INDIAN COWBOY
San Jose State +6.5 (POD)
Winning 7 of 8 days. Winning 10 of 13 days in January and 12 of 16 days. 10-5 Last Week. 9-2 College Basketball run. Basketball records this season: Promos: Basketball 2007: 84-55 (61%) 47-26 (62%) NBA Run & NBA 2007: 59-38 (61%). Only Basketball Handicapper in America to be above 60% after a 100 plays (139 total plays). I think San Jose State wins this game outright. I am not fond of Hawaii one bit as I think they are a bit overrated and it has been showing time and time again. Keep in mind that Hawaii already beat this team on the road by 5 to 6 points and now San Jose State looks for revenge. What is the difference in this game? Well, consider that San Jose State should have never lost that game as they are a top 175 team that has defeated the following teams: this team is a road warrior so to speak as they are a top 100 team on the road - having beaten Santa Clara a top 160 team on the road, having beaten a top 160 Portland State team and recently beating Nevada at home by a bucket and Nevada is a top 100 team. Now, Hawaii is starting to turn it around a bit as they had a close game on the road against top 150 Utah State to their credit, but they followed that up with a roughly 20 point loss to Nevada at home. I think San Jose State, who has already beat 2 top 150 teams on the road and 1 top 100 team at home, along with revenge here, gets it done on the road and might not even need the points. Hawaii is 0-6 ATS in their last 6 home games.
Pepperdine +13.5
This play sounds a bit crazy and a bit silly, but many of the underdogs in college basketball I take are such the case and they pan out typically for sound victories. I have Pepperdine as a top 200 power ranking team while Gonzaga as a top 40 power ranking team. Why does this matter? My spreadsheets show a difference of roughly 9 points and that makes sense for several reasons as well. Gonzaga, is a similar ranked team to CS Northridge who I have been on at different points this season is a top 30 power ranking team and Pepperdine ended up losing by 8 points at home to them. Pepp is coming off 5 straight losses, including to a return home to face Portland in a game they should have won. Gonzaga has only played 2 road games all year and I think they go into a hostile environment here and Pepperdine will hang tough early and then likely fall apart in the late portions of the second half. I simply feel that the CS Northridge game is a good exmaple of this team's talent against better teams at home, they did beat top 150 Pacific on the road and Zaga is still relatively "green" when it comes to hitting the road this year. Pepperdine is 5-0 ATS following a straight up loss and 8-1 ATS in their last 9 ballgames as an underdog.
Pittsburgh +1.5
You have your tums? Get it ready, because you are going to need it in this very tight ballgame. However, there are several things that I do like about this ballgame. First, Pittsburgh got spanked last year on the road at Georgetown by a score of 64-42 - I remember that game, it was disgusting and ugly. Now, keep in mind the previous 2 times this game was played in Pitt - Pitt won them both. Pitt is the same team that beat Duke this year and lost by 1 point to Villanova. Georgetown is a very good ballclub, but remember the last time this team went on the road to play a top 10 power ranking team (Pitt is #10 in my power rankings) - they lost to Memphis in a game that many thought would be a little closer. GT has played some good road games, but this game is different as Pitt has plenty of revenge, Pitt is 10-0 at home and GT finally faced some tough competition in Uconn at home and won by just 3- against a top 40 team essentially - I don't think there as fortunate on the road at Pitt today. This is also a game that I think the public gets buried here as the Panthers are 6-1 ATS against teams with a winning percentage of 60% or more at home.