NCAA First Round Friday Picks

Once again, lines are provided by PinnacleSports.com “for entertainment purposes only.”

Tennessee (-19) vs. American: Tennessee is not Duke. American is not Belmont. No close call in this one. Tennessee 88, American 61.

Gonzaga (+1.5) vs. Davidson: Pretty funny that Gonzaga gets a high seed but they’re still the underdogs in Vegas and most of America. I picked Davidson in all my brackets, but the more I think about it the more I like the Zags. Hardest game to pick in the entire first round. Davidson 57, Gonzaga 55.

Drake (-4) vs. Western Kentucky: Drake should win easily, but it scares me that they’re walking in completely untested as far as tournament experience. Western Kentucky already has really not beaten anyone of note all season. Drake 84, Western Kentucky 78.

Miami (+1) vs. St. Mary’s: Duke was just the first in a string of unimpressive showings by the ACC. St. Mary’s 85, Miami 74.

Butler (-4.5) vs. South Alabama: I think South Alabama was one of the most undeserving at-large bids, I’m surprised this wasn’t brought up more. Only RPI Top 50 games were Western Kentucky, who I’ve already called out, and a December win at home against Mississippi State. Plus they bowed out of their conference tournament way too early. I don’t understand what was so outstanding on their resume. The Horizon is a better conference top to bottom than the Sun Belt. Butler got screwed on seeding. Butler 86, South Alabama 63.

Georgetown(-16.5) vs. UMBC: Who let the dogs out? That seems like a lot to ask Georgetown to cover a 16.5 with their deliberate offense. Georgetown 67, UMBC 55.

Connecticut (-11.5) vs. San Diego: Stay classy, San Diego. This one will be a lot better game than most people think. Connecticut 71, San Diego 64.

Texas (-15.5) vs. Austin Peay: I watched their conference championship, and I put Austin Peay in my back pocket as a team to watch for a possible first-round upset. But then they drew Texas. Texas 85, Austin Peay 66.

North Carolina (-25) vs. Mount St. Mary’s: There will be no comeback Mounted. UNC 79, Mount 50.

Oklahoma (-1) vs. St. Joseph’s: St. Joe’s is another team that I’m ready to get over hearing about. They made a nice conference tourney run, but prior to that they lost 6 of their last 9 regular season games, three of those at home. And they haven’t faced a player like Blake Griffin all year in the A-10. Oklahoma 68, St. Joseph’s 54.

Vanderbilt (-6.5) vs. Siena: Siena was another low-major I thought could give somebody fits, but I think people don’t realize how good Vandy really is. Vandy 76, Siena 65.

Mississippi State (-2.5) vs. Oregon: This is a tough one to pick, I guess that’s the way the 8-9 game should be. I like both team’s game a lot. Jamont Gordon is the best player under the radar maybe in all of college basketball. Oregon is entertaining to watch, but to win in the tournament you have to play some defense at some point. MSU 77, Oregon 74.

Indiana (-2) vs. Arkansas: Screw you, Dan Dakich. Arkansas 67, Indiana 60.

Louisville (-13.5) vs. Boise State: Remember the 2004 Liberty Bowl? Lots of offense in that game. Not quite so much in this one. Louisville 66, Boise State 50.

Clemson (-5.5) vs. Villanova: Keep picking the 12-5 upset and eventually it will happen, right? Villanova 65, Clemson 58.

Memphis (-25) vs. UT Arlington: Calipari will love running up the score for this one. Memphis 106, UT Arlington 62.

Three Points: WVU vs. Arizona

 65

 75 

I. Alex Ruoff: Charley West’s momma didn’t raise no dummy. 21 points including five three-pointers, I think it’s fair enough to say Ruoff was the key player tonight.

III. Three-point shooting: In general, Arizona simply refused to extend their defense beyond the three-point line. While they were able to deny the ball to Alexander and frustrate the mid-range game for the most part, they still got hurt on the offensive boards, and they obviously got hurt behind the arc, with WVU hitting 11 of 19. It’s almost as if Arizona believed WVU had forgotten how to nail the three.

III. Let’s Get Physical: I’ve been waiting for a long time to incorporate an Olivia Newton-John song title into my post, and finally here we are! I was surprised with the physical nature of the game, with Arizona’s shallow bench and injury problems, I didn’t expect them to want to make it a street brawl. But they definitely did as was emphasized on the broadcast every two minutes. I really like the way the game was officiated. It was every bit as physical as the UConn game in the Big East tournament, without the 50 fouls being whistled.

Just a short but sweet three points tonight. WVU moves on to face Duke on Saturday, 2:10 Eastern time. Duke haters across the country (which is almost every non-Duke fan) will unite on the Mountaineer bandwagon for this effort.

Boxscore