NCAA Basketball: Thursday's Point Spread Madness

Wednesday, Jan.19, 2011 ended the same way the previous three nights have for my selections in college hoops: The first three games of the night were winners, and then the last game let me down. 

Don't get me wrong, I'll take going 3-1 every day of the week, but coming so close to the perfect evening is now toying with my emotions.

In the two early games of the night, I watched Duke at (-10) over N.C. State and Notre Dame at (-3) over Cincinnati. Duke pretty much controlled the game all night, but there were a few instances where N.C. State showed enough fight to possibly steal the point spread cover. In the end, there was too much Nolan Smith and the Blue Devils got the 14-point victory. 

Meanwhile, Notre Dame was on cruise control, pounding the Bearcats by double digits for most of the night. After a too little, too late charge by Cincy, the Irish ended up winning by eight points. 

There I stood at 2-0 on the night.

The final two games of the night featured my selections of Texas at (-7) over Texas A&M and Miami at (-1) over Florida State. Texas jumped on the Aggies quickly and never looked back. The Longhorns 21-point victory allowed me to focus on the Hurricanes to get me that elusive 4-0 night. 

It all looked so promising.  

The Canes led by seven points at the half and led the majority of the second half. Then the scoring stopped for Miami. 

They managed to score only five points in the final six minutes of play, and fell to the rival Seminoles by two points.

With that went my attempt at perfection for the fourth straight night.

The good news is that 3-1 for the fourth straight night isn't all that shabby either. 

Here's a look at the selections for tomorrow night.

Indiana at Wisconsin 

The Hoosiers come in to Madison fresh off a 19-point win at home over Michigan. Sounds pretty good, except for the fact that they lost their previous six games.

Tom Crean's team is still in rebuilding mode, and they could use a few more players like sophomore forward Christian Watford—he's been the only real bright spot all season. 

Wisconsin is back in the Top 20 like they are every year, and it looks like they'll be dancing come March again. The Badgers have been paced by their dynamic duo of Jon Leuer and Jordan Taylor all year, and this game should be no different. 

Pick: Wisconsin (-13.5)

Virginia Tech at Maryland 

This game should be billed as the January bubble game.

Virginia Tech enters the game with a 11-5 record, and the Terps sport a 11-6 record. Neither team has posted that signature win to impress the NCAA Tournament Committee come March. 

It's possible that the loser of this game might be NIT bound. This is a homecoming game for guard Malcolm Delaney (Baltimore, MD) and forward Jeff Allen (Washington, D.C.). However, Tech is battling some injuries right now and depth is extremely limited. 

Maryland has been so close this season. The Terps led at Duke for long stretches of that game before slipping up late in the second half, and then blew a double digit lead at Villanova. 

The time is now or never for both teams in this contest. 

Pick: Maryland (-5)

Arizona at Washington 

It's a battle of the top two teams in the Pac-10, with each team having only one conference loss thus far. 

Arizona's won three straight at home, but the last conference road trip was a forgettable one at Oregon State (a one-point loss).

Sophomore forward Derrick Williams is one of the best players in the country, and is a sure fire NBA lottery pick. I'm still waiting for some consistency from the rest of his supporting cast. 

Washington bounced back from a road loss to Stanford by blitzing Cal on the Bears home floor by 21 points.

Now, the Huskies return home to Seattle where they have eclipsed the 100-point mark four times already this year. 

Pick: Washington (-9)

Overall Season Record: 15-7