N.I.T Final 4-Breeding The A10 Championship (Sequel)

The 2 N.I.T games tonight have the potential to produce a sequel of the Atlantic 10 championship... but with different a cast. Richmond and Temple both got knocked out in the 1st round of the NCAA tournament. Xavier was the bright spot, carrying the torch for the conference through a gauntlet of a seeding path (running through Minnesota, before a nail biting win then loss to Pitt, then Kansas State). Dayton and Rhode Island have been cruising through their post season, and I'm going to assume they keep it up in hopes that they face each other for the N.I.T championship. Both will be tested tonight as the Flyers face Ole Miss, and Rhode Island gets the Tar Heels.

Mississippi Rebels vs. Dayton Flyers

SEC basketball is not my forte, I usually tend to shy away from those games--especially within conference. I have a bit of a gauge on the Rebels as I followed them out of conference to start the season. They are in every game, and will be in it tonight against Dayton. Although Ole Miss thrives in transition, I think the unfamiliarity with the exceptional pace of the Flyers along with Dayton's bothersome press "D" will catch the Rebels off guard a bit to start, and Dayton is not the team you want to try to recover against. That slip up will give Dayton all that they need. The line opened for Ole Miss @ (-1.5), since it has moved to even.

Dayton (-1)

Rhode Island Rams vs. North Carolina Tarheels

UNC is hitting stride, going into two of the toughest home court venues and knocking off Mississippi State and UAB. Rhode Island is always under the radar and match up well with almost anyone in the country. They have a knack for getting up out of conference against powerhouses and they usually win, sometimes losing close games. This year in particular the Rams have been quite impressive and should have probably got into the NCAA tournament field-they went 0-3 against Temple this year, if they had won 1 of those 3 games, they probably would have been a tournament lock. Because of the traditional bias to UNC as well as their recent play, I am somewhat surprised that the line is even-I would have expected Rhode Island to be a dog. However, the Rams consistent play this year, and their ability to "giant-kill" leads me to believe they will win this game, maybe lose by a point.

Rhode Island (+1)

CIT FINAL: Pacific Tigers vs. Missouri State Bears

I don't know how many of you are familiar with the Big West Conference, but they contain some teams that can play some serious ball. The bracket buster games earlier this year heightened by attention to the conference as they cruised through them, beating up WAC teams as well as other reasonable conferences left and right. Pacific is arguably the best team in the Big West even though UCSB won the conference. I was surprised they advanced, beating one of the hottest mid-major teams in the country-Appalachian State, on the road. With that being said, this is a bad spot for them. Missouri State is a gem on their home court and have played lights out this year. I didn't buy into them at first because if you transition them from the previous year without looking at the potential changes closely-one wouldn't expect them to be this good. They are "this good", one of the top teams in the Missouri Valley. Shout Out to Rush and Rich The Factor- they got some of their ppl. playing for MO West Plains-with an intense home floor advantage. Missouri State is favored by 5. I would consider buying Pacific up to +7, but they could get hurt here. Im more comfortable taking the Bears.

Missouri State (-4)