We will gladly back Providence as a home dog in this spot tonight. The Friars have a new head coach this season in Kim English, but they are returning their top two players from last season. Kim English has a very good coaching pedigree. He spent time under legendary Tennessee coach Rick Barnes prior to coaching George Mason. English brought several of his top players from George Mason with him to Providence. Wisconsin is coming off of a double digit loss to Tennessee. We’d like to think that Rick Barnes gave his old buddy Kim English a call with some insight on how to best attack this Wisconsin team. Whether or not the two spoke, Rick Barnes put a full game of film on display for English to study this week. We expect a tight gameplan from the Friars. Our wager is a half unit on Providence +1.5.

This game will be played at a neutral site in Chicago. Both teams traveled, and both are unfamiliar with this court. Michigan State and Duke share two common characteristics which both favor a low scoring game. Both of these teams are very good defensively, and both play at a slow tempo. Michigan State’s offense relies heavily on the three ball, but they have been awful from three point range to begin the season. MSU is shooting under 10% from beyond the arc through 2 games. Duke’s offense has a lot of talent, but they have new pieces that will take some time to gel together. Duke’s defense allowed 78 points to Arizona, but Arizona has one of the best offenses in the nation. We expect the Duke defense to improve tonight. Our wager is a half unit on less than 141.5 total points to be scored.

It can be dangerous betting the under with offenses as talented as Kansas and Kentucky. Our bet is based more on a stylistic clash that we expect to keep the scoring down a bit. This game will be played on a neutral site at the United Center in Chicago. Kansas has an extremely explosive offense loaded with scorers and shooters. Bill Self has talented two way players that should make Kansas one of the best defensive teams in the nation. Kentucky has a lot of talent, but also a lot of young players. Coach Cal has had Kentucky playing at a very slow tempo through their first 2 games. We expect coach Cal and this young Kentucky team to avoid a fast paced shootout, which would certainly favor Kansas. We are heading over to the total, and betting under 148 total points to be scored. Our stake is a half unit.