I have five games I like for tomorrow, and am hoping to capitalize on a 4-2 week last week. If you have any questions, please let me know. Good luck!

UVA @ Notre Dame +3 

For me, this play on Notre Dame purely comes down to schematics. To beat the Packline defense, you have to be perimeter oriented and able to knock down jump shots from over the top, which is exactly what Notre Dame excels at. I like Jerian Grant’s ability to create shots for not only himself and his teammates, and the Irish should find themselves in a very good position to win the game if they shoot close to their average field goal percentage, a stat that in which they rank first in the country. Virginia is a team that I obviously like, but I feel that they have been playing with fire recently and Notre Dame has one of the best home court advantages in college basketball. I like the Irish to hand the Cavaliers their first loss on the season.

Cincy at UConn -3.5

One of the reasons UConn has had some much success over the years is that they are consistently an elite defensive team, and playing good defense is the backbone of success in a lot of sports, but specifically college basketball. Cincinnati is a team that prides themselves on defensive principles as well, but the Bearcats are in trouble Saturday in my opinion. Cincinnati has been playing on a bit of an emotional high the last few weeks after the loss of their head coach Mick Cronin, with nice wins over NC State and SMU. But I think they have played above their heads recently. They don’t really have a go-to scorer, and on the road in a conference game against a defending champion like UConn, I just don’t think they find enough buckets to keep this game within reach. UConn is getting healthy, and returning home after a trip to Florida, and I am expecting a max effort game from the Huskies in their home conference opener.

Ohio State at Indiana +2 

If you love good post play, you won’t want to watch this game. On the flip side, if you love run and gun and lots of jump shots, you’re in heaven. I like Indiana in this spot for a few different reasons. The Hoosiers are coming off a blowout loss at Michigan State, a game in which the Spartans arguably played their best game of the season, so there is some value from that perspective. Ohio State is coming in off an OT win at Minnesota, and has a home tilt with Michigan on deck, so this is an ultimate sandwich spot scenario for the Buckeyes. Indiana is going to struggle with teams that can take advantage of their lack of interior play and rebounding, but Ohio State is about as good of a matchup the Hoosiers will find given the Buckeyes lack interior play as well. Both teams average over 82 points a game, and this game will be played a high-tempo. Assembly Hall will be rocking and I like the Hoosiers to get a much needed conference win.

Missouri @ Auburn -6 

This is an awful spot for Missouri. The Tigers are coming off an emotional home OT win against LSU Thursday, which is their best win of the year. They then barely get any prep time to go into Auburn and face an Auburn team playing their home conference opener, with a game at Kentucky on deck for Missouri. Auburn is a small team and struggles against size, but Missouri really has no interior threats and will feed into what Bruce Pearl wants to do. The fact of the matter is that neither of these teams is very good, but I don’t trust a Missouri team that I frankly don’t think is very good to get up and play well with one day of rest and a game against the #1 team in the country up next.

Xavier @ Butler -2 

I don’t know if there’s any team in the country that has a more diverse personality of how they play at home versus on the road than Xavier. Xavier isn’t a great defensive team, but is highly skilled offensively. This year, it seems that Xavier is having a very tough time away from home, suffering all four losses of the losses on their resume on the road. When Xavier can’t get into an offensive rythym, they don’t play good enough defense to really keep them above water, which is why they’ve lost to inferior teams such as UTEP, Long Beach State, Auburn, and DePaul away from home. Butler will make Xavier uncomfortable offensively, and with the home crowd at Hinkle Fieldhouse, the Bulldogs should cover the short number at home.