Update: January 11 (Game Results) With the Cat’s 66-79 loss to Syracuse, we congratulate seven VUHoops readers who took medals in this round. Gold Medal: Clarkkell (67-79), earning 7.5 points; Silver Medals: TK87 (67-80), DP5 (64-79), Loser Cruiser (67-78), and BZ34 (66-81) earning 4.5 points each; Bronze Medals: JMac726 (68-77) and Old School (69-80), earning 1.5 points each. Our updated leader board is provided below.

VUHoops vs. Vegas: Based on the average predicted scores of the VUHoops Crowd and the posted Vegas line, we would have had a DOUBLE-LOSS by betting Villanova +9.5 (LOSS) and the Over (LOSS). The details follow. With the double-loss, we fall to -$400 for the season.

Leader Board

Update: January 11 (Game Time) A total of 67 VUHoops readers posted predictions, with 44 (66%) picking the Orange to win. As a group, the readers see ‘Nova losing by a score of 70-79 (a margin of -9.0 points and implied over/under of 149). The Vegas odds makers pick Syracuse to win by 9.5 and set the over/under at 145.0 points, implying a final score of 68-77.

Scatter Plot of Predicted Scores

Window Opening (Monday, January 9, 6:00 PM) The window is now open for readers to post their predicted final scores for ‘Nova’s big game against #1 Syracuse on Wednesday at 7:00 PM (Wells Fargo Center, ESPN2) in our Closest to the Pin Contest. Scott0220 remains alone are in first place with 10.0 points. Click here to see our updated leader board.

Special Note: As the second of four rivalry games, this is a great time to make a move on the leader board as points increase by 50% in this round: Bulls-eye = 15 pts; Gold (non-bulls-eye) =7.5 pts; Silver = 4.5 pts; Bronze = 1.5 pts

Villanova (8-8, 1-3) is unranked in the AP and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls but is ranked #86 by Kenpom.com. The Cats have a RPI of 108, a SOS of 25, and score an average of 72.8 PPG while giving up an average of 68.8 PPG.

Syracuse (17-0, 4-0) is ranked #1 in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls, but is ranked #4 by Kenpom.com. The Orange have an RPI of 1, a SOS of 1, and are scoring an average of 80.6 PPG while giving up an average of 60.2 PPG. Their seventeen victories have come as follows (games listed chronologically):

Be sure to check out Brian’s game preview on Tuesday.

When posting predictions, please:

• Use a consistent handle / ID so that we can keep an accurate running leader board over the course of the season. Obviously, score predictions posted by anonymous readers cannot be accepted.
• List your predicted score for Villanova first, followed by the score for the opponent (e.g., Cats 100, Orange 75)