Obsessed With Sports will be providing coverage for RTC throughout the season.
Welcome to the Week Two edition of Behind the Lines. On a weekly basis, we will cover the betting lines that stand out from the week that was in college basketball. In general I will stick to the relevant games that the majority of people can relate to. However, if there is an obscure team that scores a big upset or a powerhouse that can cover the spread against a cup cake then you will certainly see it here as well.
As far as format you will see below the day then a heading describing the game to follow. After that this match-up is listed with the point spread and then the final score. Lastly, we have the team who covered and by how much.
Friday 12/5
Perfect line of the night:
Arizona +4 at Texas A&M
Arizona 66, Texas A&M 67
Arizona covers: by 3
Behind the Line: ‘Zona has covered four games in a row. Their two losses this season were still close games with this A&M team and UAB.
Saturday 12/6
Cover(s) of the night by an underdog:
Duke(4) at Michigan +9.5
Duke 73, Michigan 81
Michigan covers: by +17.5
Behind the Line: If you recall this is the second meeting between these two; they met early this season in the Coaches versus Cancer tourney on a neutral court. Duke won the first meeting handily but the story was much different in Michigan. Look for the lines for Michigan’s next game to be too large after their upset of Duke and their performance @ Maryland. Remember this is still a team that took Savannah State to overtime to get the victory.
Ohio St. +5 vs Notre Dame(7)
Ohio St. 67, Notre Dame 62
Ohio St. covers: by 10
Behind the Line: OSU is making noise, covering 3 games in a row including this game against Notre Dame on a neutral court and @ Miami.
Miami-Florida(22) +3.5 at Kentucky
Miami-Florida 72, Kentucky 67
Miami-Florida covers: by 9.5
Behind the Line: This could easily have been the friendliest line of the night. Even at Rupp, Miami is the better team at this point.
Cover(s) of the night by a favorite:
Georgia +8.5 vs Illinois
Illinois 76, Georgia 42
Illinois covers: by 25.5
Behind the Line: Illinois is playing well but Georgia has folded against any decent competition.
N.C. State +8 vs Davidson(24)
Davidson 72, N.C. State 67
N.C. State covers: by 3
Behind the Line: This shows that against better competition Davidson tends to be in a closer game. Interesting match-ups upcoming include West Virginia on Tuesday and Purdue on 12/20.
Indiana St. +26 at Louisville(11)
Louisville 83, Indiana St. 43
Louisville covers: by 14
Behind the Line: This is the first game in a stretch that Louisville will play three nights in a row. We will see what they have left at the end of this stretch. So far, so good.
Western Kentucky at Tulane +4
Western Kentucky 82, Tulane 67
Western Kentucky covers: by 11
Behind the Line: WKU has now covered their last 3 games (with a push in the middle against Georgia). They have a couple of more no name teams to play before they head to Florida State later this month in what could have a friendly line with the way WKU has been holding their own.
Sunday 12/7
Cover(s) of the night by an underdog:
California +7.5 at Missouri
Missouri 93, California 66
Missouri covers: by 19.5
Behind the Line: Even though the -7.5 spread for Missouri might not seem it, this team could still be underrated in betting circles. They have beaten Cal and USC and played Xavier to a close 4 point game.
Florida(21) at Florida St. +2
Florida St. 57, Florida 55
Florida St. covers: by 4
Behind the Line: Florida has definitely struggled against solid competition especially as far as covering. They have missed the mark against Syracuse, Washington and now FSU.
Cover(s) of the night by a favorite:
Nebraska +10 at Arizona St.(19)
Arizona St. 64, Nebraska 44
Arizona State covers: by 10
Kansas St. +2 at Oregon
Oregon 75, Kansas St. 70
Oregon covers: by 3
Behind the Line: Kansas State is struggling right now, they have now lost three in a row against good competition (Kentucky, Iowa and Oregon).
Monday 12/8
Cover(s) of the night by an underdog:
Lamar +27 at Louisville(10)
Louisville 78, Lamar 56
Lamar covers: by 5
Behind the Line: As previously mentioned, this was Louisville’s third game in as many nights. Lamar just barely got it done but they covered. Louisville looks good even on very short rest.
Tuesday 12/9
Cover(s) of the night by a favorite:
Purdue(17) at Ball St. +12.5
Purdue 68, Ball St. 39
Purdue covers: by 16.5
Behind the Line: Purdue is 0-3 against the spread against quality competition (BU, Oklahoma, Duke) but are 3-0 against lesser opponents.
Cover(s) of the night by an underdog:
West Virginia vs Davidson(22) +2.5
Davidson 68, West Virginia 65
Davidson covers: by 5.5
Behind the Line: A side note, Davidson’s last three games have all ended up under the over/under mark.
Wednesday 12/10
Cover(s) of the night by a favorite:
Ohio +14.5 at Xavier(9)
Xavier 78, Ohio 56
Xavier covers: by 7.5
Behind the line: Sure Xavier can blow out the weaker competition such as in this game. However their real value comes in when they play a good team and they are getting points (case in point Memphis earlier this year). Sean Miller always puts a competitive team on the court.
Thursday 12/11
Cover(s) of the night by an underdog:
St. Joseph’s +11.5 at Villanova(12)
Villanova 59, St. Joseph’s 56
St. Joeseph’s covers: by 8.5
Behind the line: All the big 5 rivals tend to bring out close games. As in this case, Villanova is the clearly better team but a capable big 5 school such as St. Joe’s seems to put up a fight more often then not.