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Expert online hoops handicapper Teddy June’s College Basketball Weekly Upset Report-12/15…

Teddy June’s College Basketball Weekly Upset Report

December 15 2008 Edition – Teddy June Picks >

Tennessee Volunteers (8) at Temple Owls
Line: Temple +7.5
Final Score: Tennessee 72 Temple 88

An early tip here as this game kicked off at 12:00 pm EST and the Volunteers from the opening gate to the close never seemed to be awake as they never led at any point in this one.    The loss for the Volunteers ended their 27 game win streak over non ranked non-conference opponents. The Owls came into this one really as a team that no one could figure out. They were ranked high on most preseason reports in the A-10 and arguably just on the outside of the top 25 rankings. However, they absolutely stumbled out of the gate with losses against Clemson, Buffalo and Miami of Ohio with really no good signature early season win. On the other side the Volunteers came in with a statement win over Georgetown but a loss against their only other competition this season in Gonzaga. The Owls opened this game adjusting to the Volunteers press very well and they were able to move effectively in the fast break game leading to easy baskets.

The difference maker certainly came with Dionte Christmas as they absolutely went off in this one scoring 35 points including hitting 7 of 14 from 3 point range. Coach Pearl’s squads have been effective defensively around the perimeter in recent years but gave up an alarming 55. 4% from the field and on the flip side shot an alarming 36.5% from the field. Temple is a team that I was pretty high on heading into this season and this is certainly a good sign of things to come. They must turn around quick off this upset as they face Kansas this Saturday afternoon. Tennessee is in the same boat with a quick tough turnaround as they host Marquette this Tuesday night in a huge top 25 matchup. The last bit for this game was the fact that the Volunteers took heavy public action as the line opened as low as 6 and closed as high as 8 in some spots. The public got beat and the books certainly cleaned up in this upset.

Massachusetts Minutemen at Kansas Jayhawks (22)
Line: Massachusetts +17.5
Final Score: Massachusetts 61 Kansas 60

This game without question has to top off as the most alarming upset this past week as UMASS as 18 point underdogs goes into Kansas and wins the game outright. There are several alarming points to this as firstly UMASS isn’t very good this season. Heading into this game they had won two games SU and those were both non-lined contests against Holy Cross and Arkansas Monticello. Outside of that, they lost to BC, Toledo, Wisc GB, Jackson St, Memphis and Southern Illinois. Now Kansas no question about it comes into this season rebuilding but they do have a good bit of talent and they have been very competitive this season with wins over Washington and Kansas State and an overtime loss against a very solid Syracuse group. The difference maker for this game really was the Jayhawks struggles in shooting the basketball, as they shot 33.9% from the field including 20.6% from 3 point range.

Additionally Sherron Collins took 21 shots making only 6. This is an alarming number as heading into this season the question was who would step up in scoring with Collins leading the way, as of now outside of Aldrich in the front court the contributions have been inconsistent, something that we need to keep an eye on as the season progresses. In an odd bit of irony head coach Derek Kellogg was an assistant at Memphis last season and was able to return some revenge in this one. The Jayhawks had opportunities at the end to escape but Collins came up short with a game winner and UMASS after having 4 of their 6 losses being by seven points or less escaped with a win. Kansas must remain confident and rebound quickly as they host Temple this weekend, followed by Arizona on the 23rd and Tennessee to open the New Year. UMASS can try to use this win as a turning point in their season and have an opportunity to win out in December with a fairly easy schedule. Their next big test comes on the 10th of January as they host Dayton to open A-10 play.

Gonzaga Bulldogs (4) at Arizona Wildcats
Line: Arizona Wildcats +6
Final Score: Gonzaga 64 Arizona 69

Interim head coach Russ Pennell has one of the most loaded teams in the country talent wise but a complete mess of a situation with Olsen finally calling it quits after returning and leaving a few times. The season as many expected started rocky after the Olsen situation as the Wildcats lost to UAB and Texas A&M by a combined two points. Gonzaga meanwhile had been cruising through a difficult non-conference slate with wins over Oklahoma State, Maryland, Tennessee and Washington State. Many have argued this is the best Gonzaga team ever and that is saying a lot considering the teams Coach Few has put together over the years. None the less they struggled to stop stud forward Nic Wise who had a game high 22 points and got dud performances from Heytvelt, Downs, and Pargo. Arizona led by only 1 at the half but increased that to as high as 9 points in the 2nd half.

Gonzaga was just unable to close the gap as Wise hit some crucial 3’s for Arizona down the stretch and they were able to hang on for the upset win. The books certainly cleaned up on this one as the public rarely shies away from laying road chalk with a top 25 over a non ranked foe. The line remained steady at 6 and 6.5, indication sharper money and wise guys cleaned up on the Wildcats while the public got beat laying the chalk. The question now for Arizona is consistency and truthfully I would be surprised if we see any consistency out of this team. They are in a mess of a situation with Olsen leaving and have a very short bench with Budinger, Horne, Hill and Wise playing 35+ minutes nearly every game. That being said there is no question those are 4 of the most talented guys in the Pac 10. Arizona must turn around quick with a big matchup at UNLV a team looking for revenge from last season and they follow that with a game at home against Kansas. Gonzaga will continue this ridiculous non-conference slate with a tune up game against Texas Southern but then a huge matchup in Washington against UCONN. Additionally they will have to travel to Utah and Tennessee before starting the conference schedule.

Teddy has been red hot in football this season cashing in 61% of his NFL selections and 60% of his College Football Selections! See what he can do for you today with his College Hoops Predictions >>>

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