TSR 3/6/20 CBB Picks

TAKEAWAYS

1-The Ohio State Buckeyes are not a team that you want to meet up with in either tournament upcoming (B1G/NCAA). They are playing tremendous basketball, as they took down Illinois last night, all but eliminating the Illini from the B1G Championship race. That's their fourth straight win, three of which came against ranked opponents (Maryland, Michigan and Illinois). They close the season Sunday at Michigan State, and the Spartans need to bring their A-Game if they want to hang a banner. 2-The Wyoming Cowboys have continued to make MWC Tournament history. They became the first #11 seed (in an eleven team league) to win at the MWC Tournament when they took down rival Colorado State on Wednesday. Last night, they pulled off another stunner, taking down #3 Nevada to advance to tonight's semifinal game. It is extremely hard for teams to pull off these deep tournament runs from a low seed like this, as they usually run out of steam, but they have certainly made the MWC Tournament more exciting this week. We will see if they are capable of taking down #2 seeded Utah State, a team that desperately needs to win games to get their own NCAA Tournament berth.

TODAY’S GAMES

1. NC State vs Wake Forest (7:00, ACC)

Nick: Wake Forest- The Wolfpack are firmly on the bubble, and it seems like the way their resume has developed, they will lose this game. I will take the Demon Deacons in a stunner.

Sam: NC State-- I am convinced Nick just wants every bubble P5 team to lose.

Zach: NC State- The Wolfpack get a much needed win, led by CJ Bryce

2. Duquesne vs Richmond (7:00, ESPN+)

Nick: Duquesne- The Spiders may be the team on the bubble currently, but I think the Dukes will get this win at home. They are a 21-8 team, with a 10-3 home record, and I’m sure that PPG Paints Arena will be electric on Senior Night, as the Dukes have a chance to play in the NIT, or build momentum to make an A10 Tournament run.

Sam: Richmond

Zach: Duquesne

3. San Diego State vs Boise State (9:00, CBSSN)

Nick: San Diego State- The Aztecs had a scare against Air Force on Thursday afternoon, trailing at halftime. They ultimately went on a big run and came away with a double-digit victory over the Falcons. The Broncos looked good in their win over UNLV, but they won’t be good enough to take down the Aztecs, who will head to the MWC Championship Game for the third straight year and the sixth time in seven seasons.

Sam: SDSU-- I wouldn’t mind SDSU losing to ensure a 2 bid MWC, but it won’t happen tonight. 

Zach: San Diego State- Both times these two teams have played this season, like most games SDSU played, were not close. I expect this one to be no different.

4. Utah State vs Wyoming (11:00, CBSSN)

Nick: Utah State- The Aggies had a scare against New Mexico on Thursday night, trailing for a majority of the second half before ultimately winning by five. Utah State needs this win badly to advance to the championship, wanting a shot at the Aztecs and the automatic bid. Even more so when they face Wyoming, which would be a Quad 4 loss on their resume. The Cowboys will struggle to win three games in as many days, but the raw emotion in coach Allen Edwards’ postgame interview shows you that this team believes and it makes you want to too. 

Sam: Utah State-- It’d be awesome for this Wyoming run to continue but it won’t. Everytime a bad team makes a run in a conference tourney, it always seems like they run out of juice in the semi’s.

Zach: Utah State- Somehow Wyoming is still in this tournament after two close wins over Colorado State and Nevada. Their run stops tonight

5. Belmont vs Eastern Kentucky (8:00, ESPNU)

Nick: Eastern Kentucky- The Bruins dominated the Colonels in both regular season matchups. Why am I picking EKU then? Well, this tournament has been too chalky compared to its historical trends, and I need to make some upsets happen to climb the standings.

Sam: EKY-- I feel like Belmont always wins the regular season, yet never wins the tournament.

Zach: Belmont

6.  Murray State vs Austin Peay (10:00, ESPNU)

Nick: Murray State- The Racers are the best team in this league, despite being awarded the #2 seed after the tiebreakers with Belmont. I have backed them all year as the OVC champion, so there is no point in changing my mind at this junction of the season.

Sam: Murray State-- Racers always find a way to win this tourney.

Zach: Murray State- Quick shoutout to Austin Peay Women’s Basketball assistant coach Mark Youngs, who visited my fourth grade class back in the day when he was with Davenport and has put me through workouts a few times

7. Winthrop vs Gardner-Webb (6:00, ESPN+)

Nick: Winthrop- Similar to Murray State, I have thought that Winthrop was the best team in the Big South all year, even though they got the #2 seed via tiebreakers with Radford. I think that GW will give them a tough game, but the way that Winthrop played offensively was impressive on Thursday with 106 points behind 13 three-pointers.

Sam: Winthrop-- This is a double digit seed teams could and should be very weary of.

Zach: Gardner Webb- I said at the beginning of the season that they were going to make tournament again and they have played well against the heavily favored Eagles team, winning one and taking the other to OT

8. Radford vs Hampton (8:00, ESPN+)

Nick: Radford- The Highlanders are the home team in this tournament, and that pays off in this game. They advance to Sunday’s title game looking for a berth in the NCAA Tournament, with the NIT automatic bid already in hand.

Sam: Radford

Zach: Radford

9. VMI vs Samford (5:00, ESPN+)

Nick: Samford- I love the SoCon tournament, and I cannot wait to go back some year with Eric and Zach. This year’s tournament may be the best one yet, although it starts with some less thrilling action. I will take Samford in this game to complete the season sweep. The Keydets were close in both single digit contests, but I think that it will be the Bulldogs winning this game. Also, these two teams have been in the 7-10 Friday games every season since 2016, with Samford’s streak going back even further to their first year in the league in 2009 (though the league had more teams and a different bracket format).

Sam: VMI

Zach: VMI- The US Cellular Center is a venue like no other and it hosts VMI in the first round of the SoCon tournament once again. The Keydets lost a lot of players due to transfer from last year and it shows with their 8-23 record. I’m taking the upset in round one to kick things off in what is probably the best SoCon tournament. This league is so underrated.

10. Bradley vs Southern Illinois (3:30, ESPN+)

Nick: Bradley- The Braves seem to have some mojo when they play in St. Louis at the Enterprise Center. Last year’s run was remarkable, and I think that their win streak extends with a big win over the Salukis to move on to the semifinals.

Sam: SIU

Zach: Southern Illinois- Go Salukis