Matt Fargo Sports Available Picks

March, 10 2010 7:00pm EST
ATS: Seton Hall Pirates +1.5 (-110)
LOSS for -5 unit(s)

Seton Hall Pirates at Notre Dame Fighting Irish

After losing with Seton Hall last night in a horrendous beat, it would be easy to lay off the Pirates tonight but this situation calls for a repeat play. The Pirates nearly blew a 29-point lead last night against Providence and ended up winning by only three points. That type of near disaster can do two things. It can completely deflate a team or it can give a team extra incentive the next time out. I believe it is going to be the latter in this case especially coming back to play the very next night. Seton Hall still thinks it has a legitimate shot as an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament and I cannot disagree. It has been a tough season for the Pirates in that things could be so much better. They own a résumé of seven losses coming by single digits, six coming against teams that will be dancing most likely with four of those coming in overtime. Seton Hall is 0-4 in overtime games, the last two coming by a combined three points with the other two coming against Virginia Tech and West Virginia. Notre Dame has been the talk of the conference with four straight wins over big name teams and just like that, the Irish will be dancing. The public is well aware of this and is already all over Notre Dame in this one. As mentioned, nothing is guaranteed for the Pirates but I actually have them ranked higher than Notre Dame while also playing a much tougher schedule. Seton Hall also has a higher RPI than Norte Dame so a win here just might secure the ninth team from the Big East into the NCAA Tournament. Still, the Pirates desperately need quality wins at the Big East Tournament, such as another one over Notre Dame on Wednesday, to give them a better chance at The Dance. I commend Notre Dame for playing as good as it has of late but I think it was able to sneak up on teams that had looked past the Irish. Seton Hall will certainly not be doing that especially knowing that it escaped with a three-point win at home over the Irish right before they started getting hot. While the recent run has been great, you cannot look past the fact that Notre Dame also owns losses against St. John’s and Rutgers so it has had its down moments as well. I expect the Pirates to show up big time here to get the win and keep those NCAA Tournament hopes alive. 9* Seton Hall Pirates

Matt Fargo Sports College Basketball Past Picks

College Basketball

Butler Bulldogs @ Duke Blue Devils Monday April 5, 2010 9:21 pm
I was definitely surprised by this line as I had it pegged around 4.5 points but this line is telling us that Duke would be favored by 9 points over Michigan St. on a neutral floor and I am not buying that. Based on the lines, if the Spartans had won over Butler, that is the number ... read more

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West Virginia Mountaineers @ Duke Blue Devils Saturday April 3, 2010 9:12 pm
The Mountaineers are in the Final Four which may be a surprise to some but they deserve to be here despite a very uncanny game against top seeded Kentucky. Duke narrowly defeated Baylor, thanks to some calls that went its way, and now it goes from facing the most athletic team it ... read more

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Michigan State Spartans @ Butler Bulldogs Saturday April 3, 2010 6:07 pm
Butler has to be one of the more fortunate teams in the Final Four in a very long time. Taking not much credit away from the Bulldogs for being here but they were able to catch both Syracuse and Kansas St. in arguably their worst games of the season and for anyone who watched those ... read more

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North Carolina Tar Heels @ Dayton Flyers Thursday April 1, 2010 7:00 pm
After winning the NCAA Championship a season ago, North Carolina can become the first team ever to win the NCAA Title and the NIT Title in consecutive years. If it were reversed then it may mean something but this is a first that the Tar Heels will not be proud of. Give them credit ... read more

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Virginia Commonwealth Rams @ Saint Louis Billikens Wednesday March 31, 2010 8:00 pm
The wrong team is favored here plain and simple. VCU won the first game of this best-of-three series for the CBI Championship and it looks as though that game is being taken into account too much. It was a 12-point win for the Rams but the victory was far from dominating. VCU used ... read more

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North Carolina Tar Heels @ Rhode Island Rams Tuesday March 30, 2010 9:40 pm
At the start of the NIT, the big question was how North Carolina was going to react after such a disappointing season. Those questions have been answered. Expectations were high to start the season and an 11-3 start pointed toward the Tar Heels at least making it back to the NCAA ... read more

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College Basketball

Pacific Tigers @ Missouri State Bears Tuesday March 30, 2010 8:00 pm
The Bears lit up the scoreboard in an 87-79 victory over Middle Tennessee St. and looked like a dominant team in a 69-40 demolition of Louisiana Tech. They then beat Creighton last Wednesday night 67-61 to advance to the title game of a national post season tournament for the first ... read more

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College Basketball

Baylor Bears @ Duke Blue Devils Sunday March 28, 2010 5:05 pm
Duke has had a very favorable draw so far in this tournament. Playing California presented huge matchup advantages and then came a game against Purdue which was without its best player in Robbie Hummel and the Blue Devils were able to match the physicality of the Boilermakers. This ... read more

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College Basketball

Tennessee Volunteers @ Michigan State Spartans Sunday March 28, 2010 2:20 pm
You have to give a lot of credit to Michigan St. for gutting out a win over Northern Iowa. Down seven at halftime, the Spartans opened the second half on a 16-5 run and were able to close the game out with some late, clutch shots. Northern Iowa’s last basket in this game came ... read more

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College Basketball

Butler Bulldogs @ Kansas State Wildcats Saturday March 27, 2010 4:30 pm
Regulars know I prefer going against these big streaks and we were able to cash a small ticket a week ago when Butler barely won against the Racers. Obviously it looked better than that on Thursday but I’m not sold. Watching Butler on Thursday showed me two things. The ... read more

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