Articles by Cappers Picks related to online college basketball betting, and handicapping live ncaab matchups.
Michigan State (15-4) has lost 2 straight Big 10 games and now they head home to play a solid Purdue (14-5) team that is coming off a win and has won 2 straight against the Spartans on their home floor.
The North Carolina Tar Heel are looking to recover from one of the worst drubbings of a top team in recent memory.
It has been a while since Wake Forest was a team to be reckoned with in the ACC. They won their conference opener but have lost the last 2 including an embarrassing home loss to NC State by 36 points last time out.
The Longhorns who have won three of their last five will travel to Manhattan on Wednesday to take on a Kansas State Wildcats’ team that has now lost three of its last four, dropping seven spots out of this week’s AP Top 25 poll.
The Cincinnati Bearcats will look to gain ground on Big East leaders Syracuse with a rare win at No. 11 Connecticut on Wednesday night.
The Michigan Wolverines swept the season series last year over Michigan State. Tom Izzo’s Spartans team was quite disappointing last year, but he seems to have the type of players he wants in his system this year.
Should it come as any surprise that John Calipari’s Kentucky Wildcats are loaded once again this year?
Pitt (11-7) has beaten Syracuse (19-0) in 8 of their last 9 match ups including the last 5 at the Carrier Dome, but the Orange are undefeated and the top-ranked team in the nation while the Panthers are reeling and have lost their first 5 Big East games.
Baylor (17-0) is one of only 3 undefeated teams in the nation, but can they beat Kansas (14-3) in their house where they have never won (0-9)?
The atmosphere will be buzzing on Saturday at Donald L. Tucker Center as the Florida State Seminoles host the No. 3 North Carolina Tar Heels in an ACC matinee.
The Connecticut Huskies may have lost a couple of road games recently but I don’t think they are too much to get excited about. This team still has just 3 losses on the season and is loaded with talent including a couple of potential lottery picks.
Saturday January 14
Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce, South Bend IN
11:00AM
Moneyline: Connecticut -125, Notre Dame +105
Spread: Connecticut -2
O/U: 131
Connecticut
They got back to winning beating West Virginia earlier in the week and have a chance to get on a nice run with their schedule over the next couple of weeks including two games against Notre Dame, this one on the road. No need to worry about the Huskies, Kemba is gone but this is still a final four capable team.
Those two potential lottery picks are Jeremy Lamb and Andre Drummond. Drummond may be just a freshman but he is one of the most imposing figures in college basketball. He shoots 61% from the floor but needs to improve at the line so they can leave him in late in tight games. That is assuming the ball would ever get away from Lamb in those situations, he is simply one of the smoothest players in the land. He averages 18ppg but is so fluid out there it looks like he could average 25 if he forced it a little more. This is a great duo and the supporting cast is pretty good too. This looks a bit like last year’s team that peaked at the right time. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Notre Dame
I feel like the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the team in the Big East that nobody talks about – maybe it is because they don’t play football in the league. Last year this team was very good and a dropoff was expected after significant graduation losses but nobody could have envisioned that their top player, slick shooting forward Tom Abromaitis would be forced to sit out the year due to injury. They have played a tough schedule and scrapped out some nice wins including winning at Louisville. They enter Saturday on a two game win streak.
With Abromaitis out it has been easier for guard Jerian Grant to emerge. He didn’t play a minute last year but leads the team in scoring at 13ppg. He and fellow sophomore guard Eric Atkins log serious minutes but they have to on a team that just doesn’t go very deep. The last real threat to be concerned with is forward Jack Cooley. He may have a bad haircut but he is a legit big averaging close to a double-double. The Huskies throw size on the floor in waves and he will have to be able to have some success scoring in close for the Fighting Irish to have a chance at upsetting Connecticut.
Spread Pick: Connecticut -2
O/U Pick: Over
Score Prediction: Connecticut 71 – Notre Dame 65
The Oklahoma State Cowboys have been trading wins and losses for the last 5 games. That pattern looks likely to continue as they visit a perfect Baylor team on Saturday – they won their last game just in case you didn’t know where I was going with this.
