Monday'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 Week: Thursday night was mildly insane with Pitt (-3.5) winning at the buzzer, Xavier (-8.5) winning at the buzzer and Indiana (-1.5) winning in double overtime. Oh, and Clemson massacred Virginia. But amidst all the madness that evening amounted to a 2-2 record for me, but still a great 8-4-1 week. To reward myself, I killed a hobo.

Villanova at Georgetown (-13.5) - Some of my friends were debating what this line would be and absolutely no one expected it to be more than 10. All season I have banked on the fact that Georgetown wins the games they are supposed to but are too slow-paced and defense-oriented to cover big margins. On the other hand, Villanova has completely shit the bed, losing five straight before barely holding on for a two-point home win against the mighty Seton Hall Pirates Saturday. The Cats are an atrocious 5-14 ATS this season and 1-10 ATS in their last 11 Big East games. AND, the Hoyas had to play a primetime road game less than 48 hours ago. So Georgetown-related betting rules be damned, this isn't as obvious as it seems. All of that being said, I still don't think Georgetown has enough offensive firepower on the perimeter to take advantage of Nova's awful defense of late. Philadelphia is a sad, sad place.
The Pick: Villanova

Craig's Pick- Villanova stinks. They are terrible. With that being said, they did win last year at the Verizon Center, and tend to fare decently against lower scoring, methodical teams. Dwayne Anderson had a ‘breakout’ (Ed. note: Yes, that's "breakout" not breakout, emphasis on quote marks) game in his first career start Saturday night, playing over 30 minutes and hitting the game winning three. I look for Georgetown to hold Nova to about 45 points (similar to last year’s 46-42 Nova victory). However, this year Georgetown should be able to notch about 25-30 second chance points alone, easily getting them to about 60 points.
The Pick: Georgetown

Kansas (-4.5) at Texas- This one also might seem obvious due to the Longhorns recent bouts with inconsistency, but Kansas hasn't covered in any of its last three road games. But Kansas' on-ball defenders are going to make DJ Augustin's life a living hell after he played 44 minutes Saturday against Iowa State. These games have been close in the past and Austin should be out of control tonight, but this Kansas team matches up really well with Texas; the Jayhawks are bigger and more athletic at basically every position.
The Pick: Kansas

Craig's Pick- I’ve said before that I’m not a huge fan of this Texas team. Obviously this has a chance to be a statement game for them. A 4.5 line is pretty high. I like going with the home dog in this situation.
The Pick: Texas

St. Mary's (-6.5) at Santa Clara- The West Coast Conference continues to ruin the productivity of hoops fans across the East Coast. If Fight Clubs start to flourish up and down the East Coast, we will have St. Mary's and Gonzaga to blame for our impending doom. This one obviously won't be as entertaining as that incredible Zags-Gaels game from last week, but I think the Broncos might be able to shock some people here. They have won three of the last four in this series and took Gonzaga to overtime a few games ago (they were also destroyed at St. Mary's by 31 earlier in the season, but we'll neatly sweep that under the rug). This will be a Battle of the Big Fat Guys as Santa Clara's 6-10, 305-pound leading scorer and rebounder John Bryant will sumo wrestle the Gaels' 6-11, 265-pound Omar Samhan. Bryant is much more skilled and should provide enough stomach-jiggling-induced seismic waves to make up for St. Mary's advantage on the perimeter.
The Pick: Santa Clara

Craig's Pick- Losing by 31 never leaves a good taste in your mouth. Once again, I’ll go with the home dog here as I feel that 6.5 is a pretty high number.
The Pick: Santa Clara

Last week's record: 8-4-1
Overall record: 25-20-4

ACC: 5-4
Big 12: 3-4-2
Big East: 5-5-1
Big Ten: 5-2
SEC: 3-2
Missouri Valley: 1-0
West Coast: 2-1
Big West: 0-1
CAA: 0-1
Horizon: 0-0-1
A-10: 1-0

Craig's record: 11-15-2