Ncaa Basketball Tourney Picks - December 27, 2008

We are up +2.8 units this week and are back on the CBB hardwood today with five plays including a 4-unit selection.

Today's NCAA Basketball Picks:

Game: Washington State at L S U (2:00 PM Eastern)
Pick: 3 units on Game Total OVER 117 -110 (risk 3 to win 2.7)

The Cougars have had the reputation to slow games down to a screeching halt, but when they have played teams that are athletic and like to get up-and-down, like Gonzaga (74 points against the Cougars), and last year UCLA (81) and Washington (73), that hasn't worked out as well. LSU is out of the gate at 8-1, and is producing 76.5 points per game, and will be pushing the tempo in this one. The home team usually has more to say about the pace of the game, and the Tigers have played 5-1 to the OVER in their last six on their court. I like this one to go OVER the posted total.

The Drexel Dragons certainly don't look like much entering here with a 2-6 mark in the early going. They have been blown out by Georgetown and Memphis which certainly didn't surprise anyone. They have hung around in each of their four other losses to teams the caliber of Rider, with no loss exceeding six points. Rider posts a better ledger at 6-4, but there have been no wins that will open any eyes. The best of which was perhaps a 12 point win over Northridge, but the Dragons beat them by eight as well, so I don't see anything worthy of laying a bunch here. I like Drexel who is on equal footing with the Broncos and the points are a bonus.

The Buckeyes may be a surprise at 9-0 with 2 big wins over Miami, Fla. and Notre Dame already under their belt. The Buckeyes have been shooting the ball extremely well as three of their top five scorers are producing 55% or better from the field, and a fourth knocking on the 50% door. West Virginia likes to go up-and-down the floor with their athletic wing players and have reached the 80-point mark in over half their games this season. They have played eight of their last 11 on the road to the OVER. There are two good offenses that are not afraid to get up-and-down the floor and I expect this one to play well into the 60s, or even 70s, and will back the OVER here.

Florida International is off to a rough start, lagging behind defensively. They rank just No. 258 in FG percentage allowed and that is going to make it hard to find the win column. Tennessee-Martin has met a similar fate as they have played nine games, and discounting the two Div-2 games they have played, they are allowing 75 ppg. These teams matchup perfectly for an OVER game as Tennessee-Martin has played OVER to the tune of 7-0-1 as a favorite of up to 6.5, and Florida International has played 4-1 to the OVER as a home dog in the same range. This one looks to be set too low, so the OVER gets the call here.

The Gaels have certainly made some progress off their dreadful two-win season from two years ago, and are heading in the right direction. They took a solid Wisconsin team to OT before dropping the game by two points. They had another two-point loss to Fairfield who just had a seven-game winning streak snapped by No. 2 UConn. The Bulls are finding life difficult in the early going and will find it even more miserable once Big East play begins. The Bulls just took it on the chin against a 2-10 Oral Roberts team by 23 and a 4-7 Wright State team that had already suffered through a six-game losing streak this season. The Bulls have suffered four double-digit losses in their last five games - against average competition. The Bulls will be hard-pressed to get the win here, let alone the cover. The Gaels get the call.

Results: 2-3

NCAA Basketball Picks Resources:

• Here we show our 2008 season NCAA basketball gambling preview.
• Don't forget to visit our college basketball sports book.
• Read our 2008 NCAA basketball prior picks season results here.
• Updated today: NCAA basketball gambling philosophy.
• Check out NCAA basketball Game Preview here.
• View our updated college basketball picks blog.
• View free NCAA basketball picks here.
• View our updated college basketball spreads.
• Don't forget to read our march madness brackets here.
• Don't forget to visit our college basketball ATS recrds.
• Here we show our march madness picks.
• View our updated college basketball prior picks.

Check out the last five NCAA Basketball Picks Newsletters:

NCAA-Basketball-Picks-December-23-2008
Here we have a sub-.500 team that is 1-3 at home on the year, laying double digits. Delaware is the better team in this one, but this line is too large. Marist has a better defense and should be able ...

NCAA-Basketball-Picks-December-22-2008
The Gators have been holding down the bad teams on their schedule as they always play top level defense under Coach Donovan. Their home opponents from non-BCS schools have been limited to 56.8 ppg wit...

NCAA-Basketball-Picks-December-21-2008
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 ...

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 ...