Texas A&m Leaves Orange Down League

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

Charlottesville, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Erick Green scored 15 points, helping Virginia Tech pull out a 47-45 victory over No. 15 Virginia at John Paul Jones Arena. Dorenzo Hudson totaled 12 points, including a three-pointer in the closing moments that made it a two-possession contest and helped the Hokies (12-7, 1-4 ACC) pick up their first conference victory.

 

Mike Scott, Jontel Evans and Joe Harris all had 10 points for the Cavaliers (15-3, 2-2), who were coming off Thursday's victory at Georgia Tech.

 

Texas A&M comes into the matchup with a 11-7 overall record after defeating the Oklahoma Sooners 81-75 in an overtime thriller on Saturday. The victory was the second of the year in league play for the Aggies, as they now carry a 2-4 mark in Big 12 action. Head coach Billy Kennedy has a strong defensive philosophy which have given his team has the worst scoring offense in the conference (62.8 ppg), but the best scoring defense (59.2 ppg). The victory over the Sooners was the second in three games after an 0-3 start to the Big 12 Conference season. The Aggies had only scored more than 80 points twice this year, in their opening two games of the season. A&M is one of just 12 schools in the nation to have made the NCAA Tournament in each of the past six seasons.

 

Kansas has an array of weapons at the offensive end. Thomas Robinson is the team's top scorer (17.7 ppg) and the Big 12's top rebounder (12.1 rpg). The junior forward recorded his Big-12 leading 13th double-double of the season in the team's win over Baylor before finishing with 17 points and nine rebounds against Texas. Tyshawn Taylor has been a big factor to the Jayhawks' success as well. Taylor has been absolutely on fire lately as he has averaged 26 ppg and 5.3 apg in his last three outings. Travis Releford and Elijah Johnson are both helping the cause with scoring averages above nine points per game.

 

Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fresh off its first loss of the season, the Syracuse Orange will look to avoid a losing streak as they head to Fifth Third Arena for a Big East battle with the dangerous Cincinnati Bearcats. This will be just the ninth meeting between the Orange and Bearcats. Syracuse holds an 8-2 edge in the series after winning the last three encounters. The Orange handled Cincinnati in last year's contest with a 67-52 decision in a game played at the Carrier Dome.

 

Syracuse will be without its rebounding and shot-blocking center Fab Melo for the second straight game as he attends to academic issues. Although he does not score an overwhelming amount of points, Melo's inside presence was missed against Notre Dame on both ends of the floor. Kris Joseph and Dion Waiters will need to step up with Melo out. Joseph is the team's leading scorer with an average of 13.6 ppg, but he will need to do better than 4-of-12 from the field to score 12 points, as he did against the Irish. Waiters scored in double-figures for the ninth-straight game against Notre Dame, but also shot a poor percentage to do so. The Orange's 7-1 record in the Big East has them in sole possession of first place, but another defeat would give them the same total of losses as five another teams in the league.

 

New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Baylor remained a unanimous choice as the No. 1 team in the Associated Press women's college basketball poll. The Lady Bears received all 40 first-place votes and a total of 1,000 points from a nationwide media panel, earning the undisputed top choice for an eighth consecutive week.

 

Notre Dame, Connecticut, Stanford, Duke and Kentucky held their places from second through sixth. Tennessee, Maryland, Ohio State and Miami-Florida complete this week's top 10. Miami moved up one spot from 11th.

 

The last five teams ranked this week are Texas Tech, Gonzaga, DePaul, BYU and North Carolina. DePaul and BYU are tied for 23rd. Gonzaga and BYU are this week's newcomers, replacing Kansas State and Vanderbilt.

 

Kentucky moved up one spot after Syracuse suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday at Notre Dame. The Orange, who had been No. 1 for six straight weeks, dropped two spots to third, just behind Missouri, which vaulted three spots from fifth to second after winning at Baylor on Saturday.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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