The window is now open for reader predictions in round 4 of our Closest to the Pin Contest, featuring Maryland. Refer to our 2009-10 "Closest to the Pin" Contest post for contest rules and prizes. After three rounds, Pete holds first place with 10 cumulative points, followed by Andy ‘06 and MIKE with 6 points each.
So far this season, Nova has scored an average of 80.6 points while holding their opponents to 63.9 Maryland has scored an average of 75.3 points while holding their opponents to 59.1. The Cats are 7-0 while the Terps are 5-2. Noteworthy games played by Maryland so far include a win over Indiana (+12) and losses to Cincinnati (-12) and Wisconsin (-9). Nova is ranked #3 by AP, while Maryland is not ranked. Villanova has an RPI of 19 and an SOS of 154. Maryland has an RPI of 57 and an SOS of 73. We’ll post our pregame review and the Vegas spread and over/under shortly.
UPDATE: SUNDAY 7:40 PM (Game Time): The window is now closed. The Vegas Odd-Makers are calling this one close, with the spread widening from this morning to Nova (-2.5). The final over/under is 147 points. A total of 83 VUH posted picks for Round 4 (two predicting a Maryland victory). Collectively, the readers see Nova winning 77-70 (a margin of 7 points). The irrepressible BossHogHazzard, never one to follow the crowd and always true to his unbridled optimism regarding Nova basketball, is predicting a 103-52 Nova win. His prediction does not appear on this most recent version of the chart, below, given its reduced scale. Good luck to you all, and Go Cats!
