CNOTES 2024 - 2025 COLLEGE BASKETBALL NEWS-BEST BETS-OPINIONS THRU THE CHAMPIONSHIP !

[CNOTES 3,265]

Friday, March 14​

Game	Time(ET)	Pick	Units
ORE at MSU	12:00 PM	MSU -6.0 U 142.0	+500 +500
KENN at LIB	12:30 PM	LIB -7.0	+500
MISS at AUB	01:00 PM	AUB -13.0	+500
GRAM at ALST	02:00 PM	GRAM +2.5	+500
SLU at L-IL	02:00 PM	L-IL -1.0	+500
WIS at UCLA	02:30 PM	WIS -1.5	+500
MTU at JVST	03:00 PM	JVST -1.5	+500
FAU at TULN	03:30 PM	TULN +3.0 O 147.0	+500 +500
TEX at TENN	03:30 PM	TEX +10.0	+500
GW at GMU	05:00 PM	GMU -3.5 U 129.5	+500 +500
TOL at AKR	05:00 PM	AKR -8.5 O 163.0	+500 +500
MORG at NORF	06:00 PM	MORG +11.5 O 154.5	+500 +500
IONA at QUIN	06:00 PM	IONA +4.5 O 143.5	+500 +500
ILL at MD	06:30 PM	MD -1.5 U 156.5	+500 +500

 

[CNOTES 3,265]

BYU at HOU	07:00 PM	BYU +7.5	+500
MIZZ at FLA	07:00 PM	O 162.0	+500
JOES at DAY	07:30 PM	DAY -1.5 U 141.5	+500 +500
KENT at M-OH	07:30 PM	M-OH +4.0 O 144.0	+500 +500
COOK at JKST	08:30 PM	JKST -3.5	+500
MSM at MW	08:30 PM	U 124.0	+500
NCCU at SCST	08:30 PM	SCST -7.5	+500
UCSB at UCSD	09:00 PM	UCSD -11.5	+500
CONN at CREI	09:00 PM	CONN -4.0	+500
PUR at MICH	09:00 PM	PUR -2.5	+500
SEA at UVU	09:00 PM	UVU -3.0	+500
CLEM at LOU	09:30 PM	CLEM -2.0	+500
ARIZ at TTU	09:30 PM	TTU -2.0 O 152.5	+500 +500
ECU at UAB	09:30 PM	UAB -5.5	+500
UK at ALA	09:30 PM	ALA -7.0	+500
BSU at UNM	09:30 PM	BSU +1.0	+500
CP at UCI	11:30 PM	CP +11.0	+500
CBU at GC	11:30 PM	GC -8.0 O 141.0	+500 +500

 

[CNOTES 3,265]

NCAA COLLEGE HOOPS BEST BETS !

03/14/2025.................22 - 10 - 1.................68.75%...................+ 55,00
03/13/2025.................15 - 14 - 0.................51.72%....................- 2.00
03/12/2025.................16 - 18 - 0.................47.05%....................- 19.00
03/11/2025.................15 - 15 - 0..................50.00%....................- 7,50
03/10/2025.................12 - 5 - 0....................70.58%....................+ 32.50
03/09/2025.................20 - 20 - 1.................50.00%.....................- 10.00
03/08/2025.................16 - 19 - 0.................45.71%.....................- 24.50
03/07/2025.................15 - 13 - 1.................53.57%.....................+ 3.50
03/06/2025.................18 - 16 - 2.................52.94%......................+ 2.00
03/05/2025....................7 - 8 - 0.................46.66%......................- 9.00
03/04/2025..................5 - 10 - 0.................33.33%.....................- 30.00
03/03/2025....................3 - 9 - 0.................25.00%......................- 34.50
03/02/2025....................4 - 5 - 0.................44.44%......................- 7.50
03/01/2025.................34 - 25 - 0.................57.62%......................+ 32.50

TOTALS:...................202 - 187 - 2.................51.92%......................- 18.50

 

[CNOTES 3,265]

Saturday’s 6-pack:
According to ESPN’s Bracketology, these are last six teams in Field of 68:
63) West Virginia
64) Vanderbilt
65) San Diego State
66) Xavier
67) Boise State
68) North Carolina

Quote of the Day
“We went 30-4 against the ACC. Put their high-end teams in our league, and they’re in a very different place. You do that with the Big 12, they’re in a very different place.”
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, campaigning for his league’s teams to get into the NCAA’s

Saturday’s quiz
Bruce Pearl has been Auburn’s basketball coach for 11 years; what other SEC team has he coached?

