Ncaa Bracket Picks - January 09, 2010

We nailed both of our college hoops picks last night for back-to-back sweeps. Over the last five weeks, we are 79-59, good for +51 units. Today we hit the floor with nine picks including a pair of 5-unit picks. Our 5-unit college hoops picks are hitting 71% (20-8) on the season.

WUNDERDOG 2010 RECENT RESULTS ($100/bet)
SPORT	WINS-LOSSES	%	NET
NFL	41-21 last 62 picks	66%	+$5270
CFB	25-10 last 35 picks	71%	+$6040
MLB	265-219 last 484 picks	55%	+$8370
CBB	79-59 last 138 picks	57%	+$5090
NBA	33-27 last 60 picks	55%	+$240
NHL	195-122 last 317 picks	62%	+$15940
WNBA	121-90 last 211 picks	57%	+$5490
TOTAL			+$46440

Today's NCAA Basketball Picks:

Game: Florida at Vanderbilt (12:00 PM Eastern)
Pick: 3 units on Vanderbilt -6 (-110) (risk 3 to win 2.7)

One of the toughest places to play in college basketball is at Vanderbilt. That certainly has been a weapon for the Commodores this season as they stand in with an unblemished nark of 8-0. The Gators are not the team that was cutting down nets a few years ago, and will be ripe with their young team here. The Gators suffered a couple hits losing to UAB and Richmond, and narrowly escaping a mediocre North Carolina State team in overtime. The Commodores have delivered the cash in eight of their last 11 at home, and will expose the young Gators that are playing on the road in a most difficult atmosphere. Vanderbilt gets the call.

This is a huge rivalry between in-state schools, and they both have gotten good which adds to the fire and intensity to this one. Mississippi State is off a tough loss at Western Kentucky, has also misfired on a neutral court to Richmond and lost at home to Rider. They are lacking a quality win. Meanwhile, the Rebels are perfect at home and have lost just twice on the season, both to Big East heavyweights. The Rebels can come at you from all five spots on the floor with all five averaging 10+ a game, and put them at home as a small favorite of 6.5 or less, and they are money as they have gone 31-15-1 ATS. The favorite has prevailed in this series to a 10-3 ATS mark, and I don't see anything different here. Ole Miss gets the call.

Villanova was expected to be amongst the leaders atop of a rugged Big East as they have a nice balance of youth and experience and a guard tandem that ranks in the top five in the country. The Golden eagles have really been under the radar and surprised early. The latest victim was a No. 12 ranked Georgetown team that got picked off in Milwaukee. The Golden Eagles have proven to be a tough out as they came within a whisker of handing a then unbeaten West Virginia team its first loss as they dropped a 1-point decision in Morgantown. Nova realizes that this team is tough and they needed everything they had to hold this team off on the road in a 2-point win. The Golden Eagles is not a bad team and they are not getting the respect in the line, offering value, so I'll back them in this one.

The Missouri Tigers are steamrolling all opponents at home. They are riding a superb 30-game home winning streak, and when you consider the quality of opponent that comes in here that is quite an accomplishment. What is even more stunning is the way they are doing it as they are winning by over 20+ points per game. They play a frenetic pressing style, and it tends to unravel their opponents. Kansas State has had just one true road game all season, and they will not be ready for what they will be facing here. I'm going with Missouri who isn't only winning at home, but is 19-7 ATS in their last 26 here, while the “Mildcats” are just 6-18-2 ATS in their last 26 vs. Big-12 competition.

When you have a team that has won 30 straight games at home playing to a short moneyline, it is always worth the investment. Kansas State, with just one true roadie all season, isn't equipped at this point in the season to enter a hornets’ nest and come out with a win. Their 6-18-2 ATS mark in their last 26 vs. the Big-12 doesn't bode well here either. I'm going with Missouri for the straight-up win on the moneyline.

