Thursday's Picks

Because the best way to feign actual knowledge on a subject is an accurate prediction, I introduce The Picks. Every weekday, Monday-Thursday (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!

I'll also be occasionally picking against one of my roommates, Craig, so we can have a rational method of settling all disputes involving rent, household matters, etc.

Last night: An apparently banged up Sean Singletary still almost carried UVA to a cover at Maryland (-7). If I had known he was hurt, I would've picked the Terps and would've won but it would've had nothing to do with Singletary. I was that close to looking unjustly intelligent. Damn. The Dragonslayer That Is Now Again Cincinnati won the Huggy Bowl at WVU (-14) last night... by 23. 60-39. Seriously, that was the score. I've been saying this for years now, but West Virginia plays much better when they go to the strip club before a game. Well, you live and you learn. And A & M (-3), despite previously appearing to be a bad team, destroyed Texas last night as Josh Carter remembered how to shoot. They will now enjoy another week of being overrated. Good for them.

Boston College at North Carolina (-19)- Two huge lines for Duke and UNC tonight, the way it should be when they play almost ANY other team in the ACC. The road team has actually won three of the last four in this series but no one is confusing this sorry-ass BC team with those of the last couple years. The Eagles actually won at Maryland this year which is (suddenly) kinda impressive and they do have some decent inside defenders to stop Hansbrough a bit, but besides Tyrese Rice, I'm not really sure BC has the shotmakers to take advantage of UNC's porous defense and I certainly don't see them slowing down UNC enough to not get destroyed.
The Pick: North Carolina

Craig's Pick- Last time UNC was a 19 point favorite at home against an ACC team in which games had been tight in the past, they lost outright. I’m not too familiar with this BC team, other than that they are not that good. Still, I think 19 is doable.
The Pick: BC

Providence at Notre Dame (-8.5)- Notre Dame has been a weird team this year - in the Big East?! No way!; swear to God. They are 4-2 in conference but have played just one game decided by single digits. Providence is equally as confusing, a staple of the Clusterfuck That Is The Big East, having somehow killed UConn in Storrs but looking awful against any other team of significance. So even though Notre Dame is a great home team and Providence has no chance of being able to guard the Irish, I'm still bracing myself for something unexpected.
The Pick: Notre Dame

Craig's Pick- Providence has no chance of winning this game.
The Pick: Notre Dame

NC State at Duke (-18)- I'm not going to act like NC State doesn't suck a lot, but they do actually match-up pretty well with Duke. The Pack's big weakness is at point guard and the last time I checked Greg Paulus wasn't Gary Payton. Their "strength" is the front line and no matter how good a defensive team Duke is, they still don't have the size to match up with Hickson and others. Plus NC State's bigs are athletic enough to not get killed against Duke's quicker forwards. NC State also has a strong three-point defense and if the Dukies can't get the ball inside, they will surely hoist from all angles. NC State WILL NOT WIN THIS GAME, but they can cover 18.
The Pick: NC State

Craig's Pick- There is no way in hell NC State should be losing by 20 points to most teams in the country with the frontcourt they have. Duke doesn’t even come close to covering this spread – put some real money on this, I am (Ed Note: Since it involves betting on NC State on the road, I am not).
The Pick: NC State

Indiana at Wisconsin (-4)- With the other three games looking like blowouts, this is the one I'm interested in. Both teams had long winning streaks snapped Saturday and both teams are probably ranked higher than they should be (then again, who isn't?). The Badgers have the bodies to keep DJ White from getting too much and I think Michael Flowers and Trevon Hughes can do a decent enough job on Eric Gordon. If neither of those two go off, you are in pretty good shape against Indiana. As a matter of fact, short of Gordon or White getting 30+, I don't see how the Hoosiers can win this game, which probably means this one is too obvious and my mind will be caught in some kind of torturous spiral of logic.
The Pick: Wisconsin

Craig's Pick-Pretty big game in the Big Ten. This is a very tough line because I think it will be a one or two possession game, but I don’t think Indiana will win. The crowd will be up for this game big time.
The Pick: Wisconsin

Last night's record: 2-1
Overall record: 15-14-3

ACC: 2-3
Big 12: 2-3-2
Big East: 4-2-1
Big Ten: 3-1
SEC: 2-2
Missouri Valley: 1-0
West Coast: 1-1
Big West: 0-1
CAA: 0-1

Craig's record: 7-8-2