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In this article every week, we'll be reviewing some of the top college basketball games of the day to see how we can beat Vegas. Today's slate of games brings us one day closer to March Madness with a host of teams vying for only a few unclaimed spots on this year's "bubble."
Thanks to all of the support for Saturday's 3-2 bounceback, which was a Lamine Diane late missed layup away from 4-1.
Here are some of the top college basketball expert betting picks for Saturday, February 8. Let me know your thoughts, and follow me on Twitter @fredetterline. All game times below are Eastern Standard Time.
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Richmond @ La Salle - 7:00 pm
The Richmond Spiders find themselves squarely on the bubble this year in the competitive Atlantic 10 (A-10) Conference. The Spiders, led by Coach Chris Mooney and an experienced team that returned all five starters and over 85% of total minutes played from the team a year ago. Wagner transfer guard Blake Francis returned this past Saturday for his first game back from injury from a month and picked up where he left off with 18 points, narrowly eclipsing his season average. With a fully healthy roster, Richmond will continue to make things difficult for the Selection Committee.
Coach Ashley Howard is in the second season at the helm of a full program rebuild at the Philadelphia-based La Salle University. This season, the Explorers have given consistent minutes to a foursome of freshmen, finding themselves at just 2-8 in conference play. There have been some bright spots this season with the play of the young freshmen, and a free t-shirt giveaway should generate some excitement for the fans tonight, but the Explorers at this step of their rebuild will be vastly overmatched.
Pick: Richmond -4.5
Lafayette @ Army - 7:00 pm
The Lafayette College Leopards are celebrating their silver anniversary with Coach Fran "The Lafayette Man" O'Hanlon this season. Twenty-five years with the same coach is an impressive undertaking in college basketball, and it is even more impressive considering O'Hanlon has taken the Leopards to the NCAA Tournament only once since the turn of the 21st Century. Junior guard Justin Jaworski has been the go-to scorer this season, but with additional touches this season his efficiency has dropped significantly. The Leopards' schedule has been rather soft, ranking 313th of the 353 NCAA programs in terms of strength of schedule.
The Army Black Knights have rallied around their senior leader point guard Tommy Funk to win six of their past eight conference games to re-enter the conversation for the Patriot League title. Funk's usage and efficiency both increased to career bests so far and should be one of the leading vote-getters in the Patriot League's Player of the Year race. Coach Jimmy Allen has the service academy from West Point, NY, playing its best basketball at the right time in hopes of finally taking Army to its first-ever NCAA Tournament.
Pick: Army +1.5
Louisville @ Georgia Tech - 8:00 pm
Coach Chris Mack's Louisville Cardinals are without a doubt a top championship contender. The team is very deep, with talented shooters, multiple experienced big men, and top young freshmen who are contributing right away. A trip away from the Yum! Center should be of little concern to the Cardinals, who have covered three straight road games. The Cardinals have their ticket securely booked for the bracket and are now working their way up towards the top seed-line. In order to move up to the 1-seed, the Cardinals will need to handily defeat programs like Georgia Tech and get some help with a hopeful loss from San Diego State or Gonzaga.
It is 2020 and Josh Pastner is still a college basketball coach for a major program. Pastner, who has seemingly had no success in Atlanta and left Memphis at an opportune time, is a solid coach who simply entered the biggest rebuild job in the ACC at the time. Pastner is now in his fourth season at Georgia Tech and will need to start showing signs of life before school administrators start talking about canning him.
Pick: Louisville -6
Illinois State @ Northern Iowa - 8:00 pm
The Illinois State Redbirds were one of only a handful of FCS programs to have a player invited to the NFL Combine, with running back James Robinson representing the school. On the hardwood, they are a maddening team to watch at times due to their inconsistencies. Pundits had high expectations for the Redbirds only to see them fail to fully live up to them. Despite a seven-game conference losing streak, Coach Dan Muller got the team to split its next four games in an effort to get them back on track. In the teams' earlier match, Illinois State hung around for most of the game, falling to Northern Iowa by 6.
Coach Ben Jacobson has done an excellent job with this year's Northern Iowa Panthers. Led by star sophomore guard AJ Green, the Panthers are seemingly always churning out strong possessions with top-five offensive efficiency rankings. Northern Iowa has not been made privy to many large spreads, and this twelve-point spread will be one of the largest that they have seen to date.
Pick: Illinois State +12
Clemson @ Pitt - 9:00 pm
Coach Brad Brownell was in a difficult position entering the year, having to replace four of five starters and most of his offensive firepower. The Tigers have relied this season on a new cast of contributors, including Alabama grad transfer guard Tevin Mack. This rag-tag group has struggled badly to score at times, placing 308th in the country in points per game. Interestingly, Clemson only has one road conference win this season, which was in Chapel Hill - their first defeat of North Carolina in Clemson basketball history. Clemson has failed to cover the spread in five of its last six games.
The Pitt Panthers find themselves on the bubble - the NIT bubble that is - for the first time since Jamie Dixon strolled the sidelines of the Petersen Events Center. Coach Jeff Capel's team is nearly fully reliant on underclassmen as Wichita State grad transfer center Eric Hamilton and injured Swedish forward Kene Chukwuka are the only seniors on the roster. Sophomore guards Trey McGowens and Xavier Johnson are typically the first players that broadcasters will reference, but the player who has made the biggest difference in conference play has been freshman forward Justin Champagnie. Champagnie, whose twin brother Julian is a freshman for Saint John's, dropped 30 points his last time out on Georgia Tech and will look to continue his success against the Tigers.
Pick: Pitt -3
Thanks for reading, and remember to gamble responsibly.
