It’s always fun to be checking back in with you after a perfect week. Is it easy to handicap a week of games ahead of time and hit all five of them? Nope. But it’s why we put in the hours that we do seven days a week at wannabetwithus.com.
We’re sticking with the process this week.
Monday: Arizona at Kansas – Kansas ML
The Jayhawks were a team we figured would be gelling around this time of the season. And they are, stringing together some serious in-conference road wins and getting superior play from the backcourt. Arizona ain’t running the table and Kansas is going to be rocking for this one. The Hawks have won seven in a row and their only home loss was to UConn back in early December. This is a top-10 defensive club. If the Wildcats have to chase this game, we think the unbeaten run comes to an end.
Tuesday: Colorado State at Air Force – Colorado State to cover
Air Force is one of the least efficient operations in college basketball and they are certainly stumbling down the stretch. Air Force is 3-9 ATS in conference play and has lost 16 straight games, falling by 34 to San Diego State over the weekend. Overall, very few were ever close. Being at home hasn’t done much for them. Colorado State thrashed them in the first meeting, 81-52, and we project a win of more than 15 points here.
Wednesday: Iowa at Maryland – Iowa to cover
Maryland is having perhaps its worst season ever and does nothing well. The Terrapins cannot score, defend, rebound or share the ball well with a very young backcourt that is still under development. They have been unmasked at home in conference and could lose by 30 here. Maryland is 2-5 ATS vs ranked teams, losing by 27 a game and failing to cover by 10.5 per game. Iowa is one of the more balanced teams in the country and will likely carve the Terps from range like Purdue did last week.
Thursday: Portland State at Northern Arizona – Under
Portland State is a stingy defensive team that will get you in a slog and beat you down. Love how they attack the boards and especially how they bring that same energy on the road. PSU is under in seven of the last eight games, under in seven of 11 conference games, and the first meeting between these squads produced 115 total points. Yeah, you read that right. Northern Arizona is 331th in the country in pace and won’t be trying to put on a show here at home.
Friday: UMass at Akron – Over
Akron is not getting any attention or respect because their conference leader, Miami (OH), refuses to lose and keeps climbing the rankings. But Akron can score in bunches and UMass tends to play wild, over games when it meets an opponent of this caliber (UMass pushed Miami (OH) on the road in an 86-84 defeat last month). Akron is a top-10 eFG% offense and top-15 in the country in three-point and two-point shooting percentage. The Minutemen are over in nine of their last 12 games.
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