for tonight:
first off, decideded to pass northern az. n az has been one of the nation's best 3 pt shooting teams, leading the ncaa div i in three of the last four years. they have been on an extended shooting slump culminating in a 2 of 19 effort from behind the arc last game in oregon. boise st has been hotter than a firecracker, making 20 of 39 three pointers in their last two wins. was kind of thinking that these two teams would average out shooting so this might give us an edge on the line. however have learned that n az starting point guard adam lopez has returned home to phoenix for the birth of his child and will be replaced tonight by freshman backup. starting a freshman at the point on the road no help in breaking a shooting slump so going to let this one go. actually considered reversing ground and taking boise but opted to pass instead. on with the picks.
new orleans +13: my homeboy monte towe coaches the privateers now, inheriting a team that went 17-12 last year but lost five senior starters. for those that don't remember monte, he was a schoolmate of mine at nc state in the seventies, a 5'6'' point guard that ran the national championship team in 1974 and featured david thompson. year before in '73 they ran up a perfect 27-0 record but banned from post-season. first team to beat ucla in years. anyway, i digress. lsu leading scorer collis temple definitely out tonight with high ankle sprain, and will definitely be missed although tiger bench deeper than last year. lsu played saturday and have houston on deck thursday. new orleans off the last ten days and will be pumped for this first meeting with the tigers in 18 years.
portland state +6: this mainly a play against santa clara, 1-6 su, 0-6 ats. no way they should be laying points here. broncos' problem is they have no reliable scoring options. in their last six games they are averaging a pitiful 53 ppg, although all but one on the road. some line value here with vikings coming off big loss @ nevada, where they ran into foul trouble early and gave up huge edge at the free throw line.
kentucky +10: i usually don't go for high profile games but going to bite here. while i certainly concur that the devils are one of the nation's best, i have opined earlier that i do not believe the are as versatile and powerful as in years past. just don't see them blowing out all the top teams they play this year. dunleavy sprained his ankle and williams pulled a groin muscle in the a%t game. while both will start, they should be slowed a little, especially on defense. wildcats will hang i think.
