Back This Loser Of Eight Straight Games

We rebounded nicely yesterday with a winning college basketball day and are back for more with only a few games remaining for most teams. The conference tournaments are always interesting and I'm looking forward to that opportunity, but let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. Tonight we have a lot of games that are out here, but I wouldn't call most of them marquee matchups.

Penn State vs. Ohio State, 6:30 ET

Ohio State reminds me of a Looney Toons cartoon where one of the characters - like Elmer Fudd or Wile E. Coyote - runs off of a cliff and then realizes the ground underneath them is gone. They were chasing something for a while and all of a sudden Ohio State's ground was gone from underneath them. They have lost eight straight games and 13 of their past 14 games. And, if we are being honest, they aren't even really in most of these games. They've been blown out over their past three contests and it isn't looking much better for them. But wait, there is hope. See, like Fudd or Coyote, no matter how badly they get destroyed, they still have hope they can win against their opponent. Penn State is a decent basketball team but this isn't a great matchup for them. Before winning their past two games, they lost their previous four games. Ohio State's struggles don't really revolve around their three-point defense, which is where Penn State wants to get their points. I'm going to take Ohio State to win this game and cover the -2 spread. It is a risk supporting a team that's in the dumps, but I think this is a good spot and matchup for them to steal a game.

UCLA vs. Utah, 11:00 ET

The current fourth-ranked team in the country, UCLA also came out as the 8th overall seed in the NCAA tournament in a recent listing. How is that possible? Who really knows. Sometimes I think these lists are created just to have arguments. UCLA coach, Mick Cronin, thought it was comical that they'd be eighth overall and I think that might prove well for the Bruins in terms of locker room material. Utah isn't a bad team by any means, but they have lost their past two games both were on the road and coming home can help any college team. The two teams played against each other once this season and UCLA was able to win the game (at home) by almost 20 points. Both teams are very methodical in the way they play the game and it will likely lead to an under in this game. Plus, Utah is without one of their best scorers. I think the spread is a little too low and UCLA will cover the -7.

I think that Michigan and Rutgers will likely go over the 134 total in their matchup tonight as well. Washington and Cal are two slower-paced teams as well. I think the total is a bit too low in that one though and will play over 130.

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