Vanderbilt out to climb over Wall, Kentucky
John Wall and the Wildcats gave the Commodores an 85-72 spanking when the SEC rivals met in the Blue Grass State in January. Though he scored 13 points and dished nine assists, the Kentucky freshman had a poor game with just 4-of-12 shooting and a whopping seven turnovers. Vanderbilt seeks a little payback at home in Music City where the 'Dores have skinned the 'Cats five of their last six trips.
Say what you will about the people at ESPN – and believe me, I’ve said my share. But they still do a very good job with college sports, and they’ve poured a lot of resources into positioning their BracketBuster coverage as must-see television.
We’re going to get a rare glimpse this weekend of some of this year’s top mid-majors, teams we need to know more about, like the William & Mary Tribe (14-7-1 ATS) and the Northern Iowa Panthers (16-9 ATS). This is where the value is.
Of course, we also want to see some great basketball. We’re in for a treat with these two marquee matchups; all four teams involved have been profitable thus far, but one stands head and shoulders above the rest.
No. 2 Kentucky at No. 19 Vanderbilt (-1½, 154½)
Saturday, 6 p.m. (ET) - ESPN
It’s not the Wildcats (25-1 SU, 13-11 ATS), although they are the highest-ranked team of this foursome on the AP poll at No. 2. Full credit to Kentucky for staying in the black this year despite the hype surrounding the arrival of coach John Calipari and freshman sensation John Wall (17.0 points, 6.5 assists, 4.1 rebounds per game). That’s how dominant the Wildcats have been, even if they do play in the relatively soft SEC.
Vanderbilt (20-5 SU, 13-10 ATS) is not one of those soft opponents. Just look at Thursday night’s 82-78 road win over Ole Miss (-3). The No. 17 Commodores may have their weaknesses on defense, but scoring isn’t a problem at all: 6-foot-11 Australian center A.J. Ogilvy dumped 27 points on the Rebels, including 11-of-13 from the free-throw line. The OVER is 14-7 for the Dores this year and 8-1 during the past nine games.
Vandy is also a very impressive 13-0 at home (6-5 ATS), so Kentucky is going to have its hands full Saturday night at the Gymnasium in Nashville. But the Wildcats are the better team on paper, and the best offensive rebounding team in Division I. They’re also amazingly disciplined; opponents don’t get to the line very often against Kentucky, one of the few teams in the nation that can match the Commodores size-for-size.
When the ‘Cats and the ‘Dores met last month in Lexington, it was UK with the decisive 39-21 rebounding advantage in an 85-72 victory, cashing in as 8½-point home faves. The betting odds should remain in Kentucky’s favor for the rematch.
Virginia Tech at No. 6 Duke
Sunday, 7:45 p.m. (ET) - FSN
Apparently the Dukies didn’t get the memo reminding them to fall apart by the end of the season. The wallet-filling Blue Devils (22-4 SU, 16-8-1 ATS) are on top of the ACC, the toughest conference in Division I according to Ken Pomeroy’s efficiency stats. They’ve won all five of their games in February at 3-1-1 ATS. Is this really happening?
Virginia Tech is next in line with a chance to puncture Duke’s balloon on Sunday. The Hokies (21-4 SU, 10-9 ATS), like the Blue Devils, suffered all four of their losses on the road. They’ve also won all five of their games this month (at 3-2 ATS) to stay 1.5 games behind Duke in the ACC standings. But that’s about where the comparisons end. The Hokies are a very strong road team at 5-3 SU and 5-2 ATS, but Duke has yet to be beaten at Cameron Indoor Stadium this year at 14-0 SU and a glorious 10-3 ATS.
There’s also a major difference in offensive talent between these two clubs. The Hokies get by almost entirely on defense; they rank No. 248 out of the 347 Division I teams with an effective field-goal percentage of 47.0. They shoot poorly from everywhere on the floor, leaning heavily on stud point guard Malcolm Delaney (20.2 points, 4.1 assists per game) to create and get to the foul line.
