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College Hoops Preview: Panthers vs. Cardinals (Jan. 15)

One of the best rivalries in all of college basketball resumes on Saturday when the Pittsburgh Panthers battle the Louisville Cardinals…

Big East Showdown – (1) Pittsburgh at (20) Louisville

Game-day: 1/17/2009
Tip-off: 7:00 pm est.

The 16 and 0 and number one ranked Pittsburgh Panthers travel to Kentucky to take on the Louisville Cardinals with hopes of continuing to dominate in the Big East. The Big East is the toughest conference in college basketball but sports betting fans should have noticed by now that the Pittsburgh Panthers appear to be the best team in the Big East.  That’s saying a lot since no less than 12 teams from the Big East could make the Big Dance in March. There’s a lot of “Big” going on this year in college basketball. Could the Panthers march into Louisville and surprise the Cardinals in the BetUS online sportsbook by covering or beating a basketball betting spread? Maybe, but the Panthers are going to have to bounce back from their stunning loss to the South Florida Bulls.

The Louisville Cardinals have been so-so up to this point in the season. They are 15 and 3 straight-up but college basketball betting fans always expect more out of the Cardinals. Because they are coached by Rick Pitino, they have to win every game. That’s just the deal with the Louisville Cardinals. Pitino appears to have this team playing better, that’s for sure, with victories against Notre Dame, Villanova, South Florida and Kentucky in their last four games.

Here are my personal online NCAAB betting odds for this game:

Pittsburgh Panthers +2 ½ – 110
Louisville Cardinals -2 ½ – 110

Here are a few online wagering trends that might help us find a good online bet in this game:

The Louisville Cardinals are 6 and 4 against the spread at home so far this season.
The Louisville Cardinals are 4 and 6 against the spread in their last 10 games overall.
The Pittsburgh Panthers are 5 and 3 against the spread in their last 8 games overall.
The Pittsburgh Panthers are 2 and 1 against the spread in their away games this season.

That’s funny. The Pitt Panthers are only 2 and 1 against the spread in their away games so far this season. Why is that funny? Because it points to a serious issue with Pittsburgh. They haven’t played a lot of good teams on the road. If they had, the BetUS odds makers would have released betting lines on those games.

But will that impact the Panthers in this game? It should. Louisville is on a roll right now with key victories in their last four games. It’s a big turnaround from what the Cardinals were doing earlier in the season.

Levance Fields, the Cardinals fantastic point-guard, had a double-double with 11 points and 13 assists in his last game. He averages 7 assists a game. He’s probably the best point-guard that the Panthers have faced all season long.

Pittsburgh is a defensive team that can shut-down anybody if they put their minds to it. But Fields has the ability to break down defenses and to me that’s the telling part of this story.

Pitt vs. Louisville Prediction:

I’m going to say that the Louisville Cardinals are a good online bet to make to cover a spread of +2 ½ to +4 ½ points in the BetUS Sportsbook. I like to take the hot team in these Big East games. The Cardinals are the hot team.