Drake vs. Western Kentucky Picks & Odds: 2008 NCAA Tournament
Drake -4.0 (-110)
Fri Mar 21 ’08 12:30p
We do not take favorites very often, but people still do not realize just how good the Dralke Bulldogs are, and we have no qualms laying this rather modest price vs. the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers this afternoon.
Drake is now 28-4 straight up and an amazing 21-7 against the spread, and besides a respectable six-point loss at St. Mary’s early in the season, their three losses inside the underrated Missouri Valley Conference were all by three points or less. In a conference dominated by teams that are great at home and bad on the road (see Southern Illinois, Creighton), the Bulldogs broke the mode by going 7-2 SU on the road in conference play, and they wrapped up the season with a 30-point thrashing of Illinois State in the MVC Championship Game. Drake’s average winning margin over the entire season was a nice +12.3 points per game.
Now Western Kentucky did go 26-6, they won their conference championship game by 10 points and they had an AMOV of +11.3 points. The major difference however was that there is no comparison between the Sun Belt Conference and the Missouri Valley. As a result, the Hilltoppers’ strength of schedule graded out to 142nd in the country based on RPI, while Drake had an SOS of 68.
Finally, Drake is ranked 20th in the Pomeroy Ratings while Western Kentucky is ranked 64, and we look for the Bulldogs to prove that disparity is not a fluke with another convincing win today.
CBB Free Pick: Drake -4
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