Matt Fargo Sports Available Picks

February, 07 2010 12:00pm EST
ATS: Notre Dame Fighting Irish -7 (-110)
LOSS for -5 unit(s)

South Florida Bulls at Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Last Sunday the Bulls ended up winning their third straight conference game for the first time ever. On Wednesday South Florida won at Georgetown to make it four in a row as well as it second straight road victory which followed a huge come-from-behind win at Providence. The Bulls are the talk of the Big East right now as the perennial doormats are now sitting at 5-5 and are just a game and a half out of fourth place in the conference. There is actually talk about the Bulls being a possible bubble team now for the NCAA Tournament as the Bulls have a .500 record in conference play for the first time since joining the Big East in 2005. While I think the Bulls have been solid, I don’t think they are close to a tournament team and that will be proven today in South Bend. The Bulls are ranked among the bottom seven teams in the Big East in seven categories, including scoring defense, shooting defense, free throw shooting, rebounding, assist/turnover ratio, assists and three-point shooting. Those are some key categories obviously and the Bulls are at a huge disadvantage here. Notre Dame is also sitting at 5-5 in the conference but there is not much talk about heading into the NCAA Tournament. The Irish probably do not deserve that kind of talk but this team plays smart and efficiently and that is what it takes to win games in this conference. Notre Dame is 14-2 at home this season including one conference loss against Syracuse and this is still one of the best home court edges in college basketball. Following back-to-back losses at Villanova and Rutgers, the Irish responded with a home rout over Cincinnati on Thursday improving them to 66-5 in their last 71 home games and 28-4 in their last 32 Big East regular-season home contests. Notre Dame has advantages all over the floor today and despite being another bubble team, it has some solid talent. Luke Harangody is second nationally in scoring at 24.8 ppg while Tory Jackson is second in assist/turnover ratio at 3.59.  Mississippi St. transfer Ben Hansbrough is third in assist/turnover margin at 3.50 while Tim Abromaitis is second in three-point shooting at 48.6 percent). As a team Notre Dame leads the nation in assist/turnover ratio at 1.82 and that is nearly double that of the ratio for the Bulls which is at 0.98. at home, the Irish have a 1.99 ratio while South Florida has a 0.97 ratio no the road. Notre Dame won the first meeting this season in South Florida by just a point and the recent run the Bulls are having will make the Irish take notice and certainly not look past this one. The public is riding the Bulls right now and that is helping out with line value as well. The Irish are 4-0 ATS in their last four home games as a favorite between 7.0 and 12.5 points and they are 5-2 ATS at home against teams with a winning record. 9* Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Matt Fargo Sports College Basketball Past Picks

College Basketball

San Diego State Aztecs @ UNLV Runnin' Rebels Saturday February 11, 2012 4:00 pm
To no surprise, the Mountain West Conference is a logjam with five teams within two games of each other. San Diego is leading the way with a game lead over UNLV and New Mexico so this has marquee written all over it. The Aztecs had won 11 straight games before getting pounded at ... read more

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Wisconsin Green Bay Phoenix @ Wright State Raiders Friday February 10, 2012 9:00 pm
This is an important game for both sides as conference tournament seedings are coming more into play as the season is winding down. In the Horizon Tournament, the top two seeds receive first round byes and while neither Green Bay nor Wright St. need to worry about that, they fall ... read more

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Virginia Tech Hokies @ Miami Hurricanes Thursday February 9, 2012 9:00 pm
It has been a rough season for Virginia Tech but things have been so close to being a whole lot better. The Hokies are only 2-6 in the ACC but of those six losses, four have come by four points or fewer with the other two coming at the hands of North Carolina and Duke. Virginia Tech ... read more

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Iowa Hawkeyes @ Northwestern Wildcats Thursday February 9, 2012 9:00 pm
Northwestern is coming off a big road win on Sunday at rival Illinois and now it is being asked to lay a big number against a team that possesses a better conference record. The Wildcats are now 4-6 in the Big Ten following two straight wins but getting that third straight victory ... read more

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College Basketball

Arkansas Little Rock Trojans @ UL Lafayette Ragin Cajuns Thursday February 9, 2012 8:00 pm
This is a big game in the Sun Belt Conference but the line is not telling us that. Arkansas-Little Rock leads the SBC West Division by a half-game over tonight's counterpart and that being the case, this line is off a few points in my opinion. The Trojans are riding a three-game ... read more

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College Basketball

North Carolina State Wolfpack @ Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Thursday February 9, 2012 7:00 pm
Here we have a very good team, NC State, trying to get some road revenge on a very bad team, Georgia Tech. The Wolfpack lost at home last month by 11 points and it really was an inexcusable loss as they were riding a six-game winning streak and had just won their ACC opener over ... read more

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College Basketball

Michigan Wolverines @ Nebraska Cornhuskers Wednesday February 8, 2012 8:30 pm
Nebraska used to own one of the better home court advantages when it was part of the Big XII Conference but the home floor has not been a very big edge this season. The Huskers were decent during the non-conference portion of their schedule but even some of those wins were suspect, ... read more

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College Basketball

Kansas Jayhawks @ Baylor Bears Wednesday February 8, 2012 7:00 pm
Kansas is coming off a tough loss on Saturday at Missouri and things will not get any easier here as it travels to Waco with first place in the Big XII on the line. The Jayhawks and Bears both trail Missouri by a half-game but this game is arguably bigger for Baylor. A loss here ... read more

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College Basketball

Florida Gators @ Kentucky Wildcats Tuesday February 7, 2012 7:00 pm
First place is on the line in the SEC tonight. Even though a Florida win would still have it a half-game back from Kentucky, the all-important head-to-head win would go a lot further. The Gators have won seven straight games since a loss at Tennessee back at the start of January. ... read more

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College Basketball

Cal Santa Barbara Gauchos @ Cal State Fullerton Titans Saturday February 4, 2012 9:00 pm
Catching Long Beach St. is the Big West Conference but CS-Fullerton does have a chance at catching Santa Barbara for second place and it can do so with a win on Saturday. The Titans are coming off a lopsided victory over a decent Cal Poly team on Thursday as they won by 22 points ... read more

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