darrell,

Three picks today.

Good luck , darrell!

*Memphis -8.5 over MISSISSIPPI (3:30 Eastern)

Memphis' only loss was to Duke. Since then they have reeled off four straight victories and they've won 7 of eight overall. This is a damn good basketball team. Mississippi is known as a team that can give top ranked teams fits but they just don't have the team to do it this year (returned just one starter). Missippi is 6-2 but they haven't played anyone. They lost by 53 points to New Mexico for goodness sake! Memphis is 17-5 ATS vs. teams as 60%+ SU over the last 3 seasons. One star on the Tigers.

*Arizona -4.5 over UTAH (4:00 Eastern)

Both of these teams have struggled against the spread. Arizona is 2-5 while Utah is 1-4. Without Bogut, Utah is a pretty bad team. Arizona has shot very poorly on the road but I don't expect that to continue. Zona's defense should put the clamps on Utah tonight as they Cats are holding opponents 8 points under their average this season. One star on Arizona minus the points.

*S. ALABAMA +3.5 over Houston (6:00 Eastern)

S. Alabama has won five straight and are 6-1 overall including a perfect 3-0 at home. They now get a huge game for them against a team on the cusp of the Top 25. Houston has pulled off a couple of big upsets this year against LSU and Arizona. But, they won't be as pumped for this game and could find themselves wondering what happened at games-end. On the road, the Cougs are allowing 83 points per game. At home, S. Alabama is allowing 54.3. We have a live home dog here and we'll back S. Alabama for one star.