Monday Night NCAA Basketball: Kansas @ Texas, Villanova @ West Virginia Picks

Monday has some great match-ups against possible #1 seeds in both Top 25 showdowns. In the Big 12 you have Kansas on the road against Texas, and the Longhorns are looking to get back on that high that had them at #1 in the country earlier this year. Kansas, well, they are looking to hold down that #1 spot for longer than a day. In the Big East, where there always seems to be a Top 25 match-up going down, the Villanova Wildcats, fresh off a double digit loss to Georgetown, go to West Virginia to play a hot and talented Mountaineers club. Monday is great in College Hoops!

Kansas Jayhawks (-1.5) @ Texas Longhorns (9:00pm ET, 2-8): Kansas is back at number 1 and while that has been a good reason to go against a team this year, I don’t think the Jayhawks’ second tour of duty atop the rankings will be as tough to deal with. The Longhorns are tough up front, sure, and they are talented, no doubt, but they have also lost 4 of their last 6 games after needing overtime to beat Texas A&M back on January 16th. This weekend’s loss @ Oklahoma ended a pretty tough stretch for them, well, this game against the Jayhawks might end that stretch.

All I know is Kansas has the best closer in the nation, Mr. Collins – one of the best college bigs around in Cole Aldrich, and plenty of top level talent to fill out the roster. They will have a better mindset at #1 this time around, and I think that makes the difference against the struggling Horns.

Villanova Wildcats @ West Virginia Mountaineers (-4.5) (7:00pm ET, 2-8): The Wildcats had a tough go of it against the Georgetown Hoyas this week, but that’s not why I’m going against the soon to be “former” number two team in the country. Nope. I have to take the Mountaineers because, honestly, the Wildcats haven’t impressed me much on the road, and that seems to mean a heck of a lot more than people want to give credit. 60% of the public bet is coming in on the Wildcats, but I think that’s the wrong way to go.

The Mountaineers are dominating lately, riding a 6 game winning streak that includes big time performances against Pittsburgh, Louisville, and Ohio State. Those were all home games, but the Mountaineers have done work on the road as well, they smashed Depaul and St. Johns in two away games. but this game is at home, and they are even more dominant there, having lost just once at home all season long, a 1 point loss to Syracuse. Take the lesser ranked favorite here!