College Basketball Picks - December 17, 2008

We picked up 3 units with the win on our lone CBB play last night.  Today we like three premium plays on the CBB board.

Today's NCAA Basketball Picks:

Game: Akron at V C U (8:00 PM Eastern)
Pick: 4 units on Akron +8.5 (-110) (risk 4 to win 3.6)

The Akron Zips have gotten more production out of Brett McKnight who scored 4 ppg a year ago and is now second on the team with 11 ppg. The Zips have some key holdovers and are young, deep and talented as they are getting solid contributions from nine players in the rotation consistently. The Rams are coming off a 24 win season and have some key pieces back but have not recorded a quality win yet. The Rams are getting big performances every night from last year's CAA Player of the year Eric Maynor, but the supporting cast has been a bit suspect and no one is averaging over 5rpg, another area of concern early. The Zips are money in this role as they have produced a 13-3 ATS mark as a dog of from 7-12.5 and I'll back them to stay close in this one.

This could easily be a place where the UAB Blazers could get caught taking a nap. They have had consecutive games against six top opponents and this is really an easy place for them to sleepwalk through a game and take a breather. They also may be a bit rusty having not played since December 6th on semester exam break. Jacksonville St. won't be bringing a name to the arena tonight, but they will be bringing confidence off a 6-1 start and a win at Umass who just upset then ranked Kansas. Jacksonville St. recorded that win on the road. They are a very good shooting team both from the field and deep and boast four players that are connecting at over 40% from deep, which will help them stay in this one. Good spot for the Gamecocks to sneak up on UAB, and I'll back them with the points here.

Austin Peay will play up tonight as they head to Arkansas to take on a BCS team in Arkansas. The Governers like to play at a reasonably high pace but may have learned something their last time out trying to run with Louisville which resulted in getting blown out. What has been their bread-n-butter against teams in their class certainly didn't translate well against the Cardinals. I would expect a different tactic for this one. The Razorbacks are going to try to turn this one into a running game as well as they like the fast pace full-court game. The Governers running game hasn't translated however on the road as they are 5-1 to the under in their last six on the road. Arkansas also has played 13 of their last 19 at home to the under, I'll follow the trend and go UNDER here.

Results: 1-2

NCAA Basketball Picks Resources:

• View 2008 college basketball season preivew here.
• Don't forget to visit our NCAA basketball sportsbook reviews.
• Check out 2008 NCAA basketball picks here.
• Check out our updated college basketball sports handicapping philosophy.
• Don't forget to read our NCAA basketball Game-of-Day-Preview here.
• Here we show our college basketball blog.
• View our NCAA basketball predictions here.
• Don't forget to visit our college basketball odds.
• Here we show our ncaa march madness brackets.
• Take a look at our NCAA basketball ATS records here.
• View ncaa march madness picks here.
• Don't forget to read our college basketball prior picks here.

Check out the last five NCAA Basketball Picks Newsletters:

NCAA-Basketball-Picks-December-16-2008
The Tennessee Volunteers had a horrible game last time out as they dropped a decision to Temple on the road. You can be sure they are going to come back with a vengeance in this one tonight. This will...

NCAA-Basketball-Picks-December-15-2008
The Skyhawks are heading for a tough season. They have mustered just a single win (excluding Maryville), and it was over lowly Elon. Their schedule has had some winning opportunities, but the Skyhawks...

NCAA-Basketball-Picks-December-14-2008
UTEP is 3-1 at home, shooting very well there. On the road it's a different story as they are 1-2, hitting just 36.1% from the field. They have no one in the front court averaging double-digits. O...

NCAA-Basketball-Picks-December-13-2008
The Cuse is off to a big start at 8-0, but suffered a severe blow in their last game as Eric Devendorf has been suspended for disiplinary reasons. He will however suit up, and likely play as he is app...

NCAA-Basketball-Picks-December-12-2008
Drake was the surprise of not only of the MVC last year, but in the country by taking a team projected to finish at or near the basement in the MVC to 28 wins and the NCAA Tournament. This is not the ...