Big East foes collide, as Providence visits Louisville

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/18/2009 - Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The seventh-ranked Louisville Cardinals battle the Providence Friars in a Big East clash at Freedom Hall tonight.

The Cardinals rebounded nicely from their worst loss in eight years, as they trounced hapless DePaul, 99-54, on Sunday. Louisville, which was coming off a 90-57 whipping at Notre Dame, took care of business over the weekend and kept itself in contention for the Big East title at 10-2. Winners of 11 of their last 13 outings, the Cardinals now stand at 19-5 overall and that includes a 13-2 ledger at home.

As for Providence, it has gone a surprising 8-5 within the conference, but it really hasn't had much success against the elite teams in the Big East. Never the less, the team has fared well in a tough league and is riding a two-game win streak that includes a 78-68 besting of Rutgers on Saturday. The Friars, at 16-9 overall, now return to the road, where they have gone an even 3-3 against conference foes.

Tonight's bout marks the 12th all-time meeting between Providence and Louisville, with the Cardinals winning seven of the prior encounters. The Cardinals have posted six straight wins in the rivalry and are a perfect 4-0 in Louisville.

The Friars are averaging a hardy 79.2 ppg on the campaign and they are doing so behind the efforts of four double-figure scorers. Weyinmi Efejuku leads the way with 13.7 ppg and he also has a team-high 37 steals to his credit. Marshon Brooks has provided a spark off the bench with 12.4 ppg, and Sharaud Curry adds 10.9 ppg and a team-best 4.8 apg to the mix. Jonathan Kale rounds out the group with 10.2 ppg and he is also collecting 5.7 rpg. On Saturday, Efejuku tallied 25 points and grabbed five caroms to lift Providence past Rutgers. Brooks and Curry each chipped in with 12 points for the Friars, who held Rutgers to just a 35.9 percent shooting effort from the floor.

The Cardinals are scoring a solid 73.4 ppg this season, but that hasn't come at the expense of any defense, as they are limiting foes to just 38.9 percent shooting from the floor and forcing them into 16.1 turnovers per game. Earl Clark has made an impact at both ends of the court and he leads Louisville in scoring (12.9 ppg) and blocks (41), to go along with 8.7 rpg and 3.2 apg. Freshman Samardo Samuels adds 12.2 ppg and 5.0 rpg, and Terrence Williams chips in with 12.1 ppg. Williams is one of the most versatile players around and he has shown that by pacing the Cardinals with 8.5 rpg, 4.6 apg and 50 steals. On Sunday, Preston Knowles came off the bench and posted 19 points on 5-of-7 three-pointers to lead Louisville in a rout of DePaul. Clark nearly had a triple-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, while Samuels also finished with 12 points. The Cardinals shot a sizzling 59.1 percent from the floor, including an impressive 18-of-36 performance from long range.

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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

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