What an interesting weekend in college hoops. Both Connecticut and Florida State get dropped by unranked non-BCS opponents; UCF and Harvard respectively, and then last night everybody's #1 (except marchmanics) North Carlina gets ambushed by UNLV out in the desert.
It takes a little of the shine off North Carolina's upcoming gauntlet week of Wisconsin and Kentucky, but it certainly doesn't make either matchup any less compelling. Wisconsin's ability to defend and control tempo with Jordan Taylor quarterbacking is going to make for a fascinating ballgame Wednesday night...
While we wait for a week that is loaded with Final Four caliber matchups (don't forget Duke v Ohio State Tuesday night), let's continue to push forward on the Maniac's 8-3 start against the spread in 2011 with three more picks.
Butler @ Indiana -13
Vegas is smart. Really smart. Despite the Maniac's consistent ability to get the better of them, there is no denying that the handicapping prowess and ability to unbiasedly asses teams and match-ups is staggering. That is all you need to know about how much better this Indiana team is than most people realize. Butler is down this season, but they aren't awful. IU has finished below .500 since Tom Crean's arrival in 2008. This is the season they finally get the postseason berth. The only question is whether it is the NCAA or NIT.
My wager is the Big Dance. A solid win tonight will go a long way to building their resume, as despite the unblemished record, there is very little to brag about win-wise thus far. This will be a nice quality win for the Big Board come Selection Sunday.
That said; -13 is a lot of points for a team that hasn't tasted the sweet nectar of big wins too often lately. I think the Hoosiers remain perfect tonight, but find it hard to believe it will be as easy as a -13 line suggests.
Maniac's Pick: Butler +13
Oklahoma vs. St. Louis -4.5
The Maniac has looked pretty smart thus far since going way, way out on a limb and throwing Rick Majerius's Billlikens at #16 if the first installment of Bracketeering. Tonight, they validate my faith. Oklahoma is improved, but still not an upper tier Big 12 team in 2012. St. Louis on the other hand has the makings of an NCAA Tournament team.
St. Louis is an excellent perimeter shooting team, and much like Duke stylistically, is unafraid to let them fly in transition or as a component of the secondary break. They routed Villanova two days ago on the strength of 14 of 27 shooting from behind the arc. If they get a similar shooting performance today, expect a similarly easy victory.
Maniac's Pick: St. Louis Billikens -4.5
Virginia Commonwealth @ Alabama -15
Wow, this line is huge. That tells me Vegas is well aware that Alabama might be more of a top ten caliber team than the writers and pundits thought several weeks ago. It also tells me that they are smart enough to realize that three brilliant weeks in March last season does not a powerhouse program make. There is a wide discrepancy in talent between these two ballclubs.
However, sometimes familiarity breeds comfort and success. I think VCU has an interesting edge tonight facing former coach Anthony Grant, who led the Rams to some success before leaving for Alabama and handing the reigns to Shaka Smart. The familiarity level should have helped the Rams prepare for the frenzied defensive pressure the Crimson Tide employs.
It won't make them athletic enough to handle 'Bama on the boards, but should help them control the tempo enough to keep things respectable.
I like VCU to hang around and cover narrowly.
Maniac's Pick: Virginia Commonwealth +15
The Hoos-iers, that's who.
