This is my first list of CBKB Defensive Dandies for the 2015 season. Numbers created in the chart below are through January 2, 2015. Qualifications for Defensive Dandies include the following minimum standards necessary to be a part of the Defensive Dandy Club.
Allow 67 or less points a game
Allow 40% FG% or less
Allow 33% or less from behind the 3 point arc
DO NOT have a negative A/TO margin, TO margin, or Rebound margin
Now let us take a look at our first list of teams that qualify as Defensive Dandies along with their supporting fundamental margins. PPGs and FG% are rounded to the nearest whole number for simplicity.
If we used just the “140” criteria, there would have been 80 teams on this list, nearly 1/3 of the 260 online teams. But, as important as defense is to winning basketball, a team must also control the boards (solid rebound margin), take care of the basketball (a positive turnover margin), and take good shots (a positive assist to turnover ratio). When we add this criteria, we reduce this list to 34 teams, which is the beginning list of our 2015 CBKB Defensive Dandies and MORE!
As a measure of just how successful these teams are for our purposes, consider that the 34 teams listed above are 354-98 SU (78.3%) and 212-141 ATS (60.1%). Think long and hard about fading any of these Defensive Dandies when doing your handicapping each day. They have proven that great defense combined with strong fundamental basketball is a great measure of point spread success.
Buffalo (-6-) at Miami, OH 7:00 ET
Free 2* Buffalo (-6-)
Gone are the hay days of Miami, OH basketball. In the previous 3 seasons, The Red Hawks have recorded a combined 31 wins. This season, they are off to a 5-8 SU start, but those victories have come against S. Utah, Liberty, Longwood, Capitol and UMKC. Hardly, a murderer's row! Now, they must face off against a Buffalo team, who whipped them by 23 and 13 last season. This is a Bull's team that has made a resurrection under 2nd year HC Hurley since he took the job following his Rhode Island tenure. After a 19-10 SU season of last, Hurley's Bulls are off to a 9-3 SU start. But, those losses have come with covers at Kentucky and Wisconsin, as well as a rivalry defeat at St. Bonnie. Their last 8 victories have all come by 6 or more points. Very quietly, they have become the biggest moneymaker in college hoops on a recent run of 23-7 ATS. On opening night of MAC play, at a Millett Hall home where the Red Hawks were just 20-21 SU the previous 3 seasons, expect another comfortable double digit Buffalo victory.