Blind Prognostication: Monday's Picks

Because the best way to feign actual knowledge on a subject is an accurate prediction, I introduce the Picks. Every weekday (hopefully) I will pick the televised games of the night, against the spread of course, and follow the results to see if I actually know something about basketball. The results should be both entertaining (for readers) and soul-crushing (for me). And if I'm wrong, I'll just do what all the TV "experts" do: never bring it up again and avoid all accountability. And since I won't be betting actual money (that often), I win every time!

Georgetown (-1.5) at Pittsburgh- The Hoyas are only 5-6 against the spread this season, which shouldn't surprise anyone. They simply don't score enough and play at too slow a tempo to blow teams out and cover the spread. But that was before Roy Hibbert, the premier marksman of our generation, decided to shake loose from the robotic android programming that doomed him to a life of emotion-less paint-dwelling and roam free along the perimeter, uninhibited, to be the ball-chucking, sharp-shooting Roy Hibbert he was born to be. After the game Saturday he was seen roaming the Georgetown campus in a silk suit and a fedora, supporting Dennis Kucinich and escorting four co-eds to Planned Parenthood for some safe, mid-afternoon fun.
The Pick: Georgetown

Oklahoma at Kansas (-16.5)- I'm always skeptical of Kansas teams, I've been lured by their promising March Madness siren song one too many times. But what this year's team has that others have lacked is a swagger, an expectation that they will vanquish all foes and shall perform no less than four alley-oops in doing so. Not that they will lose to Bucknell. That being said, this line is pretty high. Oklahoma is coming off a home loss to Kansas State and its woefully thin bench should suffer at the hands of Kansas' interchangeable band of ballers, but they have played Memphis pretty close, won a very tough road game at West Virginia and has the athletes (namely Blake Griffin) to cause some match-up problems. They are probably going to lose the second half by about 10, so they need the first half to be close, and I think it will be.
The Pick: Oklahoma

Gonzaga (-13) at Pepperdine- As much as Pepperdine blows, this was once a heated West Coast Conference rivalry, which generally means you throw the records out. But recently, the Zags have been blowing out the Waves, winning four of their last five at Pepperdine by 10 or more. I'm still not sold on Gonzaga, they have begun to resemble a major conference team, which is fine, but it has stripped them of all the qualities (veteran leadership, willing role players, superior chemistry) that made them so dangerous as an underdog in past years. Seeing all these All-Americans makes me yearn for the days of Matt Santangelo, Casey Calvary and Richie Fraham. If I were betting actual money, I'd stay away from this one.
The Pick: Gonzaga

Yesterday's record: 0-0
Overall record: 0-0