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There’s some quality college basketball goin’ up.... on a Tuesday! The night kicks off in Madison Square Garden and ends in Laramie, Wyoming, which is just how the hoops junkies want it. It’s the evenings like these that determine who’s in and who’s out come Selection Sunday, so let’s find whom to back and whom to fade tonight.
You can see all the lines from today’s schedule as of this morning here.
Villanova -3.5 @ St. John’s
We are fully cognizant of the Jay Wright Letdown (TM) and know it is indeed coming, but it won’t be tonight near Penn Station. The ‘Cats have won six in a row, most of them close, but new head coach Mike Anderson just doesn’t have the horses to operate the 40 Minutes of Hell offense he’d like to bring to the World’s Most Famous Arena... yet.
It’s a battle of pace that VU will want to slow down and SJU will want to speed up. Pairing VU with under the 147.5 total is the play.
Cincinnati -5 vs. SMU
Here’s our deeper breakdown from earlier today of two teams that need an NCAA-appealing win tonight in Southern Ohio.
Texas A&M +10 @ Tennessee
Rick Barnes laying double-digits in conference play? Always!
The Aggies are in a full remodel, but they play stifling, nationally-ranked defense that translates on the road. You could lock both these teams in an empty gym for two hours with no defense and neither might score 60 points, so we lean under the 119.5 here as well. But that line is just a bit too much, because if it’s close you know a Buzz Williams team can execute and manage the game better if it’s close. Vols escape, Reveille covers.
Utah State vs. Wyoming Over 127
Wyoming is one of the worst non-HBCU teams in America, and USU should run away with it even while breathing hard in the Laramie elevation. But how much air sucking will be done? Not so much to keep the deep-enough Aggies from putting up about 80 by themselves while keeping their postseason hopes alive. Then all the ‘Pokes need is 50 and you’re paid.
It’s college basketball, someone has to score at home, and the Cowboys have gone over five of their last six games. Plus rooting for points is a fun way to get all excited before bedtime!
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