January 23rd Results:

What we got right:

College Basketball:

#8 Houston at Temple - Houston continued its dominance over the rest of the AAC with a 68-51 win over Temple. The Cougars were in complete control, holding the Owls to 34% shooting and never trailing. There is a real chance that Houston can run the table in the conference. If that happens will they get a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament?

#20 Clemson at Florida State - That is the third straight game Clemson has been blown out. This one came at the hands of the Seminoles, who beat the Tigers 80-61 in Tallahassee. When the new rankings come out, Clemson will be out of it, and don’t be surprised if Florida State is in the top 25. This is really good team.

#15 Ohio State at #10 Wisconsin - We predicted that the Buckeyes were going to cover, and boy did they ever. Not only did they cover the five points, they beat the Badgers by double digits. In the 74-62 win Ohio State shot 51% from the field and held Wisconsin to 40% shooting. After Michigan, the Big Ten has a log jam from spots 2-8. This is going to be an interesting next couple months in the conference.

#14 West Virginia at Kansas State -West Virginia got out to a 24-6 lead in this one and never looked back. The Mountaineers held the Wildcats to 17 points in the first half, and won the game 69-47. Bob Huggins definitely had his team ready to go after a two week layoff, and they took it out on poor Kansas State.

#24 UCLA at Stanford - Stanford pulled off the upset, winning 73-72 on a game winning basket as time expired in overtime. The handed the Bruins their first conference loss of the season. We predicted a 74-71 win for the Cardinal, and we were oh so close to nailing the score for the first time this season.

Georgia Tech at #13 Virginia - Another game we almost got the score perfect! We predicted a 65-61 for the Cavaliers, and they won 64-62. As we thought this was a defensive battle, but in the end Virginia made a couple more stops to come out on top. Virginia has now won six games in a row, and is looking like a team no one wants to play come March.

NBA:

Golden State at Utah - The Jazz won their eighth game in a row, beating the Warriors 127-108. Offense was once again the name of the game for Utah, as they made 20 three pointers. Combine that with a +28 rebounding margin and you will win a lot of games. In the loss, the Warriors Stephen Curry did move up to second all time in NBA history in three pointers made. He now sits only behind Ray Allen.

Los Angeles Lakers at Chicago - The Lakers were too much for the Bulls to overcome, winning 101-90. The Lakers had a 63-33 halftime lead and coasted from there. Los Angeles improved to 9-0 on the road with the win, and 13-4 overall. The Bulls tried to make a game of it in the second half, but dug too big of a hole for a serious comeback.

Dallas at Houston - We thought Houston was going to play well enough to cover the spread, but we didn’t expect them to totally dominate this game. The Rockets beat the Mavericks 133-108 in Dallas, and did it without Victor Oladipo and Christian Wood. Houston got 33 points from Eric Gordon, 28 from Demarcus Cousins, and held Luca Doncic down to where he wasn’t even close to his usual triple double standards. Good win for Houston!

Denver at Phoenix - These two teams played Friday night and the game went into overtime. What to do for an encore? Play again Saturday night and have the game go into two overtimes of course. Denver once again got it done in the extra frame, winning 120-112. Nikola Jokic had 29 points and 22 rebounds in the victory for the Nuggets, while Chris Paul had 21 points and 13 assists in the loss for the Suns.

What we got wrong:

College Basketball:

#9 Kansas at Oklahoma - Oklahoma beat Kansas 75-68, handing the Jayhawks their third consecutive loss. Kansas hadn’t lost three straight games in almost eight years, but now finds themselves in the middle of the pack in the Big 12. Every time it looked like Kansas was going to make a run, Oklahoma had an answer. Bill Self now goes back to the drawing board to try and figure out how to get Kansas back on track.

