Purusing the Lines:02/07/08

Recap:

Lucky to get out of yesterday 1-1. I knew St. Joe's had played the Saturday before , but I didn't realize they had played four games in the past eight nights. Never would have picked them on the road after that stretch. Memphis looked like they were going to win by fifty at the half, but like I predicted, they let the Mustangs "back in the game", and score enough to stay under the spread.

So I'm stuck again just under .500 at 4-5-1. Let's see if we can pick up a couple of wins tonight.

Indiana(-1.5) @ Illinois

Sure, the Illini faithful are still whining about Gordon's renege, and supposedly Champaign will be all over him this evening, but it won't matter. Even if Gordon would have chosen their fine institution to play his one year of college hoops, I don't think even the very talented freshman could have corrected their season. Bruce Weber simply doesn't have the scorers to make it to the their ninth Big Dance in a row, or beat Indiana by two at home. Hope he has a decent recruiting class coming in.

UCLA(-2.0) @ Washington St.

Taking two favored teams on the road may not be wise, especially with You-clu losing the services of Luc Richard Mbah a Moute due to a tweaked ankle. But I calling shenanigans on the Cougars. Two early road wins in a row against Baylor & the 'Zags have their RPI & Pomeroy numbers up, but their 69 SOS shows they've played selected competition, and the Oregon's sweep in Pullman suggests they may not be battled-tested enough to take on "The Love".

I really wanted to pick another game today, but none of the other match-ups stick out. I like USC over UW, Rhode Island over UMass, and Xavier should take care of business in St. Louie. But I just can't take another roadie, especially with the X-Men favored by 8.5.

So we'll see you here back tomorrow for No-Action Friday. I swear I'll get to that Bobby rant. -A.B.