Tuesday'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!

I'll also be 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: I said yesterday I wouldn't give a flying fuck about the Syracuse game because the Giants won Sunday and, well, that didn't really work out. Of course, when the referees completely screw your team out of getting an OT road win vs. a top 10 team, effectively ending any hopes of making the NCAAs, well it can be a bit irksome. That's all I'm going to say on it, I could bang out about 3,000 words if I got going, just thank God I picked Cuse ATS. The Texas-Oklahoma State game was a push after an OK St hit a Duhon-esque, meaningless 25-footer with one second left to hit the line (+2) on the number. Such plays are reason alone to never ever ever bet on basketball. If I had bet actual money on the game, I'd be in Mexico right now. And the Zags couldn't cover 19.5 late-night after realizing they were playing San Francisco and just wanted to chill before Saturday's game vs. Memphis. Actually, I'm pretty sure Josh Heyvelt thought he was riding an ostrich through a town made of spaghetti. He had six points and seven boards.

And in my first standoff with my roommate Craig, who will be picking against me all season, we managed to push even though we had the exact opposite picks. As a result, one of our other two roommates will be doing the dishes tonight. It's only fair.

Michigan at Wisconsin (-18) - Wow, that's a huge line for a Wisconsin team that doesn't score too much. On the other hand, Michigan is an atrocious 3-13-1 ATS this season and, get this, 8-22-1 ATS in its last 31. That is nauseating. Everyone knows about Wisconsin's great home record and betting on Michigan on the road is not a great way to go about living life but I look at Wisconsin's 22-point drubbing of even slothier Illinois last week and see a blowout capability they might not have had in past years. This is a tough one but I like the Badgers.
The Pick: Wisconsin

Craig's Pick: Wow that is a lot of points indeed for a typical Wisconsin team. I’m picking Wisconsin for two reasons: I hate Mike Hart more than any player in the history of college football. Way to go 1-7 in bowl games and against OSU in your career Mike, you bum. And second, Wisconsin single handedly led me to victory in my NCAA tourney pool when they made that run to the Final Four that one year as an 8 seed.
The Pick: Wisconsin

Tennessee (-4) at Kentucky - Obviously Kentucky is a better team now than they were losing to Gardner Webb, San Diego and probably the Appalachian State football team or something, but Tennessee is playing incredible basketball right now. The Vols have two tough road wins over the past month, albeit against teams that didn't have their entire season on the line, and that spread is low enough to where I'd only bet on Kentucky if I though they could win outright. I do not. I haven't seen anything from the Wildcat guards to make me think they can handle Tennessee's pressure or any semblance of a fast tempo. Plus, over at KenPom.com, they are 290th in turnover percentage, not a good formula against Pearl's bunch.
The Pick: Tennessee

Craig's Pick: I really like this Tennessee team. Tough environment, but they should be ready to play. Looks like we’re both going with the two favorites tonight. (Ed. note: Pussy)
The Pick: Tennessee

Last night's record: 1-1-1
Overall record: 8-7-1

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

Craig's record: 1-1-1