I know it’s Valentine’s Day, so I shouldn’t be this in love with the NCAA basketball board, but I can’t help myself. There’s some magic in these Monday Matchups.
TL/DR
Mid-Major game(s) of the night:
Saint Louis@Saint Bonaventure(-2) (136)
Southern@Texas Southern(-3) (138)
Picks
Vermont -11.5
Tulsa +7.5
Virginia +4.5
WVU +4
Cleveland St -2*
Niagra +3
South Carolina State +2.5
Games of the night (all times Mountain Time)
Saint Louis@Saint Bonaventure(-2) (136)-3:00 CBS Sports
We talked about this game on Friday. St. Bonavenutre was desperate for a Q1 win, and got one with a 7 point victory on the road against the Billikens. Both teams are running out of opportunities to bolster their resume, so you could view this as a pseudo play-in game. I’m staying away from this game gambling wise, but gun-to-head, I’d take the under. There’s no “feeling each other out”, both teams know what the other is going to do in this matchup. Take some time away from work to watch this game, tell your boss I said so.
Southern@Texas Southern(-3) (138)-6:30 PM N/A
I’m not sure how the hell you’re supposed to watch this game, but I’m sure there’s some network out there showing it that will give your computer Space AIDS. I’m not 100% sure of the winner, but I’m going to make a prediction and say the winner of this game will win the conference. Because the SWAC conference is dumb and made of two different divisions, the loser will be a 3 seed at best while the winner has the inside track to the 1 seed. I think Texas Southern will be the most tournament-ready team between the two of them. They started the season 0-8 due to a gauntlet of a schedule where they played 12 straight road games. They did have a nice Q1 win against Florida to end the losing streak and have been 10-3 since. If you’re forcing me to pick, I’m taking the Texas Southern Tigers-3.
Picks
Vermont-11.5@Hartford
It’s them and everyone else in the American East. They’re shit pumping teams and will continue their dominance tonight.
Tulsa+7.5@UCF
Does UCF have another 7 footer? Probably. Tulsa has been really frisky this year, including a win over Cincy Saturday night. I’ll take the points.
Virginia+4.5@Va. Tech
Mid-majors aside, this is the game of the night. Virginia’s got a 4-game win streak coming into tonight with a HUGE road win @Duke. Virginia Tech has a 5-game win streak and just beat the piss out of another bubble team, Syracuse. KenPom favors Virginia Tech heavily, I’ll ride with the Virginia defense.
West Virginia+4@Kansas State
This has been a nightmare season for my favorite coach in college basketball (Bob Huggins) and the Mountaineers. They’ve lost 8 of their last 9 after starting off the season 13-2. They were bullied in their last game against Oklahoma State, but maybe this is where they turn a corner? This team confuses me.
Niagra+3@Marist
Niagra has some nice wins against Iona and Monmouth, with some absolute headscratchers like their 20 point loss to Fairfield. Not sure which Niagra team will come to play, but I’ll take the points.
South Carolina State+2.5@Morgan State
Morgan State shouldn’t be giving points to anybody. SC State won by 7 last month, I’ll take them moneyline tonight.
Lock of the night
Cleveland State-2@Purdue Fort Wayne
I love Horizon basketball. The top 3 teams (Cleveland State, Oakland and Northern Kentucky) could all pull of a first round upset in March while the next 3 (Wright State, Purdue Fort Wayne, Youngstown State) could pull off an upset in the conference tourney to steal a bid. No upset tonight, the Vikings are a wagon.
The Morning Flush 