Duke counters with the top-ranked offense in the country as well as a very capable defense. This contest could turn out to be not much of a contest
John Wall and the Wildcats gave the Commodores an 85-72 spanking when the SEC rivals met in the Blue Grass State in January. Though he scored 13 points and dished nine assists, the Kentucky freshman had a poor game with just 4-of-12 shooting and a whopping seven turnovers. Vanderbilt seeks a little payback at home in Music City where the 'Dores have skinned the 'Cats five of their last six trips.
Say what you will about the people at ESPN – and believe me, I’ve said my share. But they still do a very good job with college sports, and they’ve poured a lot of resources into positioning their BracketBuster coverage as must-see television.
We’re going to get a rare glimpse this weekend of some of this year’s top mid-majors, teams we need to know more about, like the William & Mary Tribe (14-7-1 ATS) and the Northern Iowa Panthers (16-9 ATS). This is where the value is.
Of course, we also want to see some great basketball. We’re in for a treat with these two marquee matchups; all four teams involved have been profitable thus far, but one stands head and shoulders above the rest.
No. 2 Kentucky at No. 19 Vanderbilt (-1½, 154½)
Saturday, 6 p.m. (ET) - ESPN
It’s not the Wildcats (25-1 SU, 13-11 ATS), although they are the highest-ranked team of this foursome on the AP poll at No. 2. Full credit to Kentucky for staying in the black this year despite the hype surrounding the arrival of coach John Calipari and freshman sensation John Wall (17.0 points, 6.5 assists, 4.1 rebounds per game). That’s how dominant the Wildcats have been, even if they do play in the relatively soft SEC.
Vanderbilt (20-5 SU, 13-10 ATS) is not one of those soft opponents. Just look at Thursday night’s 82-78 road win over Ole Miss (-3). The No. 17 Commodores may have their weaknesses on defense, but scoring isn’t a problem at all: 6-foot-11 Australian center A.J. Ogilvy dumped 27 points on the Rebels, including 11-of-13 from the free-throw line. The OVER is 14-7 for the Dores this year and 8-1 during the past nine games.
Vandy is also a very impressive 13-0 at home (6-5 ATS), so Kentucky is going to have its hands full Saturday night at the Gymnasium in Nashville. But the Wildcats are the better team on paper, and the best offensive rebounding team in Division I. They’re also amazingly disciplined; opponents don’t get to the line very often against Kentucky, one of the few teams in the nation that can match the Commodores size-for-size.
When the ‘Cats and the ‘Dores met last month in Lexington, it was UK with the decisive 39-21 rebounding advantage in an 85-72 victory, cashing in as 8½-point home faves. The betting odds should remain in Kentucky’s favor for the rematch.
Virginia Tech at No. 6 Duke
Sunday, 7:45 p.m. (ET) - FSN
Apparently the Dukies didn’t get the memo reminding them to fall apart by the end of the season. The wallet-filling Blue Devils (22-4 SU, 16-8-1 ATS) are on top of the ACC, the toughest conference in Division I according to Ken Pomeroy’s efficiency stats. They’ve won all five of their games in February at 3-1-1 ATS. Is this really happening?
Virginia Tech is next in line with a chance to puncture Duke’s balloon on Sunday. The Hokies (21-4 SU, 10-9 ATS), like the Blue Devils, suffered all four of their losses on the road. They’ve also won all five of their games this month (at 3-2 ATS) to stay 1.5 games behind Duke in the ACC standings. But that’s about where the comparisons end. The Hokies are a very strong road team at 5-3 SU and 5-2 ATS, but Duke has yet to be beaten at Cameron Indoor Stadium this year at 14-0 SU and a glorious 10-3 ATS.
There’s also a major difference in offensive talent between these two clubs. The Hokies get by almost entirely on defense; they rank No. 248 out of the 347 Division I teams with an effective field-goal percentage of 47.0. They shoot poorly from everywhere on the floor, leaning heavily on stud point guard Malcolm Delaney (20.2 points, 4.1 assists per game) to create and get to the foul line.
Duke counters with the top-ranked offense in the country as well as a very capable defense. This contest could turn out to be not much of a contest