NCAA Basketball Wednesday Night: Big East Free Picks

Pittsburgh Panthers (+1) @ Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6:00pm ET, 2-24 – ESPN2)

Notre Dame has beaten Pittsburgh once since 2003. They play a tougher and more complete brand of basketball instead of relying on the pure chance that they can outscore another team. I know this is a HUGE game for Notre Dame and it is at home for the Irish, and Pittsburgh is only 6-5 on the road or at a neutral site so far this year – but I still can’t put money on Notre Dame favored by a point.

Listen, Pitt is going to be a huge public favorite in this one, and with Notre Dame fighting for their Big Dance lives, sitting 6-8 in Big East play, and playing at home where they are 15-3 so far this season (compared to 1-6 on the road), the Irish might not be a bad bet. But in a close one, a toss up, I have to pick a Pittsburgh team that is easily the better team. They allow 11 fewer points per game than Notre Dame – that says something to me.

South Florida Bulls (+13) @ Villanova Wildcats (8) (9:00pm ET, 2-24)

Villanova can’t lose three straight, can they? They’ve fallen to 8th after spending the last few weeks in the Top 3, but a home loss to South Florida would make it 3 Ls in a row. I don’t see it happening, but it certainly could. The Bulls are legit, don’t get their unranked-ness and their 16-10 record confuse you. This is a team that plays lots of close games and beats good teams. They beat Georgetown and Pitt in back to back games earlier this season, and they seem to step up against better opponents.

There’s no way Villanova comes in taking South Florida lightly, and you know the Wildcats will be playing at their best to stop this current losing streak, but South Florida doesn’t lose many games by double digits. They’ve struggled lately, dropping 3 of their last 4 and losing 2 by 11 or more points – but they are better than that, and you can bet they’ll come out to fight at Villanova. 13 is a lot of points to give a pretty good college basketball team, especially why you are struggling. I like South Florida here, I imagine they’ll flirt with an upset.