Thursday News and Notes

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Mr. March is now 22-10 the last 32 including 9-3 the last 12 Wise Guy plays. Wise Guy plays from Godspicks are widely accepted by high rollers, bookmakers, linesmakers, and fellow handicappers as the biggest play in the handicapping abyss. This is just fact.

Our opening report for Thursday has five Majors in the Big Dance and two Wise Guy plays. Note, in the conference tournaments and the Big Dance, we will update with steam throughout the day inclusive in all purchases. Check JoeDuffy.net for info on updates.  

You requested it: Back in 1988 we had probably the greatest March Madness in sports handicapping history. The skeptics said we could never do it again. The fact is, nine times since 1988 we’ve had March Madneses better than 96 percent of all gamblers will every experience without our plays. Last year we went 69-37. Get every play in the Dance, NIT and NBA until April 3, the championship game for $200!

The ENTIRE card is just $17 at www.godspicks.com.  We now take virtually every credit card, PayPal and eCheck.  Also we now have yearly and other packages available via Western Union. Every play, every sport for a year is $2,450.  Email us at the contact form at Godspicks.com to make arrangements or for Neteller payments. Updated and advance news and notes FREE at JoeDuffy.net—a MUST for March Madness. NOW COMPUTER PROJECTIONS UP AS WELL.

CBB

Pacific-Boston College

Press Notes

Pacific has won 13 of the last 14 games and have claimed a third straight Big West Conference title.

Washington-Utah State

Press Notes

Utah State will be participating in its seventh straight postseason (5 NCAA, 2 NIT) and the Aggies have gone to the NCAA Tournament (1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006) or NIT (2002, 2004) eight times in the last nine years. USU is 6-18 (.250) in its previous 16 NCAA Tournament appearances. Utah State is 4-12 all-time in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. In its last NCAA Tournament in 2005, USU (14^th seed) lost to Arizona (3^rd seed) 66-53 in Boise, Idaho (Chicago Region). Utah State’s last win in the NCAA Tournament was in 2001 when USU (12^th seed) defeated Ohio State (5^th seed) 77-68 in overtime in the first round of the East Region in Greensboro, N.C. That win by the Aggies was the school’s first in 31 years as USU had lost nine straight NCAA games dating back to 1970. Utah State (23-8) is one of five teams across the country to win at least 23 games in each of the last seven years. Utah State is 23-8 on the season after defeating San Jose State (76-69) and Louisiana Tech (68-64), and losing to 21^st-ranked Nevada (70-63 ot) last weekend in the 2006 WAC Tournament in Reno, Nev. Utah State, which finished in a tie for second-place in the Western Athletic Conference with an 11-5 league record, is 2-0 on neutral courts this year. Despite losing in the championship game of the WAC Tournament, Utah State has won seven of its last nine games heading into the NCAA Tournament.

Winthrop-Tennessee

Sports Illustrated/CNN

The Vols deserved a No. 2 seed—if the season had ended in mid-February, when they were 19-3. What was the NCAA selection committee thinking, handing a two to a team that lost four of its last six games to finish 21-7? Coach Bruce Pearl has worked miracles to get this squad where it is—from nowhere to the top of the SEC East—but Tennessee looks like it may have peaked too soon.

Gonzaga-Xavier

Press Notes

Xavier, 21-10 overall, defeated Saint Joseph’s 62-61 in the Atlantic 10 Championship Game on March 11, earning Xavier its fourth Atlantic 10 Championship all-time and its third in the last five years. Xavier, 21-10 overall, defeated Saint Joseph’s 62-61 in the Atlantic 10 Championship Game on March 11, earning Xavier its fourth Atlantic 10 Championship all-time and its third in the last five years. Xavier head coach Sean Miller is the first Xavier head coach to win an Atlantic 10 Tournament Championship without a senior starter.

George Washington-NC Wilmington

Associated Press

The Colonials (26-2), ranked No. 6 in last week’s AP poll and the only Division I team with fewer than three losses, received only a No. 8 seed in the NCAA tournament. They beat only one school - A10 tournament champion Xavier - in the NCAA’s field of 65. Their non-conference schedule was one of the weakest in the country. They were thumped 68-53 by Temple in the first round of their conference tournament. Center Pops Mensah-Bonsu, the team’s emotional leader and anchor in the middle, has a knee injury and might not play Thursday. North Carolina-Wilmington is a patient team that poses a tough matchup for the Colonials, who like to run the floor and pile up the points. GW’s only two losses - to N.C. State and Temple - were against teams that kept the pace slow. The Seahawks often win with scores in the 60s, although they play more man-to-man instead of zone, which Temple used to great success.

Nebraska-Hofstra

NY Times

Hofstra was another N.I.T. pick hoping for an N.C.A.A. bid. It lost to North Carolina Wilmington in the Colonial Athletic final and received a No. 3 seeding in the N.I.T. It will open against Nebraska.Hofstra won 14 of its last 16 games and beat George Mason, which made the N.C.A.A. tournament, twice.