Friday’s quiz
Last time the Jets played in a playoff game, Mark Sanchez was their quarterback.

Thursday’s quiz
Toronto Blue Jays won back/back World Series in 1992/1993; Cito Gaston was their manager.

******************************************

Saturday’s Den: Wrapping up a Friday full of basketball…….​

Lot of conference tournaments going on; here is what we know:

— SEC
Alabama 99, Kentucky 70
Crimson Tide outscored 54-35 in second half.
Alabama had three subs score in double figures
Crimson Tide is shooting 59.9% inside the arc (#3)

Auburn 62, Ole Miss 57
Fewest points Auburn has scored since January 25 vs Tennessee
Game was tied with 6:26 left; then Auburn went on a 10-1 run.
Teams shot a combined 10-44 on the arc.

Saturday’s semi-finals:
Auburn-Tennessee…….Florida-Alabama

— Big X
Arizona 86, Texas Tech 80
Caleb Love scored 27 points for Arizona.
Wildcats shot 8-16 on the arc, scored 1.26 points/possession.
Texas Tech’s best player was sick, barfing during timeouts.

Saturday’s final: Arizona-Houston

— ACC
Duke 74, North Carolina 71
Duke star Flagg didn’t play, is done for the weekend.
Duke led 45-24 at halftime.
Teams combined to shoot 8-39 on the arc.
Blue Devils are 26-1 since Thanksgiving.

Louisville 76, Clemson 73
Cardinals led 69-54 with 3:24 left, held on for dear life.
Lousiville’s wins last two nights were by 2-3 points.
Cardinals have won 11 games in a row.
Loss snaps Clemson’s nine-game winning streak.

Duke-Louisville is Saturday’s ACC final

— Big East
St John’s 79, Marquette 63
6-9 Ejiofor scored 33 points, had nine rebounds.
Marquette led 24-9 early on, 37-35 at halftime.
Marquette is 5-7 in its last 12 games.
St John’s is in Big East final for first time in 25 years.

Creighton 71, UConn 62
Bluejays had only 4 turnovers, scored 1.27 points/possession.
Creighton was 13-18 on foul line, UConn 2-4
Creighton is shooting 60.6% inside arc (#1 in country)

St John’s-Creighton is the Big East final Saturday

— Big 18
All four games Friday were decided by 10+ points.
Wisconsin 86, UCLA 70
Badgers shot 19-32 on arc, 12-17 in first half.
UCLA split its last eight games.

Saturday’s semi-finals:
Wisconsin-Michigan State
Michigan-Maryland

— Mountain West
Boise State 72, New Mexico 69
#1-seed New Mexico led 34-28 at halftime.
Boise State shot 64% inside the arc.
Broncos won 11 of their last 13 games.

Saturday’s final is Boise State-Colorado State

— Big West
Cal-San Diego 69, Cal-Santa Barbara 51
Gauchos led 27-26 at halftime.
Cal-San Diego shot 62.5% inside the arc.
Tritons have won their last 14 games.

Saturday’s final is Cal-San Diego/Cal-Irvine.

— Famous birthdays, March 15th:
Judd Hirsch, 90
Mike Kruczek, 72
Clay Matthews, 69
Stump Mitchell, 66
Harold Baines, 66
Terry Cummings, 64
Eva Longoria, 50
Kevin Youkilis, 46
Tavon Austin, 35
Nick Ahmed, 35
Taylor Heinicke, 32
Matt Gay, 31

— American
Memphis 83, Wichita State 80
Wichita led 20-10 early in the game.
PJ Haggerty scored 42 points, shot 16-23 inside arc.
Tigers have won six in row, 14 of last 15 games.
Bubble teams all over America are rooting for Memphis; if they lose in this tournament, whoever wins AAC tournament would be a bid stealer.

