Chance Harper - The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets have been a bettor’s dream lately, as they have covered five straight games since an opening game loss to Dayton in Puerto Rico. They now look to hold on to their 15th ranking nationally as they host the Florida State Seminoles, but it will not be a walk in the park. The Noles are just as stingy defensively as the Ramblin’ Wreck, and they are ranked much higher in the Pomeroy ratings than in the polls.

DonBest.com -

After taking nine days off for midterm exams, Auburn faces a tough first game back to the floor when the Tigers travel to Tallahassee to meet the Florida State Seminoles on Thursday.  Both teams are short of experience with just three upper classmen on their rosters, but Leonard Hamilton's FSU squad has managed to roll out to an 8-2 record so far and is the heavy 10½-point favorite tonight at the Donald L. Tucker Center.

DonBest.com -

The No. 3 Villanova Wildcats fell in their last Big Five game of the season to Temple on Sunday, the only loss by a Top 10 team on last week's schedule.

DonBest.com - With all of the news about Brian Kelly leaving Cincinnati to coach Notre Dame football, it's easy to forget the Bearcats also happen to have a pretty fair basketball team.

Chance Harper - An AP report on Thursday quoted NCAA senior vice president Greg Shaheen saying the idea of expanding the men's tournament is being discussed which could lead to the NIT coming to an end eventually.  Meanwhile there is plenty of hoops to be played under the current system with No. 13 Georgetown off to the John Wooden Classic to meet No. 16 Washington and No. 3 Villanova meeting a tough Temple squad.

DonBest.com -

Florida's Billy Donovan has a lot to be thankful for with his Gators up to No. 10 in the latest AP rankings just in time to take on the No. 6 Syracuse Orange on Thursday.

Chance Harper - With Kansas and Texas ranked 1-2 in the latest college basketball polls, it is no surprise at all to see the Big 12 rated near the top of the conference ranks.

DonBest.com -

Georgetown's early schedule has included just two lined games among its first six contests.  Now the No. 15 Hoyas will face their toughest challenge of the season when they take on the No. 22 Butler Bulldogs at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night in the Jimmy V Classic.  The Bulldogs are paced by sophomore Gordon Hayward who leads the squad with 15.4 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.

Willie Bee - With the Texas football team taking a lot of the spotlight right now with its scheduled trip to meet Alabama for the BCS Championship, it's easy to forget about the Longhorns on the basketball court.  UT is No. 2 in the nation as well in the latest college hoops rankings, and being paced on the scoreboard by Damion James and has opened the season with six consecutive double-digit wins.

DonBest.com - We could be watching a Final Four preview Saturday afternoon when the North Carolina Tar Heels visit the Kentucky Wildcats. Kentucky is 5-0 at home while UNC won at Ohio State.

Chance Harper - The 2009-10 season is in full swing and while the Kansas Jayhawks that remain atop the polls, it's the Syracuse Orange making headlines.

statfox.com - Penn State gave the Big Ten a lead in this year's challenge with the ACC on Monday when the Nittany Lions topped Virginia.  Can the rest of the Big Ten hold up on Tuesday?

DonBest.com - Is it the Final Four already?  No, but it seems that way with Michigan State traveling to Chapel Hill to meet North Carolina this week as part of the Big Ten-ACC Challenge.  Believe it or not, Tuesday's game should be a better overall contest than when the Tar Heels took the Spartans down by 17 in last April's title game in Detroit.  Tip time from the Dean Smith Center is 9:00 p.m. Eastern on ESPN.

Willie Bee - Eric Reveno and the Portland Pilots will try to make it a clean sweep as underdogs in the 76 Classic on Sunday when they meet No. 8 West Virginia.

DonBest.com - The loss to Syracuse a week ago dropped North Carolina from the Top 10 in both polls, and Sunday's home tilt against Nevada is just the warm-up for a very tough week ahead.  Tar Heels coach Roy Williams will have to keep his squad focused on the Wolf Pack as UNC looks to gain some momentum before hosting the Michigan State Spartans next Tuesday and then traveling to meet the Kentucky Wildcats on Dec 5.

Chance Harper - A pair of ranked schools square off Thanksgiving night in Anaheim at the 76 Classic when Tubby Smith's Minnesota Golden Gophers take on Brad Stevens and the Butler Bulldogs.  Both teams enter the game with 3-0 records and both have high hopes on the season.  The Golden Gophers are part of an extremely deep Big Ten this season that could see seven schools make it to the NCAA Tournament next spring.

