Ricky Dimon
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Saturdays are no longer for college football. For the next three months so, this day of the week belongs to basketball. And what a Saturday we have on our hands right now, as exam week has come to an end and a whole host of top teams are getting back on the court following a brief hiatus. Among the programs in action are #1 Purdue, #2 Virginia, #UConn, #4 Alabama, #5 Houston, #6 Tennessee, #8 Kansas and #9 Arizona.
Let’s take a look at my 3-team mega parlay for Saturday.
Virginia ML (+100)
N.C. State -6 (-110)
Tennessee ML (+120)
Parlay odds: +740
For this parlay we are going with 1 favorite against thre spread and 2 underdogs on the money line. Here is a breakdown of each leg.
Virginia ML over Houston (+100)
As good as the Saturday slate is, it doesn’t get any better than Houston vs Virginia. They are a combined 18-1, with the only loss coming when Houston went down to Alabama 71-65 last weekend. A second setback for the Cougars could be incoming, as Charlottesville certainly isn’t an easy place to play. The Cavaliers are undefeated with top-25 wins over Baylor and Illinois plus additional victories over Michigan and Florida State. As usual, head coach Tony Bennett’s squad is one of the best defenses in the country – led by Kadin Shedrick (2.0 blocks and 1.6 steals per game). Houston is awesome defensively, as well, so this figures to be a low-scoring affair in which the margins are extremely small. At plus money and at home, I’ll go with Virginia.
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N.C. State -6 over Vanderbilt (-110)
Given how the Commodores’ football team ended its season, they might actually be even worse at basketball. Okay…that may be a bit of a stretch. But they aren’t great. Vanderbilt is 5-5 so far this season and is coming off a loss to none other than Grambling. The only headlines these ‘Dores have made was 2 weeks ago when head coach Jerry Stackhouse got ejected during a setback against VCU and had to be escorted off the floor by security. That was the last time Vandy played away from home, and now it faces N.C. State at the United Center in Chicago. The Wolfpack are 0-2 in the ACC but 9-3 overall with wins over Dayton and Butler plus a competitive loss to Kansas. Terquavion Smith is averaging 18.3 ppg and Jarkel Joiner is not far being at 17.0 ppg. I don’t think Vanderbilt can keep up and there’s a good chance it isn’t even close.
Tennessee ML (+120) over Arizona
Along with N.C. State vs Vanderbilt, another late game on the Saturday docket features top-10 teams in Tennessee and Arizona. Each side is 9-1 with multiple top-25 wins. The Volunteers are especially hot right now, having won 8 in a row. This run includes victories over Kansas, Maryland, Butler and USC. Saturday marks the Vols’ first true road game of the season, but this is an experienced roster with an experienced head coach (Rick Barnes) and they can get the job done in a hostile environment. Santiago Vescovi (11.4 ppg) returned from a 3-game injury absence against Maryland and Josiah-Jordan James (8.8 ppg) missed that game but will be back to face Arizona. Give me Tennessee at plus money.
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