College Hoops 1/27-2/3

With the football season winding down, it’s time to start shifting our attention to college basketball before the greatest 3 weeks of the year: March Madness. In the words of John Rothstein: this is only January, but let’s take a look at some marquee matchups this week…and Wyoming.

Wyoming@SDSU (1/28-1/30)

This young Wyoming team grew during the second half of a Boise State beatdown. Yes, they split 2 games in a disappointing road series against Air Force,  but Wyoming basketball coach Jeff Linder has this team playing well after sweeping Nevada at home. It’ll be impossible for Wyoming to make the NCAA tournament with losses such as Texas Southern and Air Force on their Resume; however, this team can assert themselves as a contender for the future. The next 3 series will be a gauntlet for the Pokes: a home series against the Cesspool of Sin University is sandwiched in-between trips to San Diego and Utah State. We’re about to find out what this young team is made of and Cowboys fans should be ecstatic. 

1/27-No. 17 Creighton@Seton Hall

With potentially 5 tournament teams, the Big East has several compelling matchups this week. Creighton rebounded from an overtime loss @Butler and at home vs Providence with a home victory over No. 23 UConn. I don’t know what the line is with this game, but my numbers say Creighton -2.5. I like Creighton to make a statement in this game. 

1/28-No. 3 Villanova@UConn

Uconn fell out of the top 25 after losses to St. John’s at home and Creighton on the road, but took care of business Tuesday night against Butler. Villanova is clearly one of the best teams in the nation, but has played just 2 games in the month of January. I might sprinkle the money line on UConn if the spread is any more than 5.5 (also probably betting the over in this game regardless of the line).

1/29- No. 22 St. Louis@Richmond/No. 7 Iowa@No.19 Illinois

St. Louis will fall out of the top 25 after losing to Dayton, but they competed well for not having played since Christmas. The A-10 and Big East will be interesting to watch with the tournament worthy teams in each conference, but each game will have added intensity with some of these teams getting snubbed. The nightcap game includes two of the most dynamic players in the country with Luka Garza of Iowa and Ayo Dosunmu from Illinois. I’ve lost a lot of bets on the Illini, so I may stay away from the action on this game, but I will definitely watch for fan purposes as this game will be electric. 

1/30- Half of the Big12/SEC Showdown games

I love these random intraconference games in the middle of the season, and some of the matchups from this weekend are phenomenal. I’ve personally been confused and somewhat irritated with how wide open the SEC is this year, but the parody will surely make for some compelling matchups and heartbreak when it comes to bubble teams later in the year. Not a knock on Alabama, but the number 9 ranking seems a bit fraudulent, but their matchup against Oklahoma on the road this weekend gives them an opportunity to prove themselves. Not even Paul Finebaum can save this conference. BOOMER SOONER. 

2/1- No. 24 Oklahoma@No. 10 Texas Tech

The Big12 has been must watch basketball all season and this game will be no different. Oklahoma will be going through the ringer heading into February as they upset No. 5 Texas on the road last night, will face No. 9 Alabama at home on Saturday and No. 10 Texas Tech on the road Monday. Texas Tech showed the ability to run with teams Monday @ West Virginia and are still excellent defensively and I’m also never betting against Mac McClung again… until the tournament. 

 2/2- No. 2 Baylor@No. 5 Texas

Texas will fall in the rankings after losing a heartbreaker at home to their rivals OU last night, but like I said before: the Big12 is electric. When I think of Baylor basketball, I think of a bunch of lengthy 6’8-6’10 big dudes with 7.5 wingspans who can shoot and defend the rim. Although their team is still filled with these athletes, they’re led in scoring by Junior Guard Jared Butler who can fill it up. It’ll be interesting to see the line for this game, but gimme the Bears.