Chance Harper - Maryland is the only ranked team in this year's EA Sports Maui Invitational, but that doesn't mean the quality of play on the court or opportunities at the window will be lessened.  The tournament gets underway on Monday when the Gonzaga Bulldogs carry 10 ½-point chalk into their opening round match with the Colorado Buffalows. Host Chaminade draws the Terps later in the day as part of the eight-team field.

Willie Bee - Big East meets SEC on Sunday night when the No. 5 Villanova Wildcats take on the Mississippi Rebels in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Championship on ESPN2.

DonBest.com - After three of the top-6 schools struggled on Thursday before pulling out victories, it looks as if the college hoops season is in midseason form when upsets become something of the norm.  This weekend finds two tournaments filling the slate with eight schools in Puerto Rico finishing off action that started on Thursday and eight more squads in the Virgin Islands to start the Paradise Jam on Friday.

Chance Harper - Thursday night's doubleheader from Madison Square Garden almost has that March feel with four ranked schools meeting in the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament.  Fresh off career wins No. 800 and 801, Jim Boeheim leads the Syracuse Orange against the California Golden Bears in the opener on ESPN2.  Roy Williams and the North Carolina Tar Heels take to the hardwood next against the Ohio State Buckeyes.

DonBest.com - Cal and Syracuse tip theThursday evening on ESPN2 followed by a Big Ten, ACC battle in the second game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the North Carolina Tar Heels.

DonBest.com - When we last saw these two schools on the same court, it was the 2008 NCAA Championship game when Kansas and Memphis went to overtime.

Willie Bee - Bill Self and the Kansas Jayhawks are big favorites to win the NCAA, and I was more than happy to fork over some of my hard-earned money to see them do it.

Chance Harper - The college basketball season begins Monday night with North Carolina getting an early start on defending their title from last season when they meet Florida International in the 2K Sports Classic.  Roy Williams lost the core of his Tar Heels club from last season, including Tyler Hansbrough, but still sit high in the preseason rankings as they get underway against Isiah Thomas' Golden Panthers.

Chance Harper - Holler all you want, Rick Barnes, but everyone in the Big 12 - even your talented Texas Longhorns - will be chasing the Kansas Jayhawks this season.

Chance Harper - With a solid backcourt and four starters returning, Mike Montgomery and the California Golden Bears will be the team to beat in what should be a down year for the Pac-10.

Chance Harper - Roy Williams and North Carolina have their work cut out for them if the Tar Heels are going to defend their 2008-09 NCAA Championsip.

Chance Harper - New season, same story.  Once again find the North Carolina Tar Heels and Duke Blue Devils at the very top of the ACC in what could be a down campaign for the vaunted hoops conference.

Chance Harper - The fallout from John Calipari's move to Kentucky will impact the Big 12 race next year as  Kansas enters the season not only as the favorites to win the conference, but also strong favorites to win it all.

Chance Harper - Now that we know who is and who isn't returning to college hardwood floors for the 2009-10 run to the Final Four, we can start to analyze the futures with a keener eye.

Chance Harper - College basketball might be out of sight, out of mind for many right now, but that doesn't mean there isn't any news coming from campuses that can be utilized by bettors looking to gain an early edge on next season.  On the heels of their 2008-09 National Championship, Roy Williams and North Carolina are rebuilding minus several stars while the Davidson Wildcats begin life without the talented Stephen Curry.

Bread - Bread takes a stroll down memory lane looking back on the recently completed college basketball season.  Though it often beat him up badly at the window, it hurt so good.

Chance Harper - And so we're right back where we started from as the North Carolina Tar Heels, the preseason pick for No. 1 in the nation, finished the season just where they started it following their 89-72 win in the title game over Michigan State on Monday. Though the public got the better of the books in the championship contest, the overall betting odds during the 2008-2009 college basketball season were as sharp as ever.

Chance Harper - After the Tar Heels dismantled the Spartans here at Ford Field last December, not many expected Michigan State to get a rematch in tonight's NCAA Championship game.  But Tom Izzo's crew has made one helluva' run through the tournament to earn a second chance at Roy Williams and No. 1 seed North Carolina. Just 40 minutes remain in the college hoops season, with tonight's tip slated for 9:21 (ET) on CBS.

