We rate each pick 1 to 5 units with 5 being the strongest play (read about units).
Risk 1% of your bankroll per unit (never risk more than 5% of total bankroll on any pick).

Game: Illinois Chicago at Cleveland State (7:00 PM Eastern)
Pick: 2 units on Cleveland State +1

Illinois Chicago has struggled mightily dropping three straight and 4 of 5. Cleveland St. has been worse as they have now dropped 5 in a row after opening 5-3. This is not a vintage Ill-Chicago team, certainly not like ones we have seen make noise in the NCAA tourney. They have not only struggled but have been horrible on the road at 1-5. Cleveland St. has had just 31 wins in the last four seasons, and 10 last year. Gary Waters has come over from Rutgers and this team is playing much better. Taking a look at these five losses, three were at the hands of Ohio State, Butler, and Kansas State and the other two were both lost in OT. The fact is this team played at home vs. George Mason, who shot over 60% in the game and Cleveland St. still almost won, losing by just 5. They also defeated Kent St. in this building, a game in which they shot just 36%, and still won by 7! It tells us that this team is good at home, and better than Illinois-Chicago on the court, but not by reputation, so we will back the home team.

We won't touch the point-spread on this one as these meaningless games for named teams are usually hard to guage. But the total does stand out for us. Louisville has been involved with some cupcake type games this season, and it is when they score the most, and relax a bit on defense in the last 10 minutes of the game. They have had four lined games as a -9 favorite or higher and each of those games scored more than this posted total. Northeastern last year was a double digit dog just twice, and both those games went over this total. So have the four games that they have had this year. We are getting confirmation from both sides, that this number is a bit low, so we will play this one above the posted total.

Loyola MD will face off with Northwestern in the first ever meeting between the two schools. Northwestern is off to a fast start standing at 8-3. Loyola will come in with a respectful 5-4 mark. We question the validity of this line, and it is a direct result of Northwestern's win over Utah by over 30. Let's look at some other Northwestern wins. Wheaton College at home by 1. N. Fla at home by 1. PR Mayaguez by 7. W. Michigan at home by 2 in OT. Certainly the rcord is there at 8-3, but we don't see a team that warrants an 8 point spread at home in this game. Loyola will have the best player on the court in Gerald Brown who averages 21.7 ppg, and two other double digit scorers. The wildcard in this one for Loyola is Omari Israel as he scored 11 and pulled down 6 rebounds in his first game of the year. This gives Loyola a fourth scoring option, and we see a tight game, and will take the 8.