Wednesday Basketball Picks: NBA and NCAA Games

I have three solid games catching my attention in the basketball world tonight. It all starts this morning when the South Florida Bulls continue their best NCAA Tournament team impersonation when they play the Georgetown Hoyas. South Florida certainly has some big wins on their resume, but an upset over the Hoyas would be a big step toward post season basketball. The NBA game sandwiched between my two big college games sees the surprising New Orleans Hornets against the up and coming Thunder. The Hornets success without Chris Paul in the line-up is what’s surprising, while the maturity increase in Oklahoma has seen the old Sonics see playoffs in their future. Finally the action ends with Louisville hosting Cincinnati tonight as part of the Big East tournament. Neither of these teams are ranked, but both could easily beat any good team in the Nation, and I’ve been saying all year, Louisville is a very good and very underrated basketball team. Here are my picks.

NBA Basketball

New Orleans Hornets @ Oklahoma City Thunder (3-10: 8:00 PM ET): There still isn’t a line for the Hornets game, but I don’t think New Orleans covers. I’ll take the Thunder if they’re favored by anything less than 8, and I assume they will be. Darren Collison and the Hornets have been very tough since Chris Paul went down with an injury, but I think Oklahoma’s stout defense will cause too many turnovers for the Hornets to stay in this one. They won’t allow the Hornets to run, and they’ll have some very tough athletic advantages in key match-ups. I’ll take the Thunder.

NCAA Basketball

South Florida Bulls (+7.5) @ Georgetown Hoyas (3-10: 12:00 PM ET – ESPN): This one will be a close one. The Hoyas won’t out-big the Bulls, as South Florida has size and athleticism to compete with anyone. The Hoyas look like they are back to full strength, and that should help them here – but in a close game against a good South Florida team, I can’t help but take those 7.5 points.

Cincinnati Bearcats @ Louisville Cardinals (-6.5) (3-10: 9:00 PM ET – ESPN): It’s the Big East, where every team can make it happen, but I see Louisville winning this one by double digits. They won by 8 last time out, and didn’t play lights out. They should have some nice confidence after swatting down the Syracuse Orange last time out. Cincinnati lost 3 of their last 4, and they needed a 1 point win over Rutgers last night to advance to this game. I like the favroites here!