Wednesday'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: The CAA battle between VCU and Mason (-3.5) I was all excited about lived up to expectations in energy, but I was wrong on the pick with the Colonials winning by 12. I've seen a lot of VCU and Mason the past few years and the last 12 minutes or so of the second half was about as bad as VCU (especially Maynor) can play. Not to take anything away from Mason, they looked like a Tournament team last night, but the Rams just looked complacent. No movement on offense, no penetration and, sadly, no Paulus-esque ankle breaks. Ohio State (-7.5) beat Penn State pretty handily even though no one in the entire world cared (except maybe these guys). I'll take the win and move along quietly. Tennessee (-4) v. Alabama was another entertaining game (the second half dunk by the six-foot-one Senario Hillman was one of the sicker of the year... alas, not a TeaBag though), albeit a sloppy one. The Vols were playing recklessly (23 turnovers), jacking up threes and hoping for a make or an offensive rebound (both of which they often received) and the Tide had around 65 turnovers (OK, 20). But the barrage of three-point missiles from Chris Lofton (five) and The Smith Named JaJuan (four) earned the Vols a seven-point win.

Craig got them all correct last night. Good for him (cringe). We are both right at .500 for the year, the perfect level of mediocrity for this glorious season of hoops.

Virginia at Maryland (-7)- A ton of good games tonight (KSU-KU, Nova-Pitt, Creighton-The Drake, Vandy-Ole Miss) and we get this one. Great. This line is a bit high for two teams this craptastic. Yes, Maryland has a win at UNC but less than a month before it lost at home to American. The Terps also happen to be 5-10 ATS this season so I'm not necessarily buying into this whole Terp resurgence thing. Their strength is the athletic forwards Gist and Osby and Vazquez' ability in the open floor, right? Well what are Virginia's strengths? Their athletic forwards Diane and Joseph and Sean Singletary's ability in the open court. It's going to be a high scoring, fast-paced game and given the similarities between the two teams, it will probably come down to shotmaking and turnovers. Both teams turnover the shit out of the ball (or is it "turn the shit over the ball? They both suck is what I'm trying to say) but Virginia is a much better outside shooting team. See how easy these picks are when you break it down scientifically?! (I'm doomed).
The Pick: Virginia

Craig's Pick- Good night last night (Ed. Note: Yeah no shit). Anyways, on to tonight. While I don’t think Maryland’s ATS record is relevant due to their apparent ‘resurgence’ (Ed. Note: yeah, you're probably right), I do think everything else JTom mentioned above makes sense (including the doomed comment).
The Pick: Virginia

Cincinnati at West Virginia (-14)- How quickly the tide has turned for The Dragonslayer That Was Cincinnati. The team that vanquished Louisville, Syracuse, Villanova and Pitt is now coming off two tough losses to Seton Hall and Connecticut and is a massive underdog in the Huggy Bowl (although not a very volatile Huggy Bowl in Morgantown - the Mountaineers don't travel to the Nati this year - but that doesn't mean you won't hear some visiting DUI jeers... followed quickly by a drunken, toothless brawl). I was pretty shocked by this line, enough to check on the Bearcats for injury. Apparently John Williamson is hobbled, but will probably play. And the Cats are 11-2 ATS in their last 13. Obviously they have to come back to Earth at some point but I don't see why I should suddenly believe they will get blown out, even if WVU is a very good home team. Plus, the Mountaineers probably won't have the opportunity to infiltrate any strip clubs before the game, and we know how much a lap dance from Rusty calms their nerves.
The Pick: Cincinnati

Craig's Pick- West Virginia puts it in cruise control halfway through the second half and Cincinnati pulls out the backdoor cover.
The Pick: Cincinnati

Texas at Texas A & M (-3)- The home team has won the last eight meetings between these teams, including last year's OT win by Texas where Kevin Durant stole the hearts of millions. So that is the sole reason why a completely fraudulent Aggies team is favored over a seemingly legitimate Texas team. A & M's best win is a home victory over Alabama. Texas has won at UCLA. This should be a freaking no-brainer but the home dominance in the series and Texas' recent sluggishness (a loss to Mizzou and two ugly two-point wins before eviscerating Texas Tech Saturday) has me thinking twice. I can't take three road teams two nights in a row, I'll go with the Aggies even though they suck ass. They have a, uh, size advantage or something. Yeah, that's it.
The Pick: Texas A & M

Craig's Pick- Let’s give this three road underdogs in one night a try. Two home picks for tonight though – Depaul and Pitt.
The Pick: Texas

Last night's record: 2-1
Overall record: 13-13-3

ACC: 2-2
Big 12: 1-3-2
Big East: 3-2-1
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: 6-6-2