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: Another heartbreaking two-point loss for my Orange (-3). They somehow had a chance to win this one despite Donte Greene hoisting and missing from all angles and Hasheem Thabeet blocking literally every single shot. On the not-really-that-bright side, I picked Connecticut, which was probably a massive jinx. Texas crushed Oklahoma (-2.5), you know, because they are better than them. I took the Sooners, probably because I afraid to pick against Blake Griffin, Meast.

And we all know what happened in that Duke-UNC game, I did a preview and a gamelog, so I'm done writing about it.

West Virginia at Pittsburgh (-3.5)- The Panthers have been woefully inconsistent this season, but everyone knows about that homecourt advantage (assuming everyone forgets about that 13-point loss to Rutgers). West Virginia has been plodding along, beating the teams they should beat and losing to the squads that are simply better. The Moutaineers strength is their forwards Alex Ruoff and Joe Alexander and wouldn't ya know, Pitt has probably the best forward tandem in the conference, Sam Young and DeJuan Blair, who also happen to be much bigger, stronger and well, better than Ruoff and Alexander. Look for the Panthers to dominate the boards and cover. [Insert West Virginia strip club joke here].
The Pick: Pittsburgh

Craig's Pick- Not sure what to think about this game. On the surface you may think Pitt should be favored by more (assuming everyone forgets about that 13-point home loss to Rutgers). Blair is my favorite player in the Big East – he is absolutely a monster down low and has a nice set of hands to go along with his wide frame (I’m straight, I promise). Also, he will be tormenting the Big East for four years much in the same fashion as Hansbrough in the ACC.
The Pick: Pitt

Clemson (-1.5) at Virginia- This game, part of the heated battle for who can be The John Edwards Of the ACC (and we all saw how well that worked out for him), should be pretty terrible. The Tigers are without starting point Demontez Stitt but no matter, Virginia can't force any turnovers (280th in turnover pct.). Clemson's strength is inside and while the Cavs are a good rebounding team, that doesn't mean they can keep James Mays and Trevor Booker from scoring (object of sports). No, like most UVA games, this one is going to come down to: Can Sean Singletary go completely nuts? Seeing as how he's averaging about 20 a game over his last eight, which has gotten the Cavs all of one victory (albeit, three OT losses), he might need about 40.
The Pick: Clemson

Craig's Pick- Like Jtom mentioned, the Cavs are due (Ed. note: I did not mention that).
Pick: UVA

Xavier (-8.5) at St. Louis- This should be interesting because Xavier plays pretty slow and St. Louis plays really, really, really slow. The Billikens have actually won three of the last four in this series and even though the Musketeers are back to blowing teams out, I just can't see enough points being scored in this game for them to do it to Majerus' bunch, which just beat Dayton at home and has beaten Rhode Island there as well.
/Majerus dick joke
The Pick: St. Louis

Craig's Pick- I just can’t pick St. Louis, absolutely not.
The Pick: Xavier

Indiana (-1.5) at Illinois- Sweet fancy Moses this should be a fun one. And not because either team is good or anything, but because it's just so great when an entire arena focuses its pure, venomous, angst-ridden hatred upon one player. Yes Eric Gordon, you will be like Mel Gibson entering Jerusalem tonight and in a rivalry so heated the records are always thrown out the window (home team has won seven of last eight), I'm not crazy about picking a team with a 19-year-old star player worried about being assassinated. Even if he too, is an assassin. Going with the Illini (I immediately regret this decision).
The Pick: Illinois

Craig's Pick- Gordon is going to take this game over. (Ed note: I hope so too. Ugh why did I pick Illinois?).
The Pick:Indiana

Last night's record: 2-1
Overall record: 23-18-4

ACC: 4-4
Big 12: 3-4-2
Big East: 5-4-1
Big Ten: 5-1
SEC: 3-2
Missouri Valley: 1-0
West Coast: 2-1
Big West: 0-1
CAA: 0-1
Horizon: 0-0-1

Craig's record: 10-12-2