It is indelible in the minds of most, that it is a given, that Creighton will put out a good team and it immediately looks enticing to see them at +7.5. The problem is that this is perhaps the worst Creighton Blue Jays team to hit the floor in over a decade, and 7.5 is simply a courtesy to a good team, with an off year, and not nearly enough. It is the Shockers holding court in the MVC this season. What Creighton has been over the years, the Shockers are every bit of this season and are a perfect 10-0 at home on the season. Overall the Shockers present a 14-2 mark and after years of chasing Creighton, they have the talent, home court and experience to give the Jays a dose of their own medicine. I'll go with Wichita State here.

The Davidson Wildcats had the world take notice of the Southern Conference for the past few years, and for many they ruled the roost. There is a new kid on the block that many don't know about yet, but will and that is the Western Carolina Catamounts. The Catamounts are off to a 12-2 start and if you don't think they are for real, just ask Rick Pitino at Louisville. WCU went to Louisville and beat the Cards handily by 8. Georgia Southern is in a soft conference with the Catamounts, but this is top vs. bottom as the Eagles have been grounded, dropping nine straight games, and haven't fared much better vs. the line either as the last time they covered a game was all the way back on December 3. I'll go with the team on the rise - Western Carolina.

I really like all three of these teams to win their games outright, so throw them in a moneyline parlay at nearly even odds. Clemson is 7-1 at home and they get a BC team that has played really poor defense on the road. The Tigers are winning at home by an average score of 82-59. S. Alabama gets an Arkansas State team that is 2-4 on the road and getting out scored by 7 points per game. Arkansas State is 5-21 straight-up the past three seasons vs. winning teams. Cal is 8-1 at home. Their lone loss? Last game to UCLA by 1 point. You can bet they are going to bring it here against a USC squad that is 2-10 on the road the past two seasons. Parlay these three on the moneyline.

Cal is 8-1 at home winning here by 21 points per game. The Trojans manage just 56.3 points per game on the road so they won't be able to keep up with the 83.4 produced by the Bears at home. When facing a winning team at home the past two seasons, Cal is 11-2 ATS. They are 16-6 ATS at home under Mike Montgomery including 14-5 ATS as a home favorite. I like Cal to roll here.

Results: 5-4

NCAA Basketball Picks Resources:

• Here we show our free NCAA basketball predictions.
• View our college basketball prior predictions here.
• View march madness brackets here.
• Read our NCAA basketball handicapping philosophy here.
• Don't forget to visit our NCAA basketball lines.
• View NCAA basketball picks blog here.
• Take a look at our NCAA basketball betting here.
• Don't forget to read our NCAA basketball Game-of-Day Analysis here.
• Check out march madness pick here.
• Take a look at our 2009 college basketball picks here.
• Don't forget to visit our 2009 college basketball season preivew.
• Don't forget to read our college basketball ATS standings here.

Check out the last five NCAA Basketball Picks Newsletters:

NCAA-Basketball-Picks-January-08-2010
Fairfield has gotten off on the fast track at 10-4, including a perfect 6-0 mark at home. Unfortunately for the Stags there is not a quality win in the stack of 10. This one looks to be an overlay her...

NCAA-Basketball-Picks-January-07-2010
The upstart Jags come in at 11-4 overall and are on a three-game toot, culminating with an overtime win over Florida International. Their record is a product of a soft schedule, and they have severely...

NCAA-Basketball-Picks-January-06-2010
This isn't one of coach Phil Martelli's vintage St. Joe's teams and they have to be feeling their oats dropping one at home to Princeton. I think they got caught looking ahead as these sch...

NCAA-Basketball-Picks-January-05-2010
The Purdue Boilermakers remain one of five teams still unbeaten and have a Final Four look as long as they keep Robbie Hummel healthy. The Golden Gophers are no lay down team as this is a team that ca...

NCAA-Basketball-Picks-January-04-2010
James Madison comes in here as a .500 team at 6-6 but the six wins are against Fordham, Gardner Webb, Norfolk State, MD Baltimore County, North Carolina Central, and Florida International. These six t...