There's No Better Way To Deal With A Thanksgiving Hangover Than Watching A Top-5 College Basketball Game
Well yesterday was ugly. No other way about it. Not how you want to spend Thanksgiving. But we move on. We move on. Giddy up with what we move on with. A nice little 12 hours of college hoops bookended with Michigan State/Baylor and Duke/Gonzaga. This is what we deserve the day after Thanksgiving.
Just a reminder. Sharp Cheese is the way you'll know you're going to read a picks blog for college basketball every single day. We're also going to incorporate it into social media perhaps posting on Instagram and going live on IG/Twitter Spaces. Twitter Spaces will absolutely happen 1-2 times a week, most likely on weekdays after big games. Just come on and talk whatever the hell you want about college basketball. The blog will mostly read the same. Breaking down games and making picks. I'm thinking maybe adding a Q&A part into the blog. Now most of the time I feel the same way about games, that said if there's a game I really love and attacking a few different ways you may see a Sharp Cheddar alert next to it. Sprinkle on the ML? Well, get out the shredded mozz. You get it. That said, always willing to listen to any adjustments you might have.
Let's get into today. Shoot stuff over at barstoolreags on Twitter. Gonna be a little quicker than normal blogs today, traveling with a kid is a pain in the ass.
As always - all the lines come from the Barstool Sportsbook. Download the app here.
2021-22 Season Record: 48-49-1
Alright game of the day. We get Duke/Gonzaga the same week we had Gonzaga/UCLA. Beautiful. Now, don't get me wrong, Gonzaga is the best team in the country. They've destroyed Texas and UCLA so far. But, this line feels a little bit high? Duke can actually matchup with Gonzaga where you can put Mark Williams on Timme and Paolo Banchero on Chet. That at least eliminates the huge advantage Gonzaga has of being able to use Chet in space and give Timme the paint. The other thing that Duke can do here is get creative with how they defend Andrew Nembhard. You can throw Wendell Moore or even Trevor Keels on him. See if size and strength bother him.
Pick: Duke +7.5
Title game down at Atlantis and sure, sign me up. Michigan State has figured some shit out and held on twice now. Baylor didn't look great yesterday against VCU, but it's fine. I still really like this team. I think they can really bother Michigan State, who is one of the most turnover prone teams in the country. They have the perfect amount of aggression to where Baylor is 7th in the country in forcing turnovers. There's just not a lot of teams that have the guard play Baylor has. They can bother Walker/Hoggard. They have the size with JTT and Flo Thamba to deal with the Michigan State bigs. They have Matthew Mayer who can stretch the floor and has really improved defensively.
Pick: Baylor -5.5
Iona did something a MAAC team has never done before. They beat a top-10 AP team yesterday when they upset Alabama. Fucking Pitino man. The dude can just coach. Now we have them turning around against Belmont in what could be a let down spot. That's why we're going with the over here. Both teams play fast. Both teams have a ton of offensive weapons and how they play really hurt the other team. Belmont takes care of the ball with Grayson Murphy and have a skilled big in Nick Muszynski. Iona has the athletic wings to slash and get to the rim.
Pick: Over 147.5
I know we were always team fade Wichita State, but not here. They are designed to beat Missouri. They force turnovers and we saw what happened with Missouri against FSU. Wichita State is 18th in the country at forcing turnovers while Missouri is 280th in turning it over. That's how you beat this team. I know Wichita State struggles shooting but they do have the best player on the floor too.
Pick: Wichita State -2