NCAAB: Bubble bursting for Notre Dame?
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have a must win game Monday night when they host the Villanova Wildcats.
The Irish have played some good basketball of late, winning four of five heading into the weekend although bettors aren't thrilled with their 2-3 ATS record.
Notre Dame still has a slim chance to make the NCAA tournament if they win at home against St. John's on March 6th and take care of Nova on Monday night.
You can catch the Villanova game on Monday at 7 pm ET as part of ESPN's ‘Big Monday'. It will be followed by Baylor at Texas.
You can get the odds for both games here and don't forget our $20.00 Free Play for New Mobile bettors. The first $20.00 wager you make through your mobile phone on any NCAAB or NBA Half-Time Line is Free.
Just three weeks ago, it appeared Notre Dame had no chance of going to the NCAA Tournament and even an NIT bid might be a pity invite. The Irish had dropped eight straight games, six of which were against ranked teams, and bettors were up in arms with nine straight failures to cover.
The key turnaround was a home game against Louisville on February 12th, where the Cardinals were run out of the building, 90-57 as four-point favorites.
Like Louisville, Villanova is a highly ranked team that is only fighting for seeding in the NCAA tourney. They are on a tremendous run, winning nine out of 10 games heading into the weekend, although they have dropped two of three covers on the road against DePaul and West Virginia.
Looking at the matchups for this game, each team has their leading scorer underneath with Daunte Cunningham for Nova and Luke Harangody for ND. Harangody doesn't project as a star at the NBA level but he is a tremendous college player at over 24 points and 12 rebounds per game.
Harangody's scoring stats are actually down during their recent winning streak and that makes sense because other players are getting involved. Guard Kyle McAlarney has been showing his senior leadership down the stretch and so has guard Ryan Ayers. This is a team that shoots over 40% from three-point land and they are tough to beat when they are on.
Nova is the deeper team overall, especially at the guard position where four of their six leading scorers reside, led by Scottie Reynolds 15.4 PPG. They are also the more athletic team and will try to contest as many three-pointers as possible and force the Irish shooters to put the ball on the floor.
Ultimately though, this is a very winnable game for Notre Dame given they have more to play for and with the leadership of the three seniors who only have two home games remaining.
Watch out for the Irish in this one. For more odds on NCAA games, visit Sportsbook.com
