TSR 2/28/20 CBB Picks

YESTERDAY'S PICKS

Nick 7-3 (Season: 709-334)

Sam 8-2 (Season 733-310)

Zach 7-3 (Season: 755-288)

YESTERDAY'S TAKEAWAYS

1-We didn't learn this yesterday, but it was definitely reinforced over the past two nights. The B1G Tournament is going to be amazing, perhaps the best of any conference tournament ever. Every night, these teams go back and forth, providing great games. The standings are packed tightly together, and it seems everyone has beaten somebody better than them, and lost to someone worse. It's going to be a wild 5 days in Indianapolis, the best location for the B1G Tournament.

2-The Pac12 may have an even crazier finish to their regular season than the B1G. Seven teams are within three games of first place with three conference games to play, including four teams within a game of each other at the top. This is going to go down to the wire, in a league that is much improved from a season ago.

3-A hot team that you may overlook in your bracket is the New Mexico State Aggies. This team just moved to 14-0 in WAC play with two games left, and they have won 17 straight games! They had some early season injuries, but they have really turned things around after getting healthy. Don't forget that they were a made basket away from beating Auburn in last year's tournament.

4-Purdue kept their bubble hopes alive with a HUGE win at home against rival Indiana. With their backs against the wall, the Boilermakers moved to 15-14 on the season with the victory. With two games remaining (at Iowa and home against Rutgers), Purdue has positioned themselves to be in the bubble discussion on Selection Sunday. A sweep of those games, as well as avoiding a landmine loss to Nebraska or Northwestern in the B1G Tournament would almost surely lock them up a spot, but anything less than a 2-0 finish will leave them needing to rack up wins in Indy. 

5-Sam alludes to this below, but a conference tournament that you may overlook next week is the Horizon League. The #1 seed has not won this tournament since 2015, and in fact last year was the first time that they had even made it to the finals! The league has an insane amount of parity in the #3-#8 team range, so anyone can beat anyone on any given night. So while tonight's Northern Kentucky and Wright State game highlights the two best teams in the league, and possibly co-champions, it would be a surprise to see them both playing in the Championship Game.

FRIDAY’S GAMES

1. Dayton vs Davidson (7:00, ESPN2)

Nick: Dayton- The Flyers have been a phenomenal team this season, with 17 straight wins and their only two losses coming in overtime. Davidson on the other hand, was a team that we thought was going to make a big push this season, but they never really got it going. Obi Toppin and Co. soar to an easy victory.

Sam: Dayton-- I’ve been hard on Davidson, but they’ve played better of late. They certainly have the talent to make a run in the A10 tourney. But man, I love this Dayton team.

Zach: Dayton—Obi Toppin is a beast.

2. Ohio vs Kent State (6:30, CBSSN)

Nick: Ohio- Jeff Boals is the man for this job, as he is a former captain of the basketball team and he knows how to recruit Ohio from his time at Ohio State. The fact that this season finds themselves at 14-14 shows where he picked up the program, but he will turn this around.

Sam: Ohio-- I don’t get Nick’s infatuation with Boals, but yeah, Ohio wins.

Zach: Ohio

3. Northern Kentucky vs Wright State (7:00, ESPNU)

Nick: Wright State- The Raiders are the best team in this league, and they have wrapped up at least a share of the Horizon League title. They can win the league outright with this victory, and behind Billy Wampler and Loudon Love, they get the job done.

Sam: Wright State-- Can’t wait for the ever so crazy Horizon tournament.

Zach: Northern Kentucky

4. Columbia vs Harvard (7:00, ESPNNEWS)

Nick: Harvard- The Crimson are within striking distance of first place in the Ivy League, and given Yale’s tough schedule this weekend, this is their time to shine. Tommy Amaker is a fantastic coach, and he starts out the New York road trip with a victory.

Sam:  Harvard-- I still find it stunning it was a little over a decade ago that Tommy Amaker coached Michigan.

Zach: Harvard

5. Rider vs Monmouth (9:00, ESPNU)

Nick: Rider- I think that the Broncs win this game, but do you remember the Monmouth Bench Mob and the team that god snubbed out of an at-large bid a few years back?

Sam: Rider-- Bold take: Monmouth gets to the MAAC title game, only to lose much like every other year.

Zach: Rider—Former Wayland Union star Lacey James once played at Rider, fun fact!

6.  Washington vs Washington State (9:00, FS1)

Nick: Washington State- The Apple Cup in the sport that was originally played with peach baskets? I’ll take the Cougars, because former coach Mike Leach probably could connect the dots with some pun that only he would understand...

Sam: Washington-- Huskies need to find a win some day

Zach: Washington—How can a team with Isaiah Stewart do so bad? Ask the school that already stunk with former top pick Markelle Fultz.

7. UT Arlington vs Texas State (9:00, ESPN2)

Nick: Texas State- Though the Mavs are my favorite team in the #FunBelt, they do not have the horses to hang with the league’s second best team. The Bobcats are hoping that they can keep playing well and unseat UALR to get to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1997.

Sam: UT Arlington

Zach: UT Arlington- Go Mavs

8. Georgia State vs Georgia Southern (7:00, ESPN+)

Nick: Georgia State- Is this the most exciting basketball rivalry in the state of Georgia? I’m honestly not sure, but the team that once produced Kevin Ware’s career redemption and the epic moment of Ron Hunter falling out of his chair after an upset victory gets another win here.

Sam: Georgia State-- I swear, that last possession would have gone down as one of the worst had RJ Hunter not nailed that 3, leading to his dad falling out of his chair.

Zach: Georgia State

9. Marist vs Siena (7:00, ESPN3)

Nick: Siena- You’ve got to take the Saints here, because the Red Foxes only have 7 total wins. Also, the fact that Fran McCaffrey won three conference titles and two NCAA Tournament games here in six years compared to three tournament wins and two third-place conference finishes at Iowa speaks volumes to the level of average he is achieving in Iowa City.

Sam: Siena

Zach: Siena

10. Cornell vs Dartmouth (7:00, ESPN+)

Nick: Dartmouth- If this was at Dartmouth, it’s an easy pick because Cornell is 0-13 away from home. But this game is in Ithaca, and to that I say sorry to our favorite The Office suck-up Andy Bernard, but the Big Red ain’t good.

Sam: Cornell

Zach: Cornell- They have an elite wrestling program!