Today’s Picks:
West Virginia (ML) vs. #4 Baylor
Harvard (ML) vs. Yale
#20 Penn State (-7) @ Northwestern
I went 1-2 last night and I don’t even care because the one pick that really mattered to me was Hampton over Radford…and it hit. It was a gut check for me. I feel like I know the college basketball conference tournament season because the same storylines play out every single year. This year it was Hampton (check back tomorrow as I will definitely be picking against them in the Big South finals). Sometimes you can do all the research in the world and it still doesn’t mean anything because your gut always wins (or at least it does 65% of the time). That’s my lesson for you today, children. Let’s take a look at Saturday’s picks.
It’s Senior Day all around college basketball, and the easiest pick of the day is happening in Morgantown, West Virginia. The unranked Mountaineers are underdogs against #4 Baylor, and this game is not even going to be close. “Press Virginia” always shows out on Senior Day. Honestly, I have no facts to back that up, but it feels true every year. I’m taking the Mountaineers by 10+ today, so give me their moneyline and an alternate line if you can get it.
Not only is it Senior Day, but it’s also my favorite matchup of the year – Harvard vs. Yale. I’ve been to a few of these games in person, and they’re electric. The gym is as quiet as a library while these nerds try to figure out what’s playing out in front of them. I love every bit of it. Yale lost the first game at home when they missed a few free throws at the end of the game that could have sent it to OT. It was a controversial finish, but that’s how these games play out every single year – one nail biter finish and one blowout. Yale usually ends up on the wrong side of these decisions which makes it hard for me to fathom why they are two point favorites on the road for Harvard’s Senior Day. Give me Harvard by a million! Or at least Harvard moneyline.
There’s too much college basketball going on today for me to pick anything else. Senior Day or not, Northwestern is big time trash. They’re 2-17 in conference this season, and, of their losses, only six have been in single digits and three under 5 points. Their only two conference wins have been against the even-worse Nebraska, and they haven’t won a home game since January 11. So why are they only seven point dogs today against #20 Penn State? I can’t understand that one at all. Give me the Nittany Lions -7 in this one, and tease it all the way to -9 if you can.
Yesterday’s Record: 1-2
My 2020 Record: 9-5-1