Prior to losing three of their last 4 games Providence was a very pleasant surprise. They had been holding their own on their homecourt with wins over the like of Creighton, Butler, Xavier and Georgetown and now have a chance to put a nail in the Hoyas coffin if they can handle them on the road too.
Fourth-ranked Villanova arrive in the Nation’s Capital on Monday, looking to build on its one-game winning streak against a Georgetown squad that has not won a game in four straight tries.
The Georgetown Hoyas will travel to Allen Fieldhouse to take on a Kansas Jayhawks team that has lost three of its last five games. Both of these teams have seen their national image take a hit since the start of the season, but a win on Saturday would be a good anchor to begin to turn things around on.
UCONN is sitting at 19 wins and they are 9-5 in Big East play and with a 20th win tonight against a top 10 Georgetown team they may be a lock for the Big Dance.
The Fighting Irish are ranked in the top 20 and they stayed that was snapping their 2-game losing streak in their last game. They have a tough game tonight against a Hoyas’ team that has a solid defense.
Georgetown is the 3rd seed in the Midwest Region, but they have lost in the first round in the last 2 NCAA Tournaments and they face a dangerous Belmont team that made the Big Dance last season and is the nation’s 4th highest scoring team.
Even though both teams lost in some upsets last week each has a chance to get a double-bye in the Big East tournament. The Irish have won 3 straight against the Hoyas, but they are underdogs in this game and overall this season they are 5-4 facing ranked teams.
Georgetown (20-6) is currently the 8th ranked team in the nation, but since they are coming off a loss to Seton Hall it is unlikely that they will get a #1 seed in the Big Dance.
The Syracuse Orange lead four Big East teams in the latest AP poll, including No. 12 Georgetown who moved up two spots following a week that began with a win at home over Connecticut, 58-44.
The Georgetown Hoyas are certainly one of the feel good stories of the season so far. After losing a couple of top guards they were expected to hover in the middle of the Big East but I guess nobody told the players that.
Saturday January 7
WVU Coliseum – Morgantown, WV
12:00PM
Moneyline: West Virginia -135, Georgetown +115
Spread: West Virginia -2
O/U: 131.5
Georgetown
All they have done is rise to #9 in the rankings with 4 victories over top 25 teams among their 13 victories, including ending Louisville’s run at perfection on their own homecourt. They are off to a 3-0 start in the conference with an impressive win over Marquette earlier this week. The question is whether they can keep it up.
Georgetown has been winning with a little bit of everything. They can play great defense but can also score. Now that he doesn’t have to share the ball as much, senior guard Jason Clark is having his best season ever, as is fellow senior forward Henry Sims. This team has lots of size and good athleticism but I wonder if they will eventually get exposed by teams that have great guards. They operate non-traditionally with their leading assist guy being Sims in the middle. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
West Virginia
West Virginia has been solid this season and it looks like they are probably going to position themselves well for the postseason. They have a huge opportunity to make a statement with back to back games against ranked teams beginning with a visit from Georgetown on Saturday. The Hoyas enter the game ranked in the top 10 so a victory might actually jump the Mountaineers into the rankings.
In terms of productivity it is hard to find a better one-two, inside-outside combo than West Virginia’s Kevin Jones and Truck Bryant (don’t let the name fool you, Truck is the guard). The two seniors average just under 40ppg with both enjoying their finest season’s yet. But college hoops is more than just a game of 2 on 2 which is why WVU despite having an elite duo are not elite – their depth is questionable. Morgantown is buzzing these days after the football team’s demolition of Clemson in the Orange Bowl. It is a hard place to win and this game should be a good contest from start to finish. G-Town may have the great record but I am not sure there is a huge difference between these two teams.
Spread Pick: Georgetown +2
O/U Pick: Under
Score Prediction: Georgetown 65 – West Virginia 63
Super Bowl betting players will see a few heavyweight matchups next weekend, and in college hoops betting, players will get to check out Pittsburgh’s trip to Georgetown, where the Hoyas are struggling and desperately need a win after a terrible start to their Big East campaign.
Big East Wednesday Night Preview
Three important games from the Big East get the spotlight treatment on the college basketball betting slate Wednesday night, as Georgetown looks to get on track versus South Florida, Louisville hosts Providence, and Notre Dame looks for a win in West Virginia.
With only one NFL game left it is time to turn my attention to NCAA basketball. It is hard to believe that the NCAA tournament selection show is only 55 days away. I’m going to look at five teams that present a lot of value with 8 weeks remaining in the season. To make the list I will only consider teams who odds makers have listed at 10-1 or higher so as of 1/19/09 that rules out the following teams UNC, UConn, Louisville, Duke and Pitt.
