Another Saturday, Another Ridiculous Game For Gonzaga To Shut Up Everyone Complaining About Them
Another Saturday for a loaded college hoops slate. Sure would be nice to get these without Championship Football weekend, but whatever. Rough 1-2-1 night yesterday with a Virginia over push and Siena blowing the cover and lead late. We move on though.
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.
As always - all the lines come from the Barstool Sportsbook. Download the app here.
2021-22 Season Record: 57-59-2
Rivalry game to get us going here. Let me tell you something, I sneaky like Marquette here. This is a weird matchup for Wisconsin coming back home after winning at Georgia Tech. We know all about Marquette's defense and how Shaka wants to apply pressure. But the real key is he has one of the best defenders in the country in Daryl Morsell. Slap him on Johnny Davis and that really, really disrupts a Wisconsin offense without him. Seriously, how often can you count on Brad Davison hitting a bunch of shots? You're also relying on a freshman like Chucky Hepburn to handle the pressure or at least split it with Davison. Throw in the fact you have an elite shot blocker in Kur Kuath, Wisconsin is going to have to hit jumpers against Marquette. I don't trust that enough just yet.
Pick: Marquette +6.5
Another rivalry game but more importantly the first game for St. Bonaventure without Kyle Lofton. He's one of the best point guards in the country but also the fact the Bonnies play like 5 guys total. They have zero bench. With their pace they also rely on Lofton to bail them out sometimes during bad possessions. All that is now gone. I have no idea what to expect from them in the first game, so I'm just going to fade them and dare to be wrong.
Pick: Buffalo +3.5
Welcome to the David Roddy show. The dude should be talked about as an All-American at some point. He's putting up 21 and 8 on a damn good Colorado State team. You have St. Mary's on a quick turnaround after winning late at Utah State. Now they have to go to another good homecourt and altitude? Throw in that Colorado State can switch basically any screen with defensive versatility and help cut down on Saint Mary's cuts/motion offense. Ultimately it comes down to trusting Colorado State to shoot the ball better + home court.
Pick: Colorado State -4
Another Saturday, another Gonzaga marquee game. Sure is tough to hear how they don't play anyone. Anywho, Gonzaga/Bama in Seattle. Yes, please. We know Gonzaga is coming off the loss to Duke and then struggled to beat Billy Gillispie. Here's the thing, this matchup sort of favors both teams. Alabama takes away the 3pt line and struggles interior defensively. Well, Gonzaga isn't this lights out shooting team like they were a year ago and want to play through Timme and Chet. Perfect. On the flip side, Alabama still wants to fly around and launch threes. Gonzaga actually struggles defending the 3pt line because you can space Timme out and use him in PnR. Now the key though is to get 1) Chet in foul trouble or 2) come up with designs to try and draw Chet away from the rim. He's a freak rim protector and Alabama does rely on getting to the rim to open up more shots from three. If they can't get to the rim it's just launch time.
Pick: Under 162.5
Iowa State coming off that win against Memphis and now we get a little Coach vs Coach friend matchup here. Both teams look better than what was expected in the preseason. Creighton is young but have a star in Ryan Nembhard and really have a core to build around going forward. Iowa State looks competitive, which is better than the last like 3 years. Here's the key though. Iowa State is forcing a ton of turnovers - 9th in the country to be exact. They are also top-10 in the country at rim protection. So they can get very aggressive with denial on the perimeter to make ballhandlers careless knowing they have that protection behind them. That's huge in a matchup with a young team like Creighton, who is 221st in the country in turnover rate. I know Iowa State is overvalued at 19th in the country but catching 5.5 here feels at least a basket too high.
Pick: Iowa State +5.5