I had a decent 3-3 weekend going heading into Super Bowl Sunday but I had to get greedy and I had to take the Bonnies to cover. Gordon Gekko told me that greed was good. Gordon Gekko also knew better than to take the Bonnies to cover on a Sunday afternoon by 15 points. Anyway, 3-4 last week means that I have some terrible picks to make today to fall further into debt and despair. Let’s get it!
Davidson at George Mason (Line: Davidson -6)
Kind of a sneaky good game between these two today. Mason is really good at limiting offensive rebounds and really bad a turning teams over. Davidson doesn’t turn the ball over much anyway and is a perimeter-based team for the most part. Jack Gibbs is a cyborg.
Mason has gotten the snot beaten out of it in its last two games. Not going to be surprised if they buck up and take it to Davidson early in this one. Davidson isn’t great on the road and the crowd could be a factor in this one since it is Homecoming for GMU. But I don’t care about rational thought so I’m taking Davidson to cover.
George Washington at St. Bonaventure (Line: Bonnies -2)
Nothing sneaky about this one. This is the game of the day in the A10. GW needs a win to catch Bona. Both would be 8-4 if GW could pull off the mild upset. This game has a ton of great match-ups and both coaches will need to be quick on the trigger when it comes to in-game adjustments.
GW is coming off a poor effort at home vs. Joe’s last week and Bona is coming off a lackluster road win at Fordham. The O/U is 149 and I could see this thing heating up in the second half. Tempted just to take the over and root for points. Dion Wright is going to have his hands full today w/Larsen and Cavanaugh. How well he holds up will be a huge factor in this one. I like both of these teams to get after it and try and initiate as much contact as possible driving the ball to the hoop. Game is basically a toss up which I always stay away from but I’ll take Bona to cover the 2.
Saint Louis at VCU (Line: VCU-20)
A week ago the Rams were undefeated in the conference and looking good. Two consecutive losses, including a brutal showing at UMass, and now VCU is on the bubble for a NCAA Tournament bid. Justin Tillman is banged up and Melvin Johnson is 9-28 from the floor in his last two games. Johnson should get things going at home today but I can’t take VCU by 21 after its last week. Teams have adjusted to the pick and roll and the Rams have to show they are able to score with 3rd, 4th, and even 5th options on plays if necessary. Saint Louis could very easily show up in Richmond and lay a big fat egg at the Siegel Center but I’m still going to take them and hope VCU can’t beat them by 21.
Fordham at Richmond (Line: Richmond -12)
Fordham almost came away with a great win at home against Bona on Wednesday but it just couldn’t finish the game. Richmond went to Saint Louis and dominated the second half as it pulled away for a convincing win.
As is always the case with UR, today will come down to the performance of its big 3, Jones, Cline, and Allen. Trey Davis had 12 assists in the first meeting between these teams as the forward attacked the Fordham traps and got great looks for Marshall Wood (29 points) who was often alone behind the 3-point line.
Fordham is improving and the return of Chartouny makes me think this game could be closer than the line would indicate but I’m taking the Spiders to cover the 12. I don’t like this pick at all but why should I? Poor decision making is one my great strengths. The egg salad sandwich I picked up at the Exxon station earlier is currently reminding me of it.
La Salle and Saint Joseph’s (Line: Joe’s -17)
Joe’s is coming off a huge win at GW. La Salle has 1 win in the past 2 months. I hate this line at 17 just because we all know La Salle will try to take the air out of the ball and slow things down as much as possible. I don’t care. I appreciate Dr. John’s situation this year and he is doing what he has to in order to try and give his guys a chance to compete. I just hate watching it. I’ll take Joe’s to cover the 17 and hate every second of it.
5 terrible picks all set up for you. Take my advice and bet thousands of dollars on these games. You won’t regret it. Just like me and that gas station egg salad. What could go wrong?
