Editor’s Note: For a little more than three years now, Joe has been publishing picks here and back at All Things NIT, our former site. Overall, the results have been positive, with an average return on investment, per pick, of 0.4% when weighting by confidence (1 for low, 2 for medium, 3 for high) across 1,989 published picks, not including bets that remain pending, like futures. 0.4% doesn’t sound amazing, but relative to what else you get on the internet?
Use these picks at your own risk. Only you are responsible for any money you lose, and you should not bet more than you can afford to lose. If you have a gambling problem, get help.
Lines for these come from the Vegas consensus or the closest approximation available at the time picks are written, unless otherwise noted. KenPom is heavily used in making college basketball picks.
Saint Mary’s @ San Francisco
San Francisco tried to slow Gonzaga down. It didn’t work. If they use a similar approach here—the approach being to get a team off its comfortable pace—they’ll be looking to speed Saint Mary’s up. Even if that isn’t the effort, our numbers probably underestimate the speed with which the Dons will play. We’ll see, but look for a possession count in the upper half of the 60’s.
Pick: Over 130 (-110). Low confidence.