#16 Virginia Tech at Syracuse - We couldn’t have been more wrong here. Syracuse didn’t need its fans in the Carrier Dome to beat Virginia Tech 78-60. What was surprising to us was how lethargic the Hokies looked on the offensive end. There was no movement, a lot of one on one action to try and defeat the zone, and it didn’t work at all. Credit the Syracuse defense for bottling up the Virginia Tech offensive attack.

#2 Baylor at Oklahoma State - At halftime Oklahoma State had a four point lead and we were feeling good. With ten minutes left in the game the Cowboys were still only down three, and we were feeling okay. Then the Bears turned on the jets. In those last ten minutes they outscored Oklahoma State 27-15 to pull away. Oklahoma State played well for 30 minutes, but if you are going to compete with Baylor you have to do it for a full 40.

Maryland at #17 Minnesota - What a time to get your first home loss of the season. Maryland held Minnesota to 30% shooting and almost 30 points under its season scoring average. What the Terrapins did to the Gophers was mighty impressive. That is the nature of the Big Ten. There are no easy games this year (minus Nebraska and Penn State).

Providence at #3 Villanova - Villanova put on a clinic in the second half, turning a three point deficit into a 15 point win. The Wildcats outscored the Friars 47-29 after the break in a 71-56 win. Villanova held Providence to 38% shooting and forced 19 turnovers, again most in the second half, to pull away and get the big win.

Mississippi State at #18 Alabama - This game was hovering between five and ten points the entire second half, but in the end Mississippi State did just enough to cover the spread. Alabama won the game 81-73, and still looks like the best team in the SEC, especially after what Missouri did to Tennessee later in the day.

#19 Missouri at #6 Tennessee - Speaking of the Tigers and Volunteers, apparently we gave Rick Barnes too much credit as a motivator. We thought he would have his team ready to go after getting beat by Florida, but once again they failed to show up. You have to give Missouri credit for the win, but to us this game shows us more about the Volunteers than it does about the Tigers.

Pacific at #1 Gonzaga - Another Gonzaga game and another loss. At least time they didn’t hover around the point spread line until the end of the game. In this one they put all doubt of Pacific covering away in the first ten minutes. Gonzaga led 34-8 with ten minutes left, 52-21 at the halftime break, and coasted to a 95-49 win. People will say Gonzaga is overrated because they don’t play anyone. Those people are wrong. Gonzaga is the best team in the country.

Oregon State at #21 Oregon - A late night Pac-12 rivalry game saw the Beavers beat the 21st ranked Ducks 75-64. Oregon had no answer for the Beavers, who outworked them all day long. The most telling stat in this game is that Oregon State outrebounded Oregon 42-23. Rebounds are all about hustle, and in this game the Beavers got it done.

NBA:

Philadelphia at Detroit - The 76ers had their full compliment of players in this one, and still couldn’t cover the seven point spread. The won 114-110 despite Detroit playing without Blake Griffin. The pistons had seven players score in double figures, but still doesn’t have that guy then can go to down the stretch. Jerami Grant wants to be that guy, but he went only 3-19 in the loss.

Miami at Brooklyn - Even though Brooklyn got its first win with its three stars playing together, there are still major questions. The biggest of which is can they play a lick of defense. Miami, once again playing without Jimmy Butler, still put up 124 points on the Nets. Thankfully for Brooklyn, they have Kevin Durant, who scored 31 points and made big plays late to get the win.

New Orleans at Minnesota - If we had put money on one game, it would have been this one. Minnesota had looked lost before this game, but today the Timberwolves were ready. Six players scored in double figures for Minnesota, and two more had nine points. That balanced effort got Minnesota their second win in their last ten games, as they beat the Pelicans 120-110.

What we pushed on:

#23 UConn at #11 Creighton - This line was eight points, and the Blue Jays beat the Huskies 74-66.This was a two point game with about eight minutes left, but Creighton stiffened up on the defensive side and made enough plays on the offensive side to stretch the lead and get the eight point win. That was the second consecutive loss for the Huskies, who will probably drop out of the polls come Monday.