxton they're basically UM's equal, both struggling immensely to score in the half court. I'd lean to the home team in what could be a pk or short chalk spot.

Baylor at Kansas
(Talented Baylor team wants a number in front of their name again, and gunning for it. What's to lose?)

Yeah, I like Baylor here as well. They're one of the few teams in that conference that can at least come close to matching Kansas in terms of talent and athleticism. Just a very solid squad, and they'll likely be getting 13 or so. Baylor can certainly give them a game. I will prob. be playing Baylor Sat.

Good luck.

[regularguy]

Very good points. Thanks for the input, rjt721.

[regularguy]

After seeing the lines, I'll focus on these:

Texas Tech +4 (at Nebraska)
Penn State +4.5 (at Michigan)
Nevada -10 (v. Hawaii)
Baylor +18 (at Kansas)


Still chewing on:

Louisville -2.5 (v. Georgetown)
USC +5 (at Washington State)



Also, will check out:

Purdue +10 (at Wisconsin)
Utah -2.5 (at Air Force)
La Tech -2 (v. Idaho)




Any thoughts??????

[EaglesPhan36]

I'm probably playing more of the mid-major or lesser conferences tomorrow. Not liking a whole lot with the majors, no opinions on those ... but looking at ...

Vandy ML
Houston ML

[Crayzee]

duke has got to be a little sluggish tomorrow after beating nc

bc is a no brainer for me

bc 1st half maybe even better

[awhitejackson]

Gotta go with ND here...They are a complete team with strong inside and outside play they can go to either when in trouble..Marquette relies on outside guards play and speed which can (and has on 4 occasions) lead to blowout losses when the inside game just does not exist....If they get down, they have proven to have difficulties cathching up and the trend is for them to bleed points trying to catchup with outside shooting and forced lane plays...Beyond this ND is virtually unstoppable at home and will bury Marquette tommorow with grind out style...Easy play here if it stays at 4 or 5.....

[MOMONEY]

duke has got to be a little sluggish tomorrow after beating nc

bc is a no brainer for me

bc 1st half maybe even better

I certainly wouldn't say that BC is lock. I bet them when they went to UNC and they were catching 18.5. They were down 30 most of the game. Duke is incredible at home and will force many turnovers. Duke usually isn't sluggish either b/c Coach K doesn't allow them to be. I like duke to cover.

[onlooker]

Careful with Penn State with Claxton OUT (leading scorer) and Cornley (2nd leading scorer) listed as QUESTIONABLE. I had them marked as a ML play, but will scratch them off my list.