Chance Harper - March Madness peaks this weekend in Detroit with the last quartet of schools set for Saturday battle to determing Monday's NCAA Championship matchup.  Jeff Adrien and the UConn Huskies get the ball bouncing in the first game of the Final Four lineup on CBS when they take on Tom Izzo's Michigan St. Spartans.  The nightcap finds Tyler Hansbrough and the North Carolina Tar Heels hoping to bounce the Villanova Wildcats.

Jim Feist - Next stop: Detroit.  The 2009 Final Four will commence this Saturday at Ford Field in Motown.  Can the Spartans and Wildcats kick the Huskies and Tar Heels to the curb?

Chance Harper - Louisville and Pittsburgh didn't make it through the weekend as the No. 1 seeds from the Big East were ousted by Michigan State and Villanova, sending the Spartans and Wildacats to the Final Four.

Chance Harper - Whether Oklahoma wins or not today when they face North Carolina in the Elite Eight, Sooners super soph Blake Griffin is still going to be picked No. 1 in the NBA draft this summer. Still, adding an NCAA Final Four to his resume sure could not hurt.  Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson and the top-seeded Tar Heels stand in Griffin's way down South in Memphis, with CBS set to air this Elite Eight matchup at 5:00 p.m. (ET) from the FedEx Forum.

Chance Harper - Will the Price be right for the Huskies in tomorrow's Elite Eight contest, or will the Tigers give Jim Calhoun & Co. hell and send a No. 1 seed home for the first time in this year's Big Dance?  UConn and Missouri meet on the hardwood for the first time ever Saturday with a ticket to the Final Four going to the victor.  The Huskies' A.J. Price and Tigers guard J.T. Tiller present the game's most crucial matchup.

Chance Harper - There were very few surprises to emerge from the first weekend of March Madness with all four No. 1s, 2s and 3s advancing to the Sweet 16. The Big East set a new mark with five schools remaining in the hunt for the title, and the Arizona Wildcats are the only Pac-10 squad left in the mix as a No. 12 seed.  Josh Heytvelt and No. 4 Gonzaga look to take down Roy Williams' No. 1 seeded Tar Heels later this week.

Chance Harper - The Tigers' 40 Minutes of Hell style eventually wore Cornell down in the second half of  Missouri's 78-59 win on Friday.  Marquette, on the other hand, barely held on in the second half of their 58-57 win over Utah St., with the Golden Eagles winning the free throw battle by a 19-6 margin.  Now the two schools meet at Boise's Taco Bell Arena on Sunday to decide which team will advance to the Sweet 16.

Chance Harper - After both the Bruins and Wildcats survived scares in opening action of the NCAA Tournament, UCLA and Villanova (-2) now face off to decide which school makes the Sweet 16.  Seeded third in the East, 'Nova found themselves trailing by 10 at halftime to 14-seed American before turning it on in the second half for an 80-67 win. For No. 6 UCLA, it took surviving a last second shot by Virginia Commonwealth to stay alive.

Elihu Feustel - In Part I of 'If you have no soul,' successful bracket strategy for the SBR Bracket Contest was laid out.  With the brackets filled now, it's time to put that strategy to the test.

Jim Feist - The opening round of the men's NCAA Basketball Tournament provides some of sports most exciting moments pitting small schools against hardwood giants.

Chance Harper - While a lot of the public spend a good portion of today arguing at the water cooler about the tournament seedings, sharp handicappers know that what's done is done and there is no sense wasting time discussing what could've been.  The current field will be cut to a quarter its size by this time next week, and picking the survivors to make it to the Final Four is hot 'n heavy on everyone's mind.

Chance Harper - Friday the 13th is upon us, but there's not much freaky left to happen in the Big 12 Conference after Thursday's action.  Top-seeded and defending National Champions Kansas were stunned by Baylor while Oklahoma feel to their rivals from Oklahoma St.  That leaves the No. 15 Missouri Tigers as the only ranked team still in the hunt for the conference title when play resumes today at the Ford Center.

LT Profits Sports Group - Surprisingly, the most lightly regarded among the five, the Big Ten, is 55.1% ATS in the postseason the last five years while the other four have losing records.

Chance Harper - The ACC Tournament gets underway Thursday at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta boasting the best conference in the nation according to Ken Pomeroy's rankings.

Elihu Feustel - With next Sunday's bracket selections now less than a week away, it's time to start putting your nose to the grindstone and get a jump on a winning bracket strategy.

LT Profits Sports Group - College basketball totals are one of the easiest offerings to beat, and the oddsmakers have been slow to adjust for several team patterns. Welcome to the 70% Over Club.