Sat, 11-22
Umass vs Notre Dame (neutral court site in Connecticut)
I faded Umass against BC and was feeling like I made a solid bet when BC was up by 8 after the first half. However Umass came out on fire for the 2nd and got the cover. I went back to the well with BC against West Virginia and it paid off so now I am going to try my luck fading Umass again. I think losing star point guard Chaz Williams hurts Umass more than people realize and I don't think trying to replace his production with West Virginia transfer Jabarie Hinds is the answer. I saw Hinds play many times while he was at WVU and almost always came away disappointed. Umass is 3-0 on the season but they needed double OT to get the win in their last game against Manhattan and didn't look good for half the game against BC. Meanwhile I think Notre Dame is underrated. They lost leading scorer Jerian Grant to suspension midway through last season and pretty much fell apart. Now Grant is back along with 3 other starters and this team looks solid so far with three convincing wins. Umass likes to play fast but Notre Dame doesn't which will make it tough for Umass to come back if they get down early. I think we have a classic buy low/sell high situation on our hands here.
OFFICIAL RECOMMENDATION: NOTRE DAME -3.5