The Brain Speaks His Mind

The Brain's win streak continues. 4-2 last night, 22-6-1 last 5 days, 28-20-1 NCAA Hoops YTD.

Thursday's Plays:

Play on Duke -2 at North Carolina: UNC coming off 2 tough games vs. Pitt and on the road vs. a desperate FL. State team. UNC's up tempo offense plays right into the hands of Duke's offense where they will be hitting three's to Carolina's two's. Duke is #1 in offensive efficiency and scored a ton of points against Syracuse which is hard to do and whose defensive efficiency is higher than Carolinas. Carolina also has a horrible FT% which will not help them if this game is close.

Play on Michigan State -4.5 at Purdue: Tom says the team will play with a sense of urgency following an embarrassing home loss to Nebraska and I feel they come out playing angry. They play 3 of next 4 against ranked opponents...2 on the road vs. rivals Michigan and Ohio State...so they need this game. State neutralizes Purdue's offensive rebounding strength with strong defensive rebounding. They also hold an advantage in 3 point shooting and ball handling. Their strong defensive FG% should prove too much for Purdue's weak offensive FG%.

Play on Texas A&M -1.5 vs. Alabama: Defense will get the cover for the Aggies. Also, Bama has yet to win a conference road game while A&M is 13-2 at home this year and a staggering 62-12 at home vs. unranked opponents. These teams are evenly matched statistically so I feel that there is some value in this line.

Play on Wi-GB -9 vs. Valparaiso: Valpo is a young team who turns the ball over a lot against an aggressive defense and their turnovers could exacerbate itself in an away arena. Wi-GB plays angry after getting trounced in there first meeting at Valpo. Valpo fouls a lot and doesn't create turnovers either. GB is also 2nd in the country in blocks and Valpo is 215 in getting shots blocked. Lay the points here in this revenge matchup.