It’s tough to find a team that can match Kentucky’s athleticism. John Calipari has once again brought in an amazing crop of youngsters.
12:00 PM EST
College Basketball Gambling Odds from BetOnline
NCAA Basketball Betting Favorite: Kentucky -10
Over/Under: 136
This might be Coach Cal’s single best chance of winning it all yet. Tennessee has had an up and down season thus far. Cuonzo Martin is a great guy for the job, but it is just going to take this team some time to get back near the top. Can the Volunteers pull of a big upset at home or will the Wildcats roll?
How deep and talented is this Kentucky team? The Wildcats have six players that average at least ten points per contest. Freshman Anthony Davis has made a big name for himself already this season. Davis is averaging 12.8 points and 10.3 boards per game. He is also one of the best shot blockers the college game has seen in many years. Davis already has 76 blocks this year, and he alters a ton of shots in the paint. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Doron Lamb and Terrance Jones are basically the “veterans” of this team as sophomores. Both of them shoot the ball extremely well from the outside. Kentucky is a strong offensive team, but most impressive is the fact that they are second in the nation in field goal percentage defense.
Tennessee isn’t nearly as deep of a team as they were a couple years ago. Bruce Pearl hurt this program quite a bit last year, and now it is up to Martin to get the team back on the right path. Trae Golden and Cameron Tatum form a nice backcourt for the Volunteers. Both of them can fill it up from beyond the arc. Jeronne Maymon is a solid player on the inside, but he will have his hands full in this matchup. The biggest problem Tennessee has had this year has been their weakness on the defensive end. The Volunteers rank in the lower half in all the major team defensive categories.
I think the pace will be quick enough to see this one get over the posted total. Kentucky should win, but I expect a valiant effort from Tennessee.
Prediction: Kentucky 74 Tennessee 66
Virginia (14-1) has not lost since their 3rd game of the season and this game is a HUGE test against a Duke (13-2) team that they have lost to 7 straight times and 14 straight times at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
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
The Florida Gators may already have 3 losses but don’t be tricked into thinking this is not one of the best teams in America.
Saturday January 7
Thompson Boling Arena
11:00AM
Moneyline: Florida -350, Tennessee +290
Spread: Florida -7.5
O/U: 146
Florida
All of their losses have been in true road games and two of them were at Syracuse and Ohio State. The loss at Rutgers might be a head scratcher but, like I said this team is very good, not perfect, team, blessed with maybe the best backcourt in America and a terrific post player. I am not sure about their overall depth but this team can hang with pretty much anybody and is probably going to beat Kentucky when they host them later this season.
It is really hard not to like that backcourt, both in quality and quantitt The Gators have an amazing 4 guards averaging 9 or more point per game with Kenny Boynton leading the team with 9ppg. I would still like to see them throw the ball more often to Patric Young. who is a load to handle down low. because even though the guards are great he offers an amazing physical mismatch almost every night. Any game this team is shooting well they are very tough to beat.
Tennessee
It is a shame what has happened at Tennessee with the departure of former coach Bruce Pearl. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
I was a big fan of the program, their success and their style of play. I don’t want to pretend to know all the details but weren’t the infractions pretty minor, especially given how he has elevated the program to new heights. Right now they are entering SEC play with just a .500 record. New coach Cuonzo Martin has this team playing hard and they seem to rise to the occasion, playing their top opponents very well even though they haven’t broken through yet with a victory. This team should be able to compete in a mediocre SEC.
The talent level in Knoxville is below what we are used to seeing, giving lots of players a chance to step forward. The one player who really stands out is guard Trae Golden. As a frosh he never really found a way to contribute regularly but this year with the extra playing time he is leading the club with 14ppg. His play against Florida is going to be especially important because he is also their leading distributor and will have to guard one of the Gators great guards. Forward Jeronne Maymon is another player who will have his hands full as he try to keep Young out of the paint. He is their leading rebounder but unfortunately the matchup is not unfavourable. Pretty much all of them are that way for the Vols in this one.
Spread Pick: Florida -7.5
O/U Pick: Over
Score Prediction: Florida 83 – Tennessee 69
