Saturday, November 15, 2014

College Basketball Picks - November 15

Old Dominion -13.5 v. UNC Wilmington.  Jeff Jones improved the Monarchs by 13 wins last year in his first year and they bring everyone back.  UNC Wilmington's basketball program ended when Drew Nicholas beat them at the buzzer in the 2003 NCAA Tournament.

Ohio -12 v. Appalachian State.  Both have new coaches but Ohio's is the guy who built North Dakota State's program and Appy State's is a complete newbie.

Bowling Green +3.5 @ Drake.  I'm honestly not even sure why the Drake is favored - although I said that about Georgia Tech earlier today and was way wrong.  But BGSU returns four starters and was actually 36th in adjusted defensive efficiency last season, which is enough for me.

Nevada -3.5 v. Cal Poly.  Both were pretty bad last year until Cal Poly's shock run to the Big West tournament title.  I'll take the home team in the far superior conference.

St. Bonaventure -7 v. Dartmouth.  Dartmouth has probably had one of the ten worst programs during my lifetime.

Kent State -3 @ Youngstown State.  YSU's been pretty bad too.

Southern Illinois +7.5 @ Saint Louis.  The Billikens lose EVERYONE.  They're completely starting over after one of the best runs in program history the past few years.  SIU brings back just about everyone from a .500 team in the Missouri Valley last season.  Yeah it's not what they had in the middle of the 2000's but it's a start!

UAB -7.5 v. Louisiana Monroe.  Even though UAB's losing three starters from last year's 18 win team, this feels a few points too low.  They have a good program and Monroe is always an awful Sun Belt team.

Manhattan +10 @ Florida State.  They'll push for the MAAC title whereas the Noles are rebuilding a bit and have tended to mess around in games like this in recent years.

Northern Iowa -22.5 v. North Dakota.  North Dakota wasn't very good in the first place and they're replacing basically their entire team.

Western Kentucky -12.5 v. Austin Peay.  I miss when Peay was good.

Oral Roberts +6 v. Tulsa.  I probably wouldn't have batted an eyelash if ORU was favored by 6.

Colorado State -17 v. Montana.  Grizzlies are starting over with some key graduations and Wayne Tinkle now coaching Oregon State.  Meanwhile Larry Eustachey has built a sustainable program in Fort Collins that will rebound and beat the heck out of you down low.

USC -10.5 v. Portland State.  I'm still on the Andy Enfield bandwagon dammit!

Gardner Webb +14 @ LSU.  Gardner Webb is in Charleston Southern's conference.  LSU is in Ole Miss' conference.  Need I say more?

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