Saturday’s semi-finals:
Memphis-Tulane…….North Texas-UAB

— MAC
Miami OH 72, Kent State 64
Kent State led by a hoop with 4:57 left to play.
Golden Flashes were only 11-21 on the foul line.
Miami is 19-4 in its last 23 games.

Saturday’s final is #1-seed Akron vs Miami.

— Atlantic 15
St Joe’s 73, Dayton 68 OT
Dayton led by 4 with 0:18 left in regulation.
St Joe’s was 20-28 on foul line, Flyers 7-11.
Hawks have won seven of their last eight games.

Saturday’s semi-finals: Saint Louis-VCU…….St Joe’s-George Mason

— Conference USA
Jacksonville State 70, Middle Tennessee 68
Middle Tennessee played a 2pm game, after playing a 2OT game Thursday nite
Blue Raiders shot 11-24 on arc, but were only 9-17 on foul line.
Jax State senior G Pierre played all 40:00, scored 19 points.

Saturday’s final: #1-seed Liberty vs Jacksonville State

— WAC
Grand Canyon 75, Cal Baptist 66
Grand Canyon led 25-16 at half; 2nd half had a faster pace.
Grand Canyon is trying to win WAC tourney for third year in a row.
Antelopes have won eight of their last nine games.

Saturday’s final: Utah Valley-Grand Canyon

— Metro Atlantic
Iona 81, Quinnipiac 73
Iona shot 59.2% inside arc, upsets top-seeded Quinnipiac
Iona has been in six of last eight NCAA tournaments.
Quinnipiac shot 9-29 on arc; for year, they’re shooting 29.8% on arc (#346)

Saturday’s final: Iona-Mount St Mary’s

 

[Udog 3,450]

NCAAB
Armadillo's Write-Up

Saturday, March 15

5 of Saturday’s best college basketball games:

SEC Tournament (@ Nashville)
Tennessee vs Auburn (-4.5)
Tennessee (26-6, 13-6)
KenPom rating: 5
Tempo: 346
Experience: 14
Continuity: 159
Tennessee won nine of its last 11 games.
Vols played seven guys 16:00+ in Friday’s 83-72 win.
Tennessee has the #1 eFG% defense in country.
Vols are #20 team in country on offensive boards.
Since 2018, Tennessee is 10-5 in SEC tournaments.

Auburn (28-4, 16-3)
KenPom rating: 2
Tempo: 147
Experience: 25
Continuity: 40
Auburn lost two of its last three games.
Tigers played three guys 31:00+ yesterday.
Auburn won SEC tourney 2 of last 4 times they were in it.
Tigers are shooting 56.3% inside arc (#30)
Auburn has #12 eFG% defense in country.


Auburn nipped Tennessee 53-51 at home January 25.
Auburn outscored the Vols 6-0 over the final 2:07 of play.
Teams split the last six series games.


Big X tournament (@ Kansas City)
Houston (-7.5) vs Arizona
Houston (29-4, 21-1)
KenPom rating: 3
Tempo: 360
Experience: 41
Continuity: 8
Houston won 12 in row, 25 of last 26 games.
Cougars led 41-20 at half, had stress-free win Friday.
Houston has #3 eFG% defense in country.
Cougars are forcing turnovers 21.8% of time (#14)
Houston is shooting 39.8% on the arc (#4)

Arizona (22-11, 16-6)
KenPom rating: 14
Tempo: 56
Experience: 30
Continuity: 150
Arizona split its last ten games overall.
Wildcats scored 88-86 points winning the last two days.
Arizona played two starters 32:00+ Friday.
Wildcats are #16 team in country on offensive boards.
Arizona has #34 eFG% defense in country.


Houston beat Arizona 62-58 in Tucson February 15th.
Arizona led by 7 with 9:10 left in the game.


Big East tournament (@ Madison Square Garden)
Creighton @ St John’s (-6.5)
Creighton (24-9, 17-5)
KenPom rating: 36
Tempo: 193
Experience: 37
Continuity: 88
Creighton won six of its last seven games.
Bluejays played 3 starters 36:00+ Friday; 4 starters 35:00+ Thursday
Creighton is shooting 60.6% inside arc (#1)
Bluejays have #19 eFG% defense in country.
Creighton gets 37.9% of its points on 3’s (#42)


St John’s (29-4, 20-2)
KenPom rating: 13
Tempo: 49
Experience: 69
Continuity: 275
St John’s has won eight in row, 18 of last 19 games.
Red Storm won last two days, by 21-16 points.
St John’s has #18 eFG% defense in country.
Red Storm is forcing turnovers 21.9% of time (#12)
St John’s is #9 team in country on offensive boards.


