Free College Basketball Picks
Welcome to Playbyplayinc.com's main college basketball picks page here our ncaa basketball handicappers release free ncaab picks from the opening tip offs of the Maui and Alaskan Classic Tournaments thru the entire March Madness selection process.
We breakdown top 25 teams from the Big East, Big 12, PAC 10, SEC, Big 10, WAC, MWC, Atlantic 10, C-USA, MVC, ACC and every mid level conference in college basketball to assist each viewer a better chance to win betting ncaa basketball.
Friday, 11/9 - maryland vs kentucky college basketbll espn pick
2012-13 college basketball predictions
Wednesday’s Air Force-New Mexico game is a key contest for the home standing Lobos, as they try to earn at least a share of the Mountain West title. The Mountain West Sports Network will televise the Air Force-New Mexico game beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern from University Arena in Albuquerque.
ESPN2 will televise the BYU-Gonzaga game from the McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, Wash., beginning at 11 p.m. Eastern.
ESPN will televise the Syracuse at UConn game from the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Conn., beginning at 9 p.m. Eastern.
ESPN “Bracketology” has Syracuse as a #1 seed in its latest NCAA Tournament projection, while Connecticut is listed as a #11 seed. However, entering the week in 10th place in the Big East standings may require UConn to finish the regular season strong or to make a deep run in the Big East Conference Tournament to solidify its position for an NCAA at large bid.
Pitt enters this week alone in 14th place in the Big East at 4-11, certainly far below what the Panthers have come to expect from their basketball team. Pittsburgh has very little chance of returning to the NCAA Tournament this season, barring a surprising run late in the Big East regular-season race.
Louisville, meanwhile, has an NCAA Tournament berth basically locked up, as the Cardinals enter the week tied for sixth in the Big East at 9-5. The Cardinals are listed as a #4 seed in the latest ESPN “Bracketology” report.
New Mexico and San Diego State will play in Viejas Arena at the Aztec Bowl in San Diego Wednesday, beginning at 10 p.m. Eastern. The CBS College Sports Network now is set to televise this game.
Both New Mexico and San Diego State are tied for first in the Mountain West entering this week at 6-2, along with 6-2 UNLV. New Mexico and San Diego State both have identical 20-4 overall records, too. The Aztecs are ranked 15th nationally, while New Mexico is unranked.
Gonzaga may be playing its best basketball of the season, having upset then-#13 Saint Mary’s, 73-59, last Thursday, which is part of a stretch where the Bulldogs have won seven of their past eight games. Gonzaga was able to avenge an earlier loss at Saint Mary’s on Jan. 12, 83-62.
The MTN will televise the UNLV-TCU game beginning at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Tuesday from the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Runnin' Rebels are tied for first in the Mountain West at 6-2, along with San Diego State and New Mexico. TCU is tied for fourth place with Wyoming and Colorado State at 4-4.
ESPN Big Monday will feature the Syracuse-Louisville game at 7 p.m. Eastern. The Orange are a 2-point road favorite in the game, which will be played at the KFC Yum Center in Louisville.
Syracuse leads the Big East at 12-1, which is two games better than second-place Notre Dame. Louisville is 3 1/2 games behind Syracuse in fifth place. All of the Big East teams are starting to run out of time to try to catch the Orange, so Louisville can do the rest of the Big East a big favor with an upset win Monday.
Entering the TCU vs UNLV contest, the Rebels certainly have the better set of wins in the non-conference portion of the schedule. The Rebels upset then-#1 North Carolina Nov. 26, 90-80, and then-#19 Illinois, 64-48. UNLV’s two losses came in early December, losing at Wichita State, 89-70, and at Wisconsin, 62-51.
TCU owns two wins against BCS-level schools, having defeated Virginia, 57-55, on Nov. 18, and having defeated Texas Tech, 75-69, on Dec. 6. For Virginia, the setback against the Horned Frogs is the only loss of the season for the Cavaliers, making it an impressive win for TCU. However, the Horned Frogs have lost at home to Nebraska, 69-57, and at a neutral site against Mississippi, 80-69, and those two teams are just a combined 21-13.
North Carolina (15-2) is at Florida State Saturday afternoon on ESPN before heading to Blacksburg. The Hokies, meanwhile, carry an 11-5 record into a Saturday game at Boston College before the North Carolina-Virginia Tech game.
Win the North Carolina vs Virginia Tech contest, and the Hokies could put themselves on track to finally earn that elusive NCAA Tournament berth. Virginia Tech last played in the 2007 NCAA Tournament.
