College Basketball Betting – Weekend of March 6, 2010
Sportsbook.com has all the latest College Basketball betting odds for this weekend. Check out Sportsbook.com here
NCAAB: West Virginia at Villanova
In some conferences, like the Big East, there is still a ton of tournament seeding yet to be determined by games of Saturday and Sunday.
One of the best contests is a matchup between the West Virginia Mountaineers and Villanova Wildcats at noon ET on CBS.
Be sure to follow the latest lines and key betting information for this contest and the rest of Saturday's board on the LIVE ODDS & GAME MATCHUPS pages of Sportsbook.com.
The impact on the Big East standings will be minimal, but for West Virginia (23-6, 12-16 ATS), this trip to Philadelphia is very meaningful. The Mountaineers, who are 6-4 and 4-6 ATS as visitors, lack a defining road win all season, with a December victory at Seton Hall probably the best of the lot.
West Virginia plays many of the aspects of basketball expertly, however they lack a true point guard and a shooter at the end of the game. WVU lost earlier at home to Villanova and is 1-5 ATS revenging a straight up loss vs. opponent as a favorite.
Has the lack of Wildcats scoring and defense in the low blocks finally caught up to them? The immediate answer would be yes, as Nova has fallen four times since Feb. 6. Opposing teams are brazenly attacking Villanova (24-5, 18-10 ATS) at the rim and coach Jay Wright's team is drawing fouls.
Most of the points in the lane come on dribble penetration or put-backs, not conventional scoring. The Wildcats are 21-11 ATS playing a team with a winning record past the mid-point of schedule since last year.
One interesting trend to note regarding this head-to-head series is that the straight up winner is 15-0 ATS dating back to 1999.
In other words, pick the game winner, pick the spread winner.
StatFox Power Line: Villanova by 4.
NCAAB: Kansas at Missouri
The Kansas Jayhawks fell from No.1 and lost their unbeaten regular season in the Big 12 at Oklahoma State last Saturday and have one more treacherous stop left.
Kansas' most immediate goal is to secure a #1 seed for the Big Dance, and a loss against the Missouri Tigers on Saturday could derail that goal.
Get the latest line for this game on the LIVE ODDS page of Sportsbook.com.
Kansas played outstanding, crushing Kansas State by 17 points last week and have one last conference clash as they travel to the home of their most bitter rival Missouri (22-8, 14-10 ATS).
Kansas coach Bill Self has seen his team routinely build 20+ point leads and win by less, which is a big reason why the Jayhawks are only 11-15-1 ATS. That should not be a problem in Columbia, however a 2-13 ATS record after winning 18 or more of their last 20 games over the last three seasons is.
Missouri is in the Big Dance and an upset could improve their seeding dramatically. The Tigers are ferocious at home with a 16-1 record (8-4 ATS), winning by 23.8 points per game. Mizzou's backcourt is like an unmarked stove, you're never sure what area is hot, and once determined, that player can stay hot until the next one emerges.
Missouri guards Kim English and Zaire Taylor are the most likely to heat up quickly, but sub Marcus Denmon has shown proclivity to ripping the chords also. Missouri needs its pressure defense to force miscues and turn them into points and is 8-2 ATS versus offensive clubs scoring 77 or more points game in 2009-10.
Missouri is 5-11 and 5-9-2 ATS in "Border Wars" since 2001 and the team with the higher three-point shooting percent is 16-0 SU.
The StatFox Power Line shows pick em' but this is what Steve Makinen had to say about this affair: For having just 27 total samples since '97, I figure this particular FoxSheet system should be in play for at least three of four games this week alone: Play Against - Home teams where the line is +3 to -3 (MISSOURI) - very good team - outscoring their opponents by 8+ points/game, in March games. (23-4 since 1997.) (85.2%, +18.6 units. Rating = 3*). Think about why this is successful. If a team is that good, playing at home, and the line is not more than 3-points, you have to assume the visiting opponent is a better club. That is the case here. The Jayhawks spanked the Tigers by 19 points in January and already suffered their learning loss last Saturday. HC Bill Self won't be fooled two straight weeks.
Play: Kansas
NCAAB: Syracuse at Louisville
The Syracuse Orange wrapped up the regular season Big East title, and with that comes the #1 seed in next week's league tournament.
Of course, the Orange are thinking even further ahead than that, hoping for an overall #1 seed in the Big Dance. A loss to the Louisville Cardinals on Saturday would not help that cause. On the other bench, Louisville should be in the tourney itself, but an upset of the nation's top ranked team would cement it.
Can the Cardinals pull it off? Most bettors at Sportsbook.com don't figure to go that way, but you still can.
The last team to finish 9-0 on the Big East road was Connecticut ,11 years ago, and that team went on to win a national championship. Syracuse (28-2, 19-7 ATS) is perfect thus far as conference guests and would love to saunter down a similar path this season.
The Orangemen are also 11-0 SU and 10-1 ATS away from Syracuse.
It has been an escalator ride for Louisville (19-11, 9-16 ATS) this season; going down after loss at St. John's by 19 and going right back up when they knocked off Syracuse in New York in the next outing. This is not your typical Rick Pitino club, normally peaking at this time, instead when asked where his team was headed late in the season, his response was "next game".
This has been a team marked with inconsistency, making them an unsafe wager at home, where the Cardinals are 14-4, with a rueful 4-9 ATS mark. This will be the last game at Freedom Hall, where Louisville has won over 80 percent of their games in this building since playing their starting in the 1957/58 season.
Not many matchups with Louisville, still a relative newcomer to Big East, yet Syracuse is 0-5 and 0-4-1 ATS the last three years. Still, the StatFox Power Line shows Syracuse by 4.
CBB: North Carolina at Duke
The ESPN Gameday crew will be in Durham on Saturday night for another installment of college basketball's greatest rivalry, as Duke hosts North Carolina.
The Duke Blue Devils won the earlier meeting in Chapel Hill, somewhat comfortably, but could be hard pressed to beat a pointspread that more accurately reflects UNC's struggles this time around. However, this could be one of those games where oddsmakers at Sportsbook.com over-adjust for the rivalry aspect while ignoring the obvious signs.
Given the choice, ESPN would probably rather telecast great moments in North Carolina and Duke history, since this doesn't set up to be one. The UNC Tar Heels (16-14, 10-18 ATS) started the season with seven McDonald's All-Americans and as the regular season closes, it appears Roy Williams picked up seven guys that ate at Micky D's in his most frustrating season.
North Carolina has shown a pulse lately winning and covering last two contests, yet UNC is 0-9 ATS facing teams outscoring foes by eight or more points after 15 or more contests.
It's senior night for starters G Jon Scheyer, C Brian Zoubek and F Lance Thomas and what better way to go out than ACC regular season champs (or co-champs) with a win over their most hated rival.
This is most versatile Duke (25-5, 17-11-1 ATS) team in a number of seasons as the year wore on, still needing Scheyer, Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler to score, but the contributions have been coming in from different areas on game by game basis. The Blue Devils are 16-0 and 10-5 ATS at Cameron Indoor Stadium this campaign, winning by super-sized 26.1 points per game.
This however is normally very competitive matchup, with the Dukies 7-5 with 2-10 ATS home record against Carolina Blue since 1997. The StatFox Power Line shows Duke by 16.
