College Hoops Preview

This is a critical week with some conferences already starting conference championships and others with marquee matchups heading into the last few weeks of the regular season. As fired up as I was for Michigan beating those jabronies from Columbus on Sunday, they still have matchups against two top-10 teams and back-to-back games against little brother. A lot can happen in these next few weeks, so let’s get into it. 

2/25 No.9 Iowa@No. 3 Michigan

On a day with several pivotal PAC-12 games, a B1G game steals their thunder with two top 10 teams. As optimistic as I am after Sunday’s performance, this is an easy let down spot for Michigan. It might come down to which 7 foot white dude can defend the other the best between Hunter Dickinson and Luka Garza. I don’t trust either one of those NAFs to stop the other, so I’ll take over 155 and root for chaos. Hail to the victors. 

No. 19 USC@Colorado 

The Buffs are favored in this system play, but I’m hesitant to put any action on this game. UC is looking for its first resume worthy win after Oregon wet themselves against Oregon State and Wazzu amongst Covid issues. A win at home against an inconsistent USC team doesn’t solidify their tournament chances, but it could set them up to where they don’t have to play the Trojans again until the finals in the PAC-12 Championship. I actually like under 136 in this matchup. 

BSU@No. 22 SDSU (and 2/27)

This is going to be a great series to watch this weekend and it’s a shame those dirtbags from Fort Collins will probably leapfrog one of these teams in the standings. Both of these teams have 3 losses, but CSU has a couple of cupcakes left on their schedule to claim an unwarranted number 2 spot. Everyone knows who the two best teams in the MW are and it’s these two. I expect a split in this series, but I’ll take BSU to cover the 6.5 tonight. 

1st round Horizon League Tournament (UIC@Youngstown St)

If you ask me, it’s pretty ridiculous to be playing a tournament when some teams in the league haven’t played 18 games yet, but welcome to quarantine basketball. If you care about which team will be playing Gonzaga as a 16 seed, Wright State and Cleveland State are the favorites to win the tournament, but I’ll be watching Youngstown State closely tonight. Between the underdogs in this bracket, I like YSU and Northern Kentucky to potentially pull off an “upset”. YSU has won 7 or their last 8. I don’t care if it was against the sisters of the poor, the fact they’ve gone the entire season without a Covid mishap is a win. It also pisses me off that this tournament starts today and the next round doesn’t start until March 2nd, what’re we doin’?

2/27 No.14 Texas@No. 18 Texas Tech

After a couple games where Tech won on a miracle, water found its level and they’re on a three game skid after an 11 day Covid shutdown. I still really like them going into the tournament, but they need a get right game bad rather than the gauntlet they’ve gone through. I expect Texas to be favored by a couple points in this game and it might be wise to lay the points and take Texas until Tech can figure it out. 

Oklahoma State@No. 7 OU

Any team in the Big 12 can beat the other on any given night. I love both of these teams and I’ll add to the echo chamber when I say Cade Cunningham is a monster. I have no clue who will win, but I expect this to be the basketball version of Bedlam with a billion points. I’m hammering the over and having fun watching the scoreboard blow up. 

No. 2 Baylor@No. 17 Kansas

I’ll finally say something nice about Kansas: they had a get right series against Iowa State exactly when they needed it and have been playing up to their potential since. I’m not impressed with their 18 point win against K-State or their win against Texas Tech after they couldn’t touch a basketball for 11 days. Their OT loss to Texas might’ve been their most impressive game in 2 weeks. Baylor will come out pissed off after almost pooping the bed against the best 2 win team ever in Iowa State. I’m taking Baylor. 

No. 5 Illinois@No. 23 Wisconsin or Louisville@Duke

I skipped the Illinois@Wisconsin game initially because I think everyone is so down on Wisconsin that we’re not sure what the line will be. Regardless, don’t expect Illinois to look past them, there’s blood in the water for the second seed of the B1G and they won’t waste a game. I’ll take Illinois regardless of the points. 

Everybody jumping on the Duke bandwagon saying “they’re back in the tournament conversation” was obvious after their game against NC State. It was apparent if they upset an extremely overrated No. 7 Virginia team, everyone would be back on. I’m sorry America, you’ll hear more of it after they beat Louisville on Saturday. Depends on the line, but I’ll take Duke for now.  

No. 9 Iowa@No. 4 Ohio State

If you look hard enough, there are several nuggets on Sunday such as Michigan State@Maryland and Nevada@Utah State amongst other terrible matchups, but none bigger than this B1G matchup. The number 2 seed in the B1G is up for grabs between 3 teams, so every game is magnified. Expect this to feel like the Michigan@OSU matchup from last weekend. I think Hunter Dickinson exploited the OSU defense a bit, so watch Luka Garza go for a million in this one. I like Iowa in a close one, hopefully we get some points to play with. 

With the tournament just around the corner, college hoops take over most of my life, but I will start paying attention to other sports. I might need some help with hockey, but we’ll get through this time without football, it takes all of us. Love you guys.