Last season, Virginia Tech finished 21-11 and 9-7 in the ACC, and the Hokies upset then-#1 Duke in Blacksburg, 64-60, in late February. Still, the Hokies were not invited to the NCAA Tournament. Last year at North Carolina, Virginia Tech suffered a 3-point loss, and the Hokies likely would’ve been an NCAA qualifier with that victory.
ESPNU will nationally televise the Maryland-Florida State contest, beginning at 9 p.m. Eastern from the Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee, Fla.
The Maryland-Florida State game is the ultimate sandwich game for the Seminoles, who will play at home against #3 North Carolina Saturday afternoon on ESPN. Then, after Tuesday’s Maryland-Florida State game, the Seminoles will play at #6 Duke Jan. 21 on ESPN.
ESPN will televise Ohio State vs Illinois from Assembly Hall in Champaign at 9 p.m. Eastern. Both teams have suffered early-season Big Ten Conference losses, so this will be a key game in the conference race.
The Ohio State Buckeyes have perhaps the nation’s best big man in 6-foot-9 sophomore Jared Sullinger. who’s averaging 16.4 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. Those numbers are slightly down from the 17.2 points and 10.2 rebounds he averaged as a freshman, but they still rank among the leaders nationally.
In the Ohio State-Illinois game, Meyers Leonard of the Fighting Illini will try to counteract Sullinger’s production. Leonard, a 7-1 sophomore, is averaging 13.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Junior guard D.J. Richardson leads Illinois in scoring at 13.9 points per game.
The CBS Sports Network will nationally televise Duquesne- vs Xavier from the Cintas Center in Cincinnati beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern.
Both Duquesne and Xavier have won nine games on the season entering this week’s contests. Duquesne will host St. Bonaventure Saturday before heading to Cincinnati, while the Musketeers will play at Fordham Saturday before Wednesday’s Duquesne-Xavier game.
The Dukes lost at then-#16 Arizona 67-59 to open the season, and they lost a neutral-site game against then-#17 Pitt, 80-69. The Dukes also own a win against the Big Ten’s Penn State, 66-59, and a win at perennial mid-major power George Mason, 75-64.
Gonzaga and St. Mary’s have dominated the West Coast Conference in recent years, and this season appears as though it will be no different. Despite the late start time Thursday, Gonzaga at St. Mary’s is a matchup well worth watching and losing a little sleep over.
Gonzaga will host conference foes Pepperdine and Santa Clara before the Gonzaga-St. Mary’s game. The Bulldogs, who are 11-2 on the season, won their West Coast Conference opener, 90-51, against Portland Dec. 28.
The Tigers will try to turn the tables in the Memphis-Georgetown rematch Thursday. ESPN2 will televise the Memphis-Georgetown game at 7 p.m. Eastern from the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.
Both Baylor and West Virginia will play games in the tournament on Thursday in Las Vegas. Undefeated Baylor, ranked #7 in the country, will play Thursday night against 9-1 Saint Mary’s at 10:30 on ESPN3.com. The Mountaineers (8-2) will play Missouri State (7-3) at 8 p.m. Eastern, also on ESPN3.com.
The Mountaineers are 1-0 against the Big XII so far this season, having won a neutral site game Dec. 8 against Kansas State, 85-80 in double overtime. That’s the only loss of the season for K-State. Baylor hasn’t played a Big East team since the 2009 NIT post-season tournament first round, when it won against Georgetown, 74-72.
ESPN2 will nationally televise the Texas-North Carolina game Wednesday December, 21st from Chapel Hill, N.C., beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern. Sixth-ranked North Carolina will be the first ranked team on unranked Texas’ schedule so far this season.
The Longhorns best win entering the North Carolina game probably came at UCLA in early December, when the Longhorns won 69-59. Texas had a nice win Saturday, defeating Temple in Austin, 77-65.
Villanova vs Pittsburgh - The Wildcats actually have struggled since mid-January. Villanova was flying high, ranked #7 nationally at 16-1 on Jan. 15. But the Wildcats have gone just 5-8 since then.
Villanova enters Sunday's 'Nova-Pitt game having lost three in a row and five of its last seven. The Wildcats went from a 19-4 record and challenging for the Big East regular season title to a 21-9 record and struggling to finish above .500 in the league.
Duke vs Virginia Tech - Duke is the latest #1 team – making its second trip to the top ranking – and the Blue Devils will have a big challenge holding that ranking after this weekend, as Saturday’s Duke-Virginia Tech game will be a tricky one for the Blue Devils. ESPN will televise the Duke-Virginia Tech game Saturday at 9 p.m.