Home teams won both series games this season.
Creighton won eight of last 10 meetings (2-2 last four)


ACC Tournament (@ Charlotte, NC)
Duke (-6.5) vs Louisville
Duke (30-3, 21-1)
KenPom rating: 1
Tempo: 256
Experience: 129
Continuity: 268
Duke lost star freshman Flagg (ankle) for the weekend.
Blue Devils have won 10 in row, 26 of last 27 games.
Duke led 45-24 at half Friday, wound up winning 74-71.
Blue Devils have #2 eFG% defense in country.
Duke is shooting 58.1% inside arc (#8)


Louisville (27-6, 20-2)
KenPom rating: 23
Tempo: 86
Experience: 5
Continuity: 352
Louisville has won 11 in row, 21 of last 22 games.
Cardinals won last two days, by 2-3 points.
Louisville led by 15 with 3:28 left Friday, won 76-73.
Cardinals wound up playing three starters 38:00+.
Louisville is shooting 57.3% inside the arc (#16)

Duke won 76-65 at Louisville December 8th.
Louisville led by 7 with 13:23 left in the game.
Duke won last five series games.


Big 18 tournament (@ Indianapolis)
Michigan vs Maryland (-4.5)
Michigan (23-9, 15-6)
KenPom rating: 27
Tempo: 63
Experience: 81
Continuity: 262
Michigan snapped its 3-game losing skid Friday.
Wolverines shot 68.8% inside arc, played only 2 starters more than 25:00
Michigan is turning ball over 19.9% of time (#330)
Wolverines are shooting 58.6% inside arc (#7)
Michigan has #24 eFG% defense in country.


Maryland (25-7, 15-6)
KenPom rating: 11
Tempo: 57
Experience: 98
Continuity: 237
Maryland has won four in row, 12 of last 14 games.
Last four games, Terps allowed 63.8 ppg.
Maryland led 57-31 at half, had stress-free win Friday.
Terps are forcing turnovers 20% of time (#42)
Maryland has #25 eFG% defense in country.


Maryland won 71-65 in Ann Arbor ten days ago.
Terrapins were +8 in turnovers (16-8) in that game.
Maryland won three of last four series games

 

[Udog 3,450]

NCAAB
Dunkel

Saturday, March 15

 

[Udog 3,450]

NCAAB

Saturday, March 15

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Trend Report
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[CNOTES 3,265]

Saturday, March 15​

Game	Time(ET)	Pick	Units
L-IL at VCU	01:00 PM	L-IL +9.5	+500
SCST at NORF	01:00 PM	NORF -1.0	+500
WIS at MSU	01:00 PM	MSU -2.5	+500
TENN at AUB	01:00 PM	TENN +5.0	+500
DART at COR	02:00 PM	COR -5.5 U 160.5	+500 +500
TULN at MEM	03:00 PM	MEM -8.5	+500
MICH at MD	03:30 PM	MICH +4.5 U 149.0	+500 +500
JOES at GMU	03:30 PM	JOES -1.0	+500
ALA at FLA	03:30 PM	ALA +3.0 O 177.0	+500 +500
UAB at UNT	05:30 PM	UAB +2.5	+500
ARIZ at HOU	06:00 PM	HOU -6.0 O 135.0	+500 +500
BSU at CSU	06:00 PM	CSU +1.5 O 138.0	+500 +500
CREI at SJU	06:30 PM	CREI +6.5 U 141.5	+500 +500
M-OH at AKR	07:30 PM	AKR -6.5 O 159.0	+500 +500
MSM at IONA	07:30 PM	IONA -4.5 O 131.5	+500 +500
LOU at DUKE	08:30 PM	LOU +6.0 U 147.5	+500 +500
JVST at LIB	08:30 PM	JVST +5.5	+500
ALST at JKST	09:30 PM	ALST +2.5 U 139.0	+500 +500
UCI at UCSD	09:30 PM	UCI +5.5 O 134.5	+500 +500
GC at UVU	11:30 PM	UVU +5.0 O 143.0	+500 +500

 

[CNOTES 3,265]

NCAA COLLEGE HOOPS BEST BETS !

