Jan 17 Games

Ok. I'm slacking. Well, more accurately, I'm not slacking in non-college basketball arenas, which in the grand scheme of life productivity is a good thing. But it's a bad thing for trying to get practice for the March trip. The result is having missed two days of good picks practice.

Tonight's slate has at least 3 appealing match-ups:

(13) Marquette @ Louisville
(14) Vanderbilt @ (7) Tennesse
(25) Arizona State @ Cal

No lines yet as of 9:20 AM EST, but I'll update that assuming I have time later this afternoon. Quick early impressions:

1. Lousville will be ranked soon enough. They're playing much better than earlier in the season, and they have guys coming back from both injury and "character" issues. I think they'll be a player in the tournament.

2. ASU is ranked??? I hate that. I have vivid memories of Eddie House scoring what seemed like 1,000 points against Cal a couple of years ago. But they beat (24)Arizona and Oregon in the last two weeks, and have a December win against (17) Xavier. But all of those games have been at home. In fact, they've only played 2 road games so far, and both of those have been losses (Illinois to start the season, and then Nebraska in December). This Cal/Stanfurd trip is their first road "test" of the season. I would like to think Cal could put up a fight here. But, as I've learned many times, thinking only gets you into trouble.

3. Vanderbilt just lost at Kentucky, which might have saved the entire state from entering clinical depression. Somewhere, Ashley Judd is clapping enthusiastically. The numbers seem to point to a Tennessee win, but the spread here will be very important.

Updated: Spreads and picks
ASU (+6) @ Cal: Wow. Cal is the favorite? Interesting. Seems like Vegas doesn't believe in ASU's road abilities either. So far, though, I've picked against Cal twice (@Oregon, UCLA) and won both times. Why ruin a good thing?
Pick: Arizona State

Vanderbilt @ Tennessee (-11.5): I think Vandy's loss to Kentucky was telling. I think they run into another buzzsaw playing a second consecutive road game, and this time to an even better team.
Pick: Tennessee

Marquette @ Louisville (-3): Again, the unranked team at home gets tabbed as the favorite. The difference between this game and the Cal game, though, is that based on talent, I think Louisville is a Top 15 team.
Pick: Louisville

Final Scores
Tennesse - 80, Vanderbilt - 60
Louisville - 71, Marquette - 51
ASU - 99, Cal - 90

1/17 record: 3-0
Overall: 13-7