(833) BUFFALO vs. (834) WEST VIRGINIA
Take: (834) WEST VIRGINIA -4.5
Right off the bat, yes. I’m leery about laying points with any team the way things have gone so far in this tournament. But there are a series of checkpoints I like to utilize to try and gain an advantage and the majority of those appear to favor West Virginia here.
The easy edge is the site. Columbus is only about 200 miles from Morgantown, so chances are a good portion of the in person audience here will be comprised of those very loyal and very noisy West Virginia fans. Don’t underestimate this aspect. Over the years, owning a site advantage has been a plus in the NCAA tournament.
The Mountaineers come into this game having lose three of four games, but bear in mind they played those games without two key players, including senior leader Juwan Staten. That duo is apparently now good to go once again, and the presence of Staten is big for the Mountaineers.
I like this Buffalo team. Bobby Hurley has done some outstanding work as the head coach and the Bulls are no pushover. They take pretty good care of the basketball for the most part, so perhaps the Bulls don’t get forced into turnovers against the West Virginia pressure and physicality. But this is still a type of defense Buffao hasn’t really seen, and they could eventually get worn down.
One thing I’m sure of is that there will be no fear on the Buffalo sidelines. This team gave Kentucky fits for a half and also played well enough in a respectable loss at Wisconsin. It’s time for the big conference schools to accept the fact there is no longer a deer in the headlights syndrome.
That being said, I believe this matchup does favor West Virginia. Both teams like to play fast. The worst games for West Virginia this season were against Baylor, a team that took the tempo out of the Mountaineers control and the Bears ended up beating WVU three straight times. That won’t be an issue here and I happen to believe that’s a variable that is a good one for the favorite. It’s not easy to play any NCAA favorite right now, but I’m going to take my chances with West Virginia today.
--
When I find big value I fire big no matter how popular (or how secondary) a game is on the schedule. I know the average fun is focused on the NCAAs - but I uncovered special value in the NIT, and so it's my CBB Game of Month for March.