NCAAB - Wednesday, 11/27

[Heyward]

Been lurking around for the first week or so and doing pretty well, so thought I would start contributing to the forum. Here's what I've got so far today:

UGA +1

Scratching my head a little over this line. Georgia returns everybody (note: Steven Thomas ineligible this semester) from last year's team that went 22-10 SU (18-10-1 ATS overall, 7-5 ATS on the road) last year overall and 10-6 in a tough, deep Southeastern conference, and they're the underdog. This team just managed to stay within 6 points of #3 Texas already this year. Like I said, Thomas is ineligible for the fall, but Georgia adds 6-6 Damien Wilkins who can play all over the court, after sitting out last season following his transfer from NC State. A disappointment in Raleigh, he has the talent to contribute significantly for this team right away (16 pts, 7 rebs, 4 assts. vs. Texas) if he can get his head on straight and convince his father & uncle to keep their mouths shut.

Georgia Tech (last year 15-16 SU, 14-14 ATS, 7-9 ATS at home)will be a very dangerous team and Chris Bosh and Jarrett Jack will be very good players, but in their first game (I'm not counting Arkansas-Pine Bluff as a game), I don't think they will have it figured out enough to beat the veteran Dawgs, even at home. As these freshmen develop this year, Tech could be a very good team but it's too early for them to be favored in this game. At Georgia last year, Tech lost this game by 13 points, with Tony Akins running the show. With Akins lost to graduation, and starting 2 freshmen, I just don't see the Jackets being that much better than last year at this point in the season. Georgia wins straight up.

 

[Heyward]

Adding:

YALE +9.5

Yale was one of my favorite money-making teams last year, and judging from this line, I may be on them again a lot this year. The Bulldogs return all five starters, plus 3 important reserves, from the team that went 21-11 SU and 13-5-1 ATS last season. Their only real weakness is in the size department, but they managed to overcome that last year, and they return 6-8 Senior T. J. McHugh who shot 62% from the floor and 72% from the free throw line. Spread-wise, this team was better on the road last year and should have no fear playing an away game vs. an ACC opponent. Last year, Yale was 8-1-1 ATS on the road and posted straight-up road wins over major conference opponents Penn State, Rutgers, and Clemson. They also have the advantage of already having played a big road game this season, covering the spread at Oklahoma State last Friday.

Wake has the potential to be a solid, but unspectacular, team. Wake lost a lot of talent to graduation last year. Gone are 6-9 Darius Songalia (18 pts, 8 reb per game), 6-8 Antwan Scott (10 pts, 5 reb), 6-1 Broderick Hicks (10 pts, 2 asst), and 6-5 sharpshooter Craig Dawson (10 pts, 5 reb). Josh Howard returns along with promising forward Vytas Danelius (Songalia clone), but after that it's pretty much all freshmen. I'm not sure this team should be favored by double digits over many teams out there at this point in the season but certainly not against the veteran, road-tested Yalies. In their home opener last year, with Songalia and the rest, Wake barely squeaked by UNC-Wilmington by one point and I don't see them doing a whole lot better this time.

 

[Heyward]

Wow, the lines are jumping around like crazy, so I'm going to add 2 more without the write-ups for right now:

Wyoming -7.5

Loyola-Chicago -1 (line started at -1.5, then -2, now -1)

Good luck everybody. :shrug:

 

[hellah10]

Loyola-Chicago -1 (line started at -1.5, then -2, now -1)

Actually it started with Northern Illinois -1

 

[Heyward]

This should do it for the day since I don't have internet at home yet. Adding:

Kentucky -1 : Kentucky with the better backcourt as Gonzaga has no apparent matchup with Bogans. Gonzaga has more bodies up front but Estill and Camara should be able to hold their own. Overall athletic edge to Kentucky and I think they can pull out the straight-up win here.

Colorado St. +9 : Great run for S. Illinois last year, and they should be good again. However, Colorado State returns all 5 starters from a team that really started looking good at the end of last year. Overall, their record wasn't great, but bear in mind that they were starting 3 freshmen, including 7-foot center Matt Nelson who scored at least 20 points in each of his last 3 games and could be a real force in the paint this year. Colorado State only lost 5 games by more than 9 points last year, so I'll take a chance on them tonight against that number. Of course, one of those big losses was to S. Illinois last year, but the Salukis have lost 2 starters off of that team and I see a much closer game tonight. Good luck.