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Ncaa Basketball Predictions - November 17, 2008We grabbed +2.5 units last night as we finished 2-1. Today we roll with three CBB picks.  Today's NCAA Basketball Picks: Many wondered if when Gene Keady retired if Purdue could find its way back onto the national scene again. After a struggle, Matt Painter logged a 22-win season with the Boilers last year. This season, he has a team with Final Four potential, 28 years since their last appearance. Grant, Hummel and Moore all connected on over 43% from beyond the arc last season and return with Jajuan Johnson who is expected to come up big under the basket. The Boilermaker's have all the ingredients to find their way deep in the tournament. Eastern Michigan is off an injury-riddled 14-17 mark and just .500 in the MAC. The team is experienced inside and has a good PG in Carlos Medlock, but the depth, quickness, and athleticism on the perimeter for Purdue will cause this Eagle team many problems. Turnovers should mount and turn into some easy hoops, and Purdue's trio of marksman on the perimeter just won't be able to be defended. And if they get hot, this one could be over very early! I'll back Purdue in a rout here. Game: Toledo at Xavier (7:00 PM Eastern) Pick: 3 units on Toledo +19 (-110) (risk 3 to win 2.7) Xavier has been on the national scene quite a bit lately with two Elite Eight appearances in the last five years and are coming off a 30-win season. The X-men lead the A-10 in rebound margin last year and should be a force inside again, but they lost their talented backcourt in Drew Lavendar and Stanley Burrell, and it may take some games for the backcourt to get this team going. The backcourt weakness and inexperience is the strength of the Rockets. The Rockets have four experienced guards that combined to average 43 points per game last season. That experience and athleticism on the perimeter may make life more difficult than this bundle of points indicates for the inexperienced guards of Xavier, so I'll grab the points in this one. Game: Fordham at Villonova (7:00 PM Eastern) Pick: 3 units on Villonova -21 (-110) (risk 3 to win 2.7) The Fordham Rams take on a nearly impossible task facing No. 23 ranked Villanova at the Pavilion. Fordham may have tipped its 2008-09 hand with a loss to lowly Columbia of the Ivy League. The Rams are picked at or near the bottom of the A-10. The Rams underachieved last year with five returning starters that finished 12-17, and 6-10 in the A-10. All five of those starters have departed, and if you look back at the three years prior, the Rams won a total of just 16 games which may be indicative of things to come this season. Villanova is ranked and probably won't finish in the top four in their conference, which is certainly not a slap to their quality, but a statement of the depth in the Big East. The Wildcats lack size which will hurt them in the Big east, but not at all in this one. They have the talent edge in every spot on the floor and the home court and could name their score here - and likely will. This one adds up to a blowout for the Wildcats. NCAA Basketball Picks Resources:
Check out the last five NCAA Basketball Picks Newsletters: NCAA-Basketball-Picks-November-16-2008 NCAA-Basketball-Picks-November-14-2008 NCAA-Basketball-Picks-November-10-2008 |
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