Ncaa Basketball Pick - December 21, 2008

We went 2-3 last night with a couple of pushes. Today, we have four picks...

Today's NCAA Basketball Picks:

Game: Youngstown State at Charlotte (2:00 PM Eastern)
Pick: 3 units on Youngstown State +14.5 (-110) (risk 3 to win 2.7)

Two horrible teams get together in this one. Combined they have five wins to 13 losses. Charlotte hasn't seen action since December 10. Is this team that much better than Youngstown that they can cover a 14.5 point line? I don't think so. Youngstown has been staying in games. They are only being outscored on the season by 2.4 points per game on average. Charlotte, in fact, has been outscored by a similar amount on average (2.2 per game). In nine games this season, Youngstown has only lost by this many points once and that was on the road at Maryland. In every other game they would have covered this lofty spread. Under head coach Bobby Lutz, Charlotte is a perfect 0-8 ATS at home off an upset road win. I like Youngstown to hang here.

Oral Roberts is 1-8 on the road, losing thanks to a poor defense. But, Murray State is not a team to take advantage of that. They are scoring just 62.3 per game on the road and they have a solid defense. On the road they are averaging just four of 14 from beyond the arc and 41% shooting overall. This one should come in UNDER the total.

With Norfolk averaging just 59.3 per game on the road this season and Middle Tennessee not much better at 63.7 per game, this total is set too high. Granted, Norfolk's defense is bad. But, MTSU's is pretty good. They have held opponents to just 63.7 per game on the season and 62.0 over their last five. Norfolk will struggle to score and this one goes UNDER.

Yes, Washington State is scoring just 61.4 per game and holding opponents to 48.7. But on the road, their defense gives up over 53 per game. Idaho has given up 60 per game at home, but they are also scoring nearly 84 per game here. Washington State gave up 74 to Gonzaga so they have shown that good teams can score on them. This total is set too low and I'll back the OVER here.

Results: 1-3

NCAA Basketball Picks Resources:

• Don't forget to visit our 2008 season college basketball betting preivew.
• View our college basketball sports book reviews here.
• Don't forget to visit our 2008 college basketball picks results.
• View NCAA basketball sports handicapping philosophy here.
• Updated today: NCAA basketball Game-of-Day-Preview.
• Here we show our college basketball blog.
• Take a look at our college basketball pick here.
• Updated today: college basketball odds lines and spreads.
• Check out march madness bracket here.
• Check out our updated college basketball ATS standings.
• Check out our updated ncaa march madness picks.
• View our updated NCAA basketball prior picks.

Check out the last five NCAA Basketball Picks Newsletters:

NCAA-Basketball-Picks-December-20-2008
Sometimes the big-name school against the no-name makes it look easy. Georgia is coming off a big layoff here, and with a mediocre-caliber opponent, they may not be focused or sharp here. They have al...

NCAA-Basketball-Picks-December-19-2008
The UL Monroe Warhawks certainly haven't gotten out of the gate as they expected at 2-7, but they have played their last five on the road. This team has been getting exploited defensively as they ...

NCAA-Basketball-Picks-December-18-2008
The Bulldogs preparation for this one may have been reduced by the fact that head coach Rick Stansbury was out sick with a viral infection, which caused him some time in the hospital. Both of these te...

NCAA-Basketball-Picks-December-17-2008
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 talente...

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...