Art Aronson – AAA Sports NBA Picks & Plays

This is a 10* on MINNESOTA

The Big 10 will obviously be sending a lot of teams to the NCAA Tournament. Right now, if certain “bracketologists” are to be believed, the number of teams is 10. Only one other conference is likely to send more than five. Interestingly enough, neither Indiana nor Minnesota are among those 10 even though both grade out favorably against most teams from other conferences. In the case of Minnesota, a 12-12 WL record does them no favors. However, you can’t tell us that the Golden Gophers aren’t among the top 35 teams in the country. Four losses in the last five games, particularly the one vs. Iowa on Sunday, have really stung. But getting a chance to host an Indiana team that is 1-5 straight up and against the spread its last six games is an opportunity the Gophers can surely cash in on. Indiana is a dreadful 1-6 ATS in road games. They’ve lost 23 of 30 road games the last three seasons. The loss to Iowa on Sunday was just the second time Minnesota lost as a favorite this year (8-3 ATS) and they are 5-1 ATS after being held under 60 points. Play on MINNESOTA

AAA

This is an 8* play on MEMPHIS

There’s significant hand-wringing now over Memphis’ chances to make the NCAA Tournament. A team firmly on the “bubble” all season, the Tigers have gone out and lost three straight. Right now, no one seems to be considering Penny Hardaway’s team as being worthy of the Big Dance and without a really strong finish to the regular season, it’s difficult to imagine that changing. It is worth mentioning though that this three-game losing streak has been nothing but close games. The three losses have all been by six points or less and by a total of only 11 points. Tonight, Memphis has a golden opportunity to take its frustrations out on a lesser opponent, that being East Carolina, who is just 7-13 ATS when getting 12.5 or more on the road. The Pirates are in second to last in the American with a 4-9 conference record and have been beaten by double digits each of the last two times out. Their only conference wins since January 11th both were against Tulane, the last place team in the American. Memphis wins by an average of 17 points/game at home. Play on MEMPHIS

AAA

This is a 10* on VANCOUVER 

Despite taking a 5-1 loss Sunday, the Canucks are still outscoring visiting teams by an average of 0.9 gpg, which is very solid. They average 3.6 gpg in Vancouver and had won their two previous games here by scores of 6-2 and 3-0. Minnesota is not a good road team. They are giving up 3.7 gpg away from home, which is the third worst average in the league (only Detroit & Ottawa are worse). They also just made what was a bit of a head-scratching decision, firing coach Bruce Boudreau. Clearly, the front office saw something wrong with this team that the rest of us were not seeing. That the Wild were shut out at home - 2-0 by a bad San Jose team - in the first game after Boudreau’s firing was not a good sign. Speaking of changes, Vancouver just brought in forward Tyler Toffoli in a trade with the Kings. This is a key acquisition. The Canucks are simply better than the Wild, especially at home. Play on VANCOUVER

AAA