Divisional Battles on President's Day in College Basketball

I've had a couple of good basketball plays in the past few articles. Finally getting on a streak was one of my bigger needs for the bets I've been providing on here lately and it seems like I'm starting on this streak. I've got another couple of plays on tonight's smaller slate and I'll share a couple small thoughts on a few other games as well.

Oklahoma State vs. West Virginia, 7:00 ET

This isn't the best matchup that I've seen, but in all honesty, most games tonight are pretty crappy. Oklahoma State has a 16-11 record on the season and is on a two game losing streak. They were just embarrassed by TCU, losing by 25 points. Now they are going on the road once again to face a West Virginia team that is not looking very good themselves. West Virginia has lost their past three games and only one games was anything remotely close. West Virginia is not rebounding the ball well and is giving up a lot of paint points lately. If Oklahoma State can battle down low, they should be able to get the victory here. Oklahoma State also needs to step up their game defensively. In their last few games they've allowed much more offense to opponents than they typically do. I'm going to take the Cowboys in this one with the points. I feel like they should be able to keep this game close even during this tough stretch. West Virginia hasn't shown me much this season that gives me much hope - not that Oklahoma State has. I am a bit concerned that this is yet another road game, but I'll back them with the points.

Kansas vs. TCU, 9:00 ET

Kansas has jolted all the way to the third ranked team in the country. It really doesn't surprise me and I kind of expect them to be the champion this year. They are good on both offense and defense and have a variety of ways to attack the basket. Kansas looked like they were on the verge of disaster in their last game before they stormed back in the second half and took down a good Baylor team by 16 points. TCU hasn't been great the past few games, but they do have their point guard back in the fold and they looked unstoppable against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. In route to winning by 25 points, TCU put up 100 points. They also beat Kansas earlier this season on the road. They won by 23 points in that game. Is this the same Kansas team or not? The line certainly seems like it is on Kansas's side as they probably should be dogs on the road after getting blown out at home by this same opponent. I'm going to back TCU here though at -1.5. After wining the first game and having Mike Miles back, I think we get a good enough effort with home court for them to pull it out.

I don't have many other plays, but I do like Duke to go over their point total (78.5) and keep Louisville under their total (59.5) but I won't play that one. Finally, I like Minnesota and Illinois to go over the 136.5 total that they have in their game.