UCONN vs Louisville 2/18/11 - After playing one of the most exciting games of the NCAA basketball season three weeks ago, Connecticut and Louisville will try to match that effort in Friday’s game from Louisville. ESPN will televise the UConn-Louisville game at 9 p.m. Eastern from the KFC Yum! Center.
Virginia Tech at Duke - Both teams battle with the winner capturing 1st place in the ACC
NCAA Tournament opening round free picks and previews: lsu/butler -- byu/texas a&m -- california/maryland -- oklahoma state/tennessee -- utah vs arizona
texas vs kansas - Both Texas and Kansas picked up recent wins against Oklahoma. However, Sooners star Blake Griffin suffered a concussion early in the game with Texas, causing him to miss most of that game, which Texas won, 73-68. Griffin then missed all of the next game, an 87-78 loss to visiting Kansas.
uconn at pitt - In the first Connecticut-Pitt meeting, UConn lost as a 2.5-point favorite. The Huskies lost the last time they traveled to Pittsburgh as well, 63-54, in 2007. Pitt was a 7-point favorite in that game.
ucla at california - In the first UCLA-Cal game Jan. 29 at Pauley Pavilion, UCLA never trailed. California was within three points, 31-28, early in the second half, but UCLA blew the game open with a 19-2 run. The Bruins shot 54.9% from the field in the game, and Darren Collison scored 18 points.
Duke vs Maryland - Duke had lost five straight games ATS before covering the number in its 10-point win against Wake Forest Sunday. Duke is just 4-9-1 ATS since Jan. 7. As a road favorite, Duke has lost four straight games ATS and is only 1-6 ATS this season.
oklahoma vs texas - While Oklahoma has steamrolled to a 25-1 season record and a #2 national ranking, the Texas Longhorns have hit the skids the past few weeks. Texas was a preseason Top 10 ranked team, and the Longhorns remained around the Top 15 until recently.
tennessee vs kentucky - Kentucky is 6-1 when allowing 65 or fewer points and 1-3 when allowing more than 65 points. In the same time frame, Tennessee is 4-1 when allowing 65 or fewer points and 3-5 when allowing more than 65.
ucla vs arizona - Both UCLA and Arizona have performed well ATS in recent games. Heading into Thursday's game at Arizona State, UCLA has won four straight games ATS, while Arizona has won four of its last five ATS, heading into Thursday's game with USC. In Pac-10 games this season, the Bruins are 6-4 ATS, while Arizona is 6-5 ATS.
north carolina vs duke - North Carolina is 3-6 ATS against ACC opponents this season. The Tar Heels have been a double-digit favorite in all but one game this season, when they lost at Wake Forest as a 6.5-point favorite in mid-January.
Memphis at Gonzaga - The Tigers have won the last three Memphis-Gonzaga games, played over the past three regular seasons.
Stanford vs UCLA - last season the Bruins won all three games and were 2-1 ATS
Duke vs Wake Forest - Both teams are among only eight teams in Division I basketball with one loss.
Big East Matchups of top 25 teams - Louisville at Syracuse Louisville sits in second place in the Big East Conference standings at 4-0, just half a game behind Marquette. Syracuse is fifth at 5-2. Connecticut vs Notre Dame - Last season, Connecticut and Notre Dame split a pair of games. Notre Dame won 73-67 at home as a 5.5-point favorite, while Connecticut won 84-78 at home as a 4.5-point favorite.
The Conference Tournaments are going on this week and the big dance starts next week, here at Play By Play we are currently gathering strong inside information on all 64 teams including which ones have the best chance to cover the bookmakers point spreads. A wise man once said look before you leap, those words could not be more true then now. We strongly recommend you do not attempt to try picking the ncaa tournament on you own, it is much too unpredictable. Our handicappers know which CBB teams will advance to the Sweet 16, Elite 8, Final 4 and Championship rounds.
ACC - BIG 12 - BIG EAST - BIG 10 - PAC 10 - SEC - WAC - MWC
Villanova enters Sunday's 'Nova-Pitt game having lost three in a row and five of its last seven. The Wildcats went from a 19-4 record and challenging for the Big East regular season title to a 21-9 record and struggling to finish above .500 in the league.
The Wildcats actually have struggled since mid-January. Villanova was flying high, ranked #7 nationally at 16-1 on Jan. 15. But the Wildcats have gone just 5-8 since then.
|