Well gamblers, this is it. The last Saturday of the college basketball regular season is here before the real chips hit the table. Let’s keep the delay to a minimum and get right to the picks so that you can maximize your profits heading straight into the madness.
Austin’s Picks:
UNC (+ 7.5) @ Duke: The annual tobacco road showdown between two college basketball blue bloods will cap off the end of the regular season. North Carolina recently experienced an emotional senior day loss at the hands of a buzzer beater last chance heave from Miami’s Ja’quan Newton. The spread seems a little too much to give the Tar Heels, even on the road at No.5 Duke. The key to this game will be the play of Theo Pinson, and thankfully for the Tar Heels Pinson has been playing the best basketball of his career. Pinson is a versatile defender and a key distributor. In addition, he is scoring at an alarming rate. Pinson’s disrupting ability should be able to infiltrate Duke’s 2-3 zone. North Carolina dominated the offensive glass in the first matchup and they should be able to do it again. The Tar Heels are 9-3 ATS in the last 12 meetings in Duke, and they should improve on that with another cover on saturday.
Belmont (Moneyline) vs Murray St: Murray St has won 11 straight since losing to the Belmont Bruins back in January, but expect the Bruins to end the streak thus punching their ticket to NCAA tournament. The Bruins have proven to be the best team in the Ohio Valley Conference and beat Murray St in their first matchup. I expect the Bruins to open as a one point underdog, and I am planning to roll with the Bruins moneyline. This is a game that should come down to the wire, but the Bruins have come thru with winning close games throughout the season. The Bruins were one of the best teams ATS throughout the season starting out with a 16-2-1 record ATS before stumbling to 3-6 ATS in their last 9 games overall.
Alex’s Picks:
South Carolina (+10.5) @ Auburn:
Well folks, I think it’s safe to say that Bruce Pearl’s deal with the devil has been disrupted in some way over the past two weeks of basketball. After making magic in all ways except pulling a rabbit from a hat for the majority of the season, Pearl’s Tigers have hit a major roadblock after losing big man Anfernee McLemor to injury. Oh, and let’s not forget who sent them into this near-March tailspin. The last time these teams met, just four games ago, South Carolina led by fifteen-plus points for the majority of the game and came out eleven point victors. Yet, they still aren’t even getting single digits from the books here? Come on, Vegas, show some respect. You shouldn’t let me take your money this easily. (Side note: if you’ve got a little extra cash stowed away, take the Cocks on the moneyline. They may damn well win this one outright.)
Editor’s Note: Let’s go Cocks baby, Lock City – Liam
Notre Dame (+9.5) @ UVA:
Road dogs are the name of the game for me today. All superstitions aside, the nation’s number one team (not really, just according to the AP poll and all) has failed to cover the number in four of their last five. Oh, and if it weren’t for divine intervention from every god from Jesus to Allah, they would be coming off a loss to a very mediocre Louisville team to say the least. On the flip side, Notre Dame’s entire season essentially comes down to this game. The Fighting Irish were blindsided by the Bonzie injury early in the season and never really recovered, leading to what has been a very disappointing two month stretch. However, Bonzie is back and recovering, which should give the Irish some real juice. Pair him with Golden God Matt Farrell and you’ve got a team that won’t lose by nine and a half all too often. As long as they can avoid an early blitzkrieg from the Cavs at home, I expect Notre Dame to hang around like the pesky Irishmen they are.
Good luck and good gambling!