03/15/2025.................12 - 11 - 1.................52.19%...................- 0.50
03/14/2025.................22 - 10 - 1.................68.75%...................+ 55.00
03/13/2025.................15 - 14 - 0.................51.72%....................- 2.00
03/12/2025.................16 - 18 - 0.................47.05%....................- 19.00
03/11/2025.................15 - 15 - 0..................50.00%....................- 7,50
03/10/2025.................12 - 5 - 0....................70.58%....................+ 32.50
03/09/2025.................20 - 20 - 1.................50.00%.....................- 10.00
03/08/2025.................16 - 19 - 0.................45.71%.....................- 24.50
03/07/2025.................15 - 13 - 1.................53.57%.....................+ 3.50
03/06/2025.................18 - 16 - 2.................52.94%......................+ 2.00
03/05/2025....................7 - 8 - 0.................46.66%......................- 9.00
03/04/2025..................5 - 10 - 0.................33.33%.....................- 30.00
03/03/2025....................3 - 9 - 0.................25.00%......................- 34.50
03/02/2025....................4 - 5 - 0.................44.44%......................- 7.50
03/01/2025.................34 - 25 - 0.................57.62%......................+ 32.50

TOTALS:...................214 - 198 - 3.................51.94%......................- 19.00

 

[CNOTES 3,265]

Sunday’s 6-pack:
Teams with the best 2-point shooting %age defense:
42.6%— Hofstra 15-18
43%— Cal-Irvine 28-5
43.4%— Duke 31-3
43.9%— Houston 30-4
44.1%— VCU 27-6
44.5%— George Mason 26-7

Quote of the Day
“I have to look at it like, hey, I can pitch at that velocity [from 2018]. It is less stress on your body. You get out there and you’re throwing pitches at 100 miles an hour for however many pitches it is — it’s a lot of stress. It’s something that I’m going to look into — using it when I need it, backing off and just trusting that I can locate the ball.”
Jacob deGrom

Sunday’s quiz
Which NBA team did Dick Vitale coach?

Saturday’s quiz
Bruce Pearl has been Auburn’s basketball coach for 11 years; he has also coached Tennessee in the SEC.

Friday’s quiz
Last time the Jets played in a playoff game, Mark Sanchez was their quarterback.

***************************************

Sunday’s Den: Thinking out loud as we wait for the brackets……..​

Have watched a ton of college basketball this week; the teams that win are really happy, the teams that don’t win tend to fire their coach……..

— UNLV fired Kevin Kruger, who was 77-65/40-34 in four years with the Rebels. UNLV hasn’t been in the NCAA’s since 2013, when UNLV alum Dave Rice was the coach, but only four of those 12 years were with Kruger as coach.

UNLV’s point guard/best player Dedan Thomas missed the last seven games this year, but UNLV went 7-3 in its last ten games, played hard until the end. I’m not sure who they’re going to hire to replace Kruger, but this seems like a bad decision.

Why? Because UNLV’s coach next year will be their 7th head coach in 16 years; this isn’t 1990 anymore, when the Rebels were like Gonzaga is now, a huge fish in a shallow pond (Big West wasn’t a great league and UNLV dominated it).

Plus, back when Jerry Tarkanian’s Rebels were awesome, UNLV had Las Vegas to itself; now there is an NHL team in Las Vegas, an NFL team in a domed stadium. UNLV basketball isn’t as big a deal as it used to be in Las Vegas. A coach goes 23-15 in league games over two seasons, not really sure why he got fired.

— Iowa fired Fran McCaffery, who was at Iowa for 15 years; he made the NCAA’s seven times, going 4-7 in NCAA Tournament games.

— Villanova fired Kyle Neptune, who was 54-47/31-29 in three years there, taking over for Jay Wright, who quit after leading the Wildcats to the Final Four three years ago.
Villanova made the NCAA’s 16 of last 17 years with Wright as coach; they haven’t made it back since he left. This will be an interesting hire; does Villanova spend a lot of NIL money????

