3-20-25 SCP 1-1 Wednesday 3* LOYOLA WINNER! (PLUS 2 UNITS)
Well it’s nice to get our Worst Call of the season (Mt St Mary’s/American UNDER) out of the way early as American forgot to bring their Defense allowing Mt St Mary’s to shoot 58% from the floor, and drop 9 of 22 from 3, in a game that soared OVER the Total. Sometimes you are just plain WRONG. On the bright side, our 3* Loyola ML release came through as the Ramblers blew a 14 point 2nd half lead but held on to beat San Jose 73-70. Adding 2 Units on Wednesday brings our rolling 24 day record to 60-34 for PLUS 83 UNITS. The appetizers are done and it’s time for the Main Course as the BIG DANCE begins in earnest at 12:15 today. March Madness is tough to beat but we have put in the work and feel confident we can keep this nice run going. Let the games begin!
3* VERY STRONG – LOYOLA, Chicago -160 (73-70) WIN
1* SOLID – Mt St Mary’s/American UNDER 129.5 (83-72) LOSS
WRITEUP: 3-19-25: 3* VERY STRONG – LOYOLA, Chicago ML -160 (San Jose) – Tonight we have a NIT opener with the San Jose Spartans hosting the Loyola, Chicago Ramblers in a battle of two teams heading in opposite directions. The Ramblers come in HOT winning 8 of their last 10 while posting a record of 12-2 ATS over their last 14. They are also 7-3 on the road so they will not be intimidated by San Jose’s home court. Loyola can also play on the stop end as they rank 39th in Defensive Efficiency. The Ramblers had a Big Dance invite dead in their sights before falling 62-55 to a very good VCU squad in a hotly contested A 10 final. San Jose, on the other hand, comes limping into this one having won just 3 of their last 10. There is quite a discrepancy between the Power Rankings of these teams as Torvik has Loyola rated as the 62nd best team in the country, with San Jose all the way back at 190th. It is likely Loyola sits as just a 3.5 point favorite due to the fact that San Jose is 10-4 ATS at Home, but who are they playing? We like tough minded Loyola to take care of business tonight, and would normally just lay the -3.5, but these 1st round NIT games can be sketchy with Homer Refs so we will lay the fair -160 ML price.