College Hoops Picks - November 29, 2022

At a certain point, I'm going to run into an absolute buzzsaw and come crashing back down to earth. Until then, I'm going to keep trusting the process and firing away, The Tuesday slate has a solid helping of ranked teams in action as we get closer to conference play and consistently important matchups. 2022 CBB Record: 12-2

I hate taking big favorites. It's outside of my wheelhouse, for the most part - proceed with caution here. I'll probably only play a half unit on this myself. That being said, Louisville stinks out loud. They're winless in six games, seven if you count their scrimmage loss to Lenoir-Rhyne. It's pathetic. They scored 38 points against Texas Tech. They lost by 26 to Arkansas. They got smoked by Cincinnati. They stink.

They're taking on Maryland in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Quick aside, whenever I see Maryland in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, I briefly question what conference they're in. They should be in the ACC. It just feels right. Great uniforms too.

The Terrapins come into this one ranked in the top 25 by KenPom with a few quality wins on the schedule. They haven't lost, convincingly beating quality opponents in Saint Louis and Miami. They're playing good basketball, they're fully healthy, and their opponent is a joke. It's a road game, but it's hard to imagine the Louisville crowd will be rowdy for this one. Maryland -12.0

I kinda like UMass -2.0 tomorrow as well, but probably won't be playing it. Keyshawn Bryant has been out with illness for South Florida and is a key contributor; he's a game-time decision and hasn't played since November 14. I wonder what illness he has. I'm gonna DM him. Is that a HIPAA violation? Am I allowed to ask? Jamir Chaplin is also a game-time decision as he returns from a concussion. If neither of those two plays, I'd roll with the Minutemen. Too early to say, so I won't touch it as of Monday night.

Lastly, I'll go back to the under in Wichita. Missouri enters the game against the Shockers without having lost this season, averaging a tick over 93 points per game. This has the potential to be a loss by a massive amount, but I'll stick to my guns. Missouri hasn't played any real teams yet this season. Their best win this season is against Penn (156 on KenPom). They've coasted on SEC athleticism. Wichita won't allow the same easy look as a Houston Baptist or Lindenwood. At home, they should be able to slow the game down and force the Tigers into contested jumpers.

The Shockers also don't score particularly well themselves, scoring just 65 a game despite being the more talented team in most of their games thus far. Just one of their games this season has made it to 144, an 85-71 win over Tarleton State. Unless both teams are magically hitting all their jumpers, I see this one being played in the 60s. Missouri/Wichita State under 144.0