— Minnesota fired coach Ben Johnson, who was 56-71/19-57 in four years- they went 19-15 last year, but the Big 18 is a really tough league. Gophers have finished over .500 in conference play once in the last 19 years; this isn’t a good job.

— How is Mark Schmidt still the coach at St Bonaventure? The guy wins at a place that is a few miles past the middle of nowhere.

Seriously, go on MapQuest and look up Olean, NY, then draw a 50-mile circle around it.
Lot of trees, maybe some hockey players, not many, if any basketball players, but Schmidt has won fairly consistently with the Bonnies- they don’t get on TV very often.

Over the last ten years, Bonnies are 111-65 in conference games; they’ve made the NCAA’s three times since 2012. Someone (you listening UNLV???) Should give the guy a chance.

— Movie of the Day:
The Ides of March– A campaign’s press secretary becomes involved in a scandal that threatens his candidate’s chance to get elected.
Excellent cast: George Clooney, Marisa Tomei, Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti…….I’ve become exhausted with all the political BS, but this is a very good movie.

— WR Cooper Kupp was the 69th player taken in the 2017 draft; he was awesome for eight years, the MVP of the Super Bowl three years ago when the Rams beat Cincinnati.

But the NFL is a business, and Kupp turns 32 in June. He’s missed 18 games the last three years; Seattle Seahawks signed him this week for three years, $45M.

In his eight years with the Rams, Kupp caught 634 passes, for 12.3 yards/catch, with 57 TDs. He went to college at Eastern Washington, so now he goes home to finish his career.

Kupp’s father and grandfather both played in the NFL; his dad played one game at QB for the Cardinals in 1991, his grandfather was an offensive lineman for 12 years, mostly with the Saints.

— Atlanta Falcons are keeping QB Kirk Cousins for now; they had to pay him $27.5M next fall whether they kept him or not, but now he is guaranteed another $10M in 2026.
You get the idea there is a battle of wills going on within the Falcons’ organization; they drafted Michael Penix with the 8th pick of the ’24 draft- he started three games and did pretty well last year, but not well enough for them to let Cousins walk.

— Backup QB news

Chiefs signed up Gardner Minshew to be the backup QB; Minshew has started 46 NFL games for four teams. Fans in Kansas City pray that they never get to see him play.

Steelers brought back Mason Rudolph to be their backup QB; they have zero idea who their starting QB will be this fall, but Rudolph is 8-4-1 as a Steeler backup over the years- he was 1-4 starting for Tennessee last season.

49ers gave former Patriots/Jaguars’ QB Mac Jones $7M to be their backup QB the next couple years. Jones was 18-24 in three years as a starter in Foxboro, replacing Tom Brady.

— It is odd that Russell Wilson/Aaron Rodgers are free agents; Wilson will be 37 in November; he is going to be on his fourth team in five years.
Rodgers tore his achilles in 2023; he’ll be 42 in December, will be on his third team in four years.

— Famous birthdays, March 16th:
Erik Estrada, 76
Kate Nelligan, 75
Joe DeLamielleure, 74
Sammy White, 71
Ozzie Newsome, 69
Rodney Peete, 59
Todd Heap, 45
Curtis Granderson, 44
Blake Griffin, 36
Tim Hardaway Jr, 33
Joel Embiid, 31
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 26

— Random bet for this baseball season:
Will any pitcher win more than 19.5 games?
Over last four years, only three pitchers have won 20+ games in a season.

— Two more baseball prop bets:

Will the Dodgers get the most regular season wins?
Yes -200/No +175

Will the White Sox get the most regular season losses?
Yes -200/No +175

— St John’s star Kadary Richmond had a triple-double vs Marquette March 8th; it was the first triple-double for a St John’s player since Ron Artest, in 1999.

— Next year, Delaware is bolting from the CAA to Conference USA, which is bad for basketball as they ramp up their football program.
UMass is going from the Atlantic 15 to the Mid-American Conference, which is good for their basketball program.

— UFL starts up in two weeks; an 8-team league with a 10-game regular season. Going to be a lot of stuff going on in two weeks; second weekend of the NCAA’s, first weekend of baseball, plus the NBA, NHL and UFL. Should be a lot of fun.