YTD Record: 1-5

Duke (-2) @ Notre Dame

Jalil Okafor is the most dominant player in college basketball. There is not a center in Division 1 basketball that can match up with him in the post, and that is the one thing that Duke has lacked over the past few seasons. Since dropping consecutive games to NC State and Miami, Duke has rebounded with a trio of impressive performances to get Coach K to 1,000 wins. Notre Dame comes into this game ranked #8 in the country, but in four out of their last five games they’ve either lost or narrowly escaped defeat in the final minutes. They are a great 3 point shooting team, but lack the depth in the front court to stop Okafor and Jefferson, and that will be what ends up deciding this game in Duke’s favor. Tyus Jones and Justise Winslow will score in double figures to support Okafor, Sulaimon will provide energy and scoring off the bench, and Duke will win this game easily.

St. John’s (-1) @ Creighton

Coming off of a tough loss to Duke at MSG, St. John’s will look to come out strong in this one against a Creighton team that has really under performed this season. Creighton has yet to win a game in conference play, posting an 0-8 mark, and they recently lost their sophomore guard and second leading scorer Isaiah Zierden to an ACL Tear. D’Angelo Harrison has played well this season, averaging 19.1 PPG and showing the ability to score from anywhere on the floor. Chris Obekpa is a force in the paint, not only blocking shots but making it difficult for opponents to even get a shot off. St. John’s relies heavily on transition, and Creighton has turned the ball over 19 times in each of its last two outings, a troubling stat for any college program. St John’s will win this game easily on the road, a rarity in the Big East, and Creighton will remain winless in the conference.

Stanford (-2) @ Washington

Chasson Randle is one of the best scorers in Stanford history. He is averaging 20.2 PPG this season and shoots the ball well from every spot on the floor. Supplemented by Anthony Randle and Stefan Nastic, Stanford has capable scorers in multiple spots on their roster. Although they’ve not been great on the road this season, Stanford is a well-coached, older team that certainly has the pieces to be a great road team. Washington is coming off an exciting win at Colorado that they followed up with a poor performance against Utah in what ended up as a 21-point loss. They recently dismissed the nation’s blocks per game leader in Robert Upshaw due to drug-related violations, and they simply won’t be able to stay with Stanford without a major presence in the paint. Stanford will win easily on the road.

Brandon Fine handicaps college basketball and is a writer for The Saturday Edge. You can follow Brandon on Twitter throughout the college basketball season @vegaslinebeater and you can contact him at vegaslinebeater@gmail.com.