jdamon26

Got it.

I'm down.  UGA plays like a snail but plays good defense.  Arkansas sometimes lacks intensity on defense at times...but can UGA take advantage?...probably not.

There is a day called Selection Sunday where the bracket is basically announced.  Basically, there is a tournament committee that decides who gets in by looking at the teams' quality wins, bad losses, RPI ranking, etc.  The conference winners also get an automatic bid into the tournament and all the Committee has to do for those teams is figure out where to seed them.

I think Kentucky will probably win it all...but my "under the radar" teams (for now) are Cleveland State, Temple, and California. 

Hey everyone.  For NCAA, I got:
Akron -3.5
Mass -3
Michigan -3

My write-ups for college are in that forum.  For NBA, I like:

Nets -4 (has dropped to -3.5)
I love fading the Pistons on the road whenever I get a chance.  They are 1-12 away from home this year and have lost 7 straight away.  The Nets already beat them at home (by 3) a week ago.  Anthony Morrow should be back in the lineup after missing the last game (vs Chicago) for a funeral.  That's good news as he has played very well lately, including a 42 point performance a few nights ago.  Important to note that Morrow also did not play in that 3 point victory over the Pistons.  Detroit is a little dinged up right now, with Knight having a broken nose.  It will be interesting to see if he will play and how he plays with a mask on.  Gordon and Bynum have been practicing, but I don't think either will play (even if they do, I'm not too worried).  I think this game will ultimately come down to whether Greg Monroe can outperform Deron Williams.  Given Detroit's road woes, I'll take DWill in this one.  Having a red-hot Anthony Morrow to pass to doesn't hurt either. 

Heat -3.5
No real need to research and write too much about this pick.  Magic are really struggling of late and the Heat are the Heat.  Chalmers is out for Miami, but Norris Cole is a pretty reliable backup for a rookie.  I see him playing well considering his match-ups will be a slow Jameer Nelson, an unimpressive Chris Duhon, and an unathletic JJ Redick.  James and Wade should be able to lock up Richardson and Turkoglu, and Bosh has the quickness to bother Anderson's shot.  Howard can get his 30 points and 15 rebounds tonight and I can still see the Heat winning by double digits.

For NBA:

Nets -4 (has dropped to -3.5)
I love fading the Pistons on the road whenever I get a chance.  They are 1-12 away from home this year and have lost 7 straight away.  The Nets already beat them at home (by 3) a week ago.  Anthony Morrow should be back in the lineup after missing the last game (vs Chicago) for a funeral.  That's good news as he has played very well lately, including a 42 point performance a few nights ago.  Important to note that Morrow also did not play in that 3 point victory over the Pistons.  Detroit is a little dinged up right now, with Knight having a broken nose.  It will be interesting to see if he will play and how he plays with a mask on.  Gordon and Bynum have been practicing, but I don't think either will play (even if they do, I'm not too worried).  I think this game will ultimately come down to whether Greg Monroe can outperform Deron Williams.  Given Detroit's road woes, I'll take DWill in this one.  Having a red-hot Anthony Morrow to pass to doesn't hurt either. 

Heat -3.5
No real need to research and write too much about this pick.  Magic are really struggling of late and the Heat are the Heat.  Chalmers is out for Miami, but Norris Cole is a pretty reliable backup for a rookie.  I see him playing well considering his match-ups will be a slow Jameer Nelson, an unimpressive Chris Duhon, and an unathletic JJ Redick.  James and Wade should be able to lock up Richardson and Turkoglu, and Bosh has the quickness to bother Anderson's shot.  Howard can get his 30 points and 15 rebounds tonight and I can still see the Heat winning by double digits.

BOL

Good point.

I agree.

Nets -3.5

BOL

Thanks Indiansrock

I wish you the same.

Yeah...interesting total for the Dawg/Hog game.  I would of guessed it to be around 120.  Maybe Mark Fox is going to let his boys Run N Gun for once?...it's painful watching them try to execute in the half-court.

UMass leading rebounder is out I think.  I still like the Minutemen though! 

Jshep, Ringneck, Degengambler

Akron -2.5
The Zips have won 5 straight and 9 of 10.  Western Michigan has lost 3 of 4 games.  In the last 10 meetings between the two teams, Akron has won 9 of them, with the Broncos win coming back all the way back in 2008.  Western Michigan is 4-1 at home in conference play, but they'll have their hands full against a good Akron team that is 4-1 on the road in conference play.  Just looking at their last 5 games, Akron has covered all of their spreads.  Akron is the conference leader at the moment and will look to maintain their top spot as they really have no tough games coming up (so no look ahead here).  The Zips lead in almost every statistical category (slight edge to Broncos in rebounding and FT percentage).  Considering both team's recent play and the way history has played out between these teams, I think Akron should be able to grind out the game and win by at least 2 possessions tonight.

UMass -3
St. Bonaventure is 4-7 away from home this year (neutral sites included).  UMass has yet to lose at home, going 11-0.  UMass averages 79 points per game at home, while the Bonnies average just 62 points per game on the road.  UMass also gets 6 more rebounds per game than the Bonnies.  However, Mass will be without Carter, their leading rebounder, who is out because of a foot injury.  He averaged 6.4 rebounds per game.  UMass does have other players that can fill that void, as they have 3 other players that average 5.6 rebounds per game or higher.  Both teams are battling for position in the very crowded and jumbled Atlantic 10 standings.  UMass has won 7 of the last 9 against the Bonnies.  This should be a very good game, but ultimately I think the uptempo style, rebounding edge, and home court advantage will lead to a Minutemen win. 

Michigan -3
Michigan is a top 25 team that underachieves greatly on the road.  However, Nebraska is not that good and I think Michigan rolls tonight.  Michigan's only bad road loss in conference was to Iowa, with the rest of their losses coming to Michigan State, Ohio State, and Indiana.  They did manage to beat a decent Purdue team at Purdue.  Michigan is superior to Nebraska in almost every statistical category (steals and free throws being in Nebraska's favor).  The Cornhuskers are 1-5 when entering games against an opponent that is ranked (win being by 1 point against the Hoosiers).  Those 5 losses were by an average margin of 22 points.  I'm hoping the Wolverines come out strong in hopes of avoiding a bad loss in the eyes of the tournament committee and to prove that they deserve to keep their top 25 ranking.

That's it for my college write-ups.  I'll probably play UNC -6 later, depending on how these earlier games look.

BOL Everyone.  Let's Do This!!!

BOL Orange

BOL

Good luck today!  Not a bad looking card at all.  I'm also on UMass and actually got them at -3 somehow.

BOL today!

Here are my plays for today:

Akron -2.5
UMass -3
Michigan -3
Nets -4
Heat -3.5

BOL to everyone!  I'll make write-ups in a bit.