Wednesday's Picks: Duke vs. Virginia; Syracuse vs. Seton Hall (gulp); Texas A & M vs. Baylor

Oh Robbie Hummel, why couldn't you and your Boilermakers avoid making Ohio State seem relevant?

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.

Been busy again, so these will be brief and obviously are late. Not sure why the rest of the world doesn't stop for March basketball. Oh well, better late than never; just three days of regular season picks left.

Last Night: Ohio State (-1.5) got a really annoying home win over Purdue which probably boosts it into the NCAAs at least temporarily even though the Buckeyes are a terrible basketball team. So it goes with life on the 2008 Bubble (I picked Purdue, in case you couldn't tell). Miami of Ohio took the unfortunate strategy of missing all of its shots against Kent State (-5.5) and lost what was a close game for awhile by 11 (picked the Redhawks). And Mississippi pulled an Ohio State by getting a home win over a likely tournament team (Arkansas), faking people into thinking it is relevant (I picked Arkansas). So the first 0-3 night in awhile.
/falls back to Earth.

Duke (-6) at Virginia- I guess you could say Duke is struggling lately and the home team has won eight of the last nine in this series, but that line seems a bit low for this one. You could also say Duke will be looking ahead to Saturday's showdown with UNC... BUT Virginia is very bad and Duke won the first meeting this year by 22. The Cavs have won three out of four after losing about 25 straight games but I simply don't see how Duke doesn't cover six with the ACC regular season title still in the balance.
The Pick: Duke

Syracuse (-2.5) at Seton Hall- Ugh, I'm really not sure I want to pick this one after the heart-breaking losses my Orange have endure lately. If they think they still have an at-large chance, this is obviously a must must must win game and given the craptastic volatility of this year's Bubble, if Cuse can win the last two and get to 9-9 in conference, it should find a glimmer of daylight. There I go, talking myself into it again. Anyway, I'd hate to make a pick and jinx them in some way but I am a blogger, and a blogger of principle. If I pick one, I must pick them all. (I'm doomed.)
The Pick: Syracuse

Texas A & M at Baylor (-1.5)- This would generally be a pretty awful game, even though I'm starting to come around on Baylor and its guard bonanza, but now it's about as pure a Bubble game as you could ever see. Whichever team wins is probably pretty safely in, whichever loses gives itself a pretty stressful Big 12 Tournament. The last time these teams met, they played a considerable amount of overtimes, with Baylor inevitably winning. On paper the Aggies have the advantage, especially in the paint, but they have failed to score 60 in five straight games (four losses and only 37 points Saturday at Oklahoma) and are pretty terrible on the road. Baylor is going to run its ass off and I don't see how the Aggies can guard and/or score enough to pull it off.
The Pick: Baylor

Last night's record: 0-3
JTom's overall record: 52-40-4

ACC: 5-9
Big 12: 6-9-2
Big East: 16-5-1
Big Ten: 8-6
SEC: 5-4
Pac-10: 1-0
Missouri Valley: 2-0
West Coast: 6-1
Big West: 0-1
CAA: 0-1
Horizon: 0-0-1
A-10: 1-3
SoCon: 1-0
MAC: 0-1
Non-Conf: 1-0