The first week of February has already brought us some shocking
upsets and fantastic finishes in men’s college basketball, but you get the
feeling that things are just heating up as teams continue to jockey for
position for this year’s NCAA Tournament next month. Expect competition to
remain at a high level from now until then. Even the best teams in the country will stumble along the way, so the trick in NCAA basketball betting is to try and uncover which ones are in for a 'fade' in any given week to avoid getting burnt on an untimely wager.
The following is a look at a few teams that have had some early success, but should be added to your ‘auto-fade’ list this week before you make your NCAA Basketball picks.
NCAA Basketball Auto Fade List- February 7
The Memphis Tigers are
trying to work their way into tournament form with 10 straight-up wins in their
last 12 games including a 72-68 nonconference victory over Xavier last Saturday.
However, they failed to cover as five-point home favorites and have now gone
0-3 against the spread in their last three games and 3-5-1 ATS in their last
nine.
This Wednesday night the Tigers are back in action in the Conference-USA
with a game against the East Carolina Pirates on the road. Memphis is 7-11-2
ATS overall this season and just 2-6-2 ATS on the road. It has managed to cover
the spread on the road just once in its last five games and is 3-6 ATS against
the Pirates in the last nine meetings overall. The Tigers should get the
straight-up win in this one but play the ‘fade’ against them covering as road
favorites.
The ACC is currently a three-team race between North Carolina,
Florida State, and Duke but the North
Carolina State Wolfpack are trying to get back in the hunt with recent
conference victories over Boston College and Wake Forest. They are now 6-3 SU in
the ACC and two games in back of the Tar Heels and Seminoles. NC State is 17-7
SU overall, but just 8-12 ATS. They have failed to cover in seven of their last nine
games, despite winning six of them SU.
This Thursday night, the Wolfpack go on
the road to face Georgia Tech in basically a must-win game, given that their
next three matchups are against the three teams ahead of them in the standings.
The Yellow Jackets are just 2-7 SU in the ACC, but one of those wins was an
82-71 shocker over NC State as 10-point road underdogs on Jan.11. While the
Wolfpack will avenge that loss with the SU win, play the ‘fade’ that they fail
to cover as likely road favorites.
The Texas Longhorns
have been an up-and-down team all season long, but are now 15-9 SU overall
after back-to-back victories over in-state rivals Texas Tech and Texas A&M.
The problem is that they have been down most of the season ATS with an overall
record of 6-12-1 and have a 3-6-1 record ATS in their last 10 games. The
Longhorns have been bad ATS no matter where they play with a 3-6-1 record at
home and a 3-6 record on the road.
This Saturday, they play host to Kansas
State in a rematch of a Jan.18 contest in which Texas lost 84-80 as a
five-point road underdog. While they did cover the spread by a point in that
game, the Longhorns will most likely be home favorites this time around which
could spell trouble considering they are 0-4 ATS in their last four games as
favorites at home. This sets-up the perfect ‘fade’ against Texas covering the
points.