After a several week hiatus which saw the Locks reinvigorate its own gambling habit, ride a great wave of success through college bowl season and then come crashing back to earth via the NFL playoffs and NBA, we're getting back to our responsibilities. That's right, we're back to feed our picks to you and only you. And that is the way that it should be. It is time to make hay with college basketball. Lord knows we've done enough research over the past several weeks. Don't believe me? Well I now know enough about the Stetson Hatters, Bethune-Cookman and Carver Bible College to make Joe Lunardi blush. How is that for getting into the trenches?
College Basketball:
Clemson @ North Carolina - Line is UNC -5.5 - Carolina is an absolute mess right now. Without a single guard who can hit a jump shot, UNC's talented big men have nowhere to work down low. Harrison Barnes just has not adjusted to the college game and even in a down ACC, the Tar Heels often look out-of-sync. With that description, do you trust them to beat anyone by 6? Me neither. Take the Tigers and the 5.5 points. LOCK IT UP
Michigan @ Northwestern - Line is Northwestern -7 - The Wildcats do have a scrappy team and John Shurna can play ball - no debate here. However, they have yet to beat any really solid teams (sorry Iowa and Indiana) so we are yet again a bit surprised that a mediocre team would be giving so many points. While Michigan is riding a nice little four game losing streak - one should note that those included losses to now #2 Kansas and now #1 Ohio State. They held there own in both of those games. This team is starting to show glimpses (disregard the last blowout loss to Indiana) and there is talent on the Wolverines. We're betting they begin turning things around this evening. Take UM and the 7 points. LOCK IT UP
TCU @ BYU - Line is BYU -21 - It is not often that you are going to find the Locks advocating the laying of 21 points in a basketball game. However, BYU is one of the few teams - it might be the only one - that we trust implicitly in college basketball. These Mormons are for real and that isn't just because many of them are in their mid-20s. When it comes to back courts, the Cougars have one of the best in the country. Everyone knows about Jimmer but the other BYU guards can play ball too. Let's face it, unless this game is played on a football field, TCU will not be competitive. In Mormon country, Texas Christian will need more than a few prayers to be answered. Only Alan Stanwick goes to Provo looking for a big score. Take BYU and lay the points. LOCK IT UP
DePaul @ Marquette - Line is Marquette -17.5 - Road victories are very hard to come by in the Big East and that assumes you are a really good team. DePaul is one of the worst teams in all of power conference college basketball. Marquette is very good, very scrappy and very capable of pulling down DePaul's pants. Plus they are looking to avenge a heart-breaking loss at Louisville over the weekend. We just think this is a train wreck in waiting for the Blue Demons. Look to Marquette to roll just like they did back in the Dwayne Wade days. Lay the points. LOCK IT UP
Kentucky @ Alabama - Line is Kentucky -4.5 - This game violates the one rule that the Locks has come to hold most dear: don't back road favorites, period. So, we're half expecting the Crimson Tide to cover here. That said, common sense would argue otherwise. Kentucky is the much, much, much more talented team. Sure they are young and that gives coaches fits during the course of a 30 game season. However, it also leads to some pretty impressive outputs along the way. We're looking for one of those head-turning displays tonight against a Bama team that is 221st in the country in points per game and that has lost to the likes of St Peters at home. We love Kentucky here and we better because they are road favorites. Take Kentucky and lay the 4.5 points. LOCK IT UP
