Saturday NCAA Basketball Picks: Syracuse, Tennessee, North Carolina

Syracuse Orange (+4.5) @ West Virginia Mountaineers: The Syracuse Orange are one of the biggest surprises of the young NCAA Basketball season. After falling to a sub-division school in the pre-season, some thought the Orange wouldn’t have much fight this season. Well, they’ve only lost one game since, and they are getting production from multiple sources. West Virginia plays hard, out-boarding just about every team they’ve faced all season long, but I think they will be in trouble against the plethora of shooters for Syracuse. Seven guys average more than 8 points per game, and their rotation is 10 players deep. They will match any opponents energy. I like them to win outright on the road.

Mississippi Rebels (+7.5) @ Tennessee Volunteers: I like how Tennessee has responded to the trouble their teammates got in a few weeks back, but I wonder how long they can continue to play minus some very important pieces. And there are some key players gone, none more important than guard Tylers Smith. Smith averaged more minutes than anyone on the team, is still 3rd on the team in assists despite playing 3 fewer games than anyone else. He leads the team in FG% and is second in points per game, and his athletic ability and aggressiveness will eventually be missed. Tennessee is undefeated at home this season, but on the road or in a neutral stadium, the Rebels are 5-2, and they’ve played tough. They can really score, and I think they put some pressure on the Vols at home.

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (+7.5) @ North Carolina Tar Heels: This is a tough one for me, being a Heels fan, as I am – but I like the size and strength the Jackets have up front, and if you can limit the Heels opportunities down low, and make them a guard centric offense, I think you can get to the root of their struggles lately. Carolina is very young and inexperienced in the back-court, especially off the bench. Now the bigs really struggled against Clemson, and I don’t expect Deon Thompson and Ed Davis to go 4-22 combined ever again, but Gani Lawal and Derrick Favors can compete hard with the Heels, and I think they, at the very least, keep this one close in Carolina. The Jackets seem to play up to the top level of opponents, and I think they do it again.