I know most of you are keyed in on the NCAA football games, but there's a huge slate of college basketball games happening too…at least here in the western states and I'm kind of excited about a few of them.
Two games I've already bet.
#67 Colorado -4 at #123 Portland. Colorado is coming off an embarrassing 58-72 loss to Colorado State and will want to bounce back before they host Xavier next Tuesday. I don't see this as a lookahead spot as much as a lets-get-our-shit-together spot. Portland's only wins have come against average teams and the Buffalos are a horse of a different color. In fact, Portland won't see any other real competition until they play Gonzaga a month from now.
#250 CS Northridge -8 hosting #294 Idaho State. Idaho State has lost every game by 9 or more except their last game against #297 Lamar. Now they make the trip to Los Angeles to play the lowly #165 CSUN Matadors. Northridge is 2-5 so far, but their losses have all been road games agains mostly top 100 teams. They've won both home games and I know this is Coach Reggie Theus' best team yet. On top of that, Idaho State heads to #14 /Wisconsin for a Wednesday beatdown. The Bengals may see this as their sole chance for a win, but they just don't have to depth or talent to beat the Matadors.
Other games that stand out that I'm looking at:
#218 San Jose State -4 hosting #211 Santa Clara. Santa Clara has done nothing, losing every game of any significance so far while San Jose State is coming off convincing wins at Washington State 88-76 and at Idaho 58-49. I'm not looking for a barnburner, but I think the Spartans take this one by 8+.
#127 UNLV at #107 ASU. No line yet. I'm intrigued as to what the line will be. These teams play every year and it's never predictable. UNLV is like a Vegas **** on her 4th conventioneer at Happy Hour. You never know if she'll come out with some fire or she'll just count ceiling tiles. The total (over five tricks(the Penn and Teller of Vegas hoops)) might be the best bet. I'll post more after the lines come out.
….and the most intriguing game for me is #11 Gonzaga -5 at #28 Arizona 141-143 OU depending on where you look. Neither of these teams give up a lot of points nor do either score a lot of points, at least not against real competition. I doubt either coach wants to see a shootout so I expect this one to go under the total. I haven't seen the Zags at all this year so I don't know what their makeup is, but Arizona and some really big, talented guys so I'm on the fence as to who wins.
I'm looking at 4 other match ups and will post more picks tomorrow.
BOL with whatever you do.