Update: Game Results: With the Cat’s 72-61 victory vs. Cincinnati, we congratulate eight VU Hoops readers who took medals in this game. Gold Medals: Kittlesfan95 (70-62) and regred (69-61), earning 5 points each; Silver Medal: Pat '12 (72-65), earning 3 points; Bronze Medals: Lou '06 (68-60), REPRESENT804 (67-61), Clarkkell (73-65), Steph (72-66), and Kait’08 (71-65), earning 1 point 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 won betting Villanova to cover the spread and lost on the total points bet. The details follow. We remain +$400 for the season.
| VU Hoops | Vegas | Bet | Result | |
| Point Spread | 'Nova -6.0 | 'Nova -5.5 | 'Nova | WIN |
| Total Points | 146.0 | 138.0 | Over | LOSE |
LEADER BOARD AFTER 15 ROUNDS
| Reader | Points |
| Pat'12 | 13.5 |
| Joe | 12.5 |
| Nervous Nelly | 10.5 |
| TC'87 | 10.5 |
| chuck st.petersburg | 10.0 |
| Robertrise | 10.0 |
| TK87 | 9.5 |
| regred | 8.0 |
| Hugh Jass | 7.5 |
| Joey | 7.5 |
| Dj pizzle | 7.0 |
| mfc4293 | 7.0 |
| REPRESENT804 | 6.0 |
| Kittlesfan95 | 5.5 |
| Steph | 5.5 |
| Beardog | 5.0 |
| marty1029 | 5.0 |
| novafan95 | 5.0 |
| Two in the Pinkston | 5.0 |
| Stevie V | 4.5 |
| Andy'06 | 4.0 |
| doctor feelgoodes | 3.5 |
| Bill '77 | 3.0 |
| Ed'08 | 3.0 |
| Mark Anderson | 3.0 |
| miles'88 | 3.0 |
| mj | 3.0 |
| Novachamps22 | 3.0 |
| Schitzengigles | 3.0 |
| Tommyboy | 3.0 |
| Colt | 2.5 |
| Palsgraf | 2.5 |
| super nova | 2.5 |
| David '06 | 2.0 |
| cdtoffers | 1.5 |
| CMM | 1.5 |
| DP5 | 1.5 |
| EG'77 | 1.5 |
| Esto | 1.5 |
| FLM'33 | 1.5 |
| friartownmayor'13 | 1.5 |
| Mark A | 1.5 |
| mprams | 1.5 |
| Pete (Aliti 13) | 1.5 |
| Chicken Dinner | 1.0 |
| Clarkkell | 1.0 |
| DMC | 1.0 |
| hit the bid | 1.0 |
| Kait'08 | 1.0 |
| Lou '06 | 1.0 |
| Matt | 1.0 |
| Pena Power | 1.0 |
| Rich'09 | 1.0 |
| Simple'07 | 1.0 |
| Vinny'06 | 1.0 |
| bgunn | 0.5 |
| Brendan '10 | 0.5 |
| Christopher Coggins | 0.5 |
| David | 0.5 |
| FishersTalent13 | 0.5 |
| jimmy | 0.5 |
| mattymo | 0.5 |
Update: Sunday, January 9 (Game Time). A total of 64 VUHoops readers posted predictions, with two picking the Bearcats to win. As a group, the readers see ‘Nova winning by a score of 76-70 (a margin of 6.0 points and implied over/under of 146). The Vegas odds makers also are picking 'Nova by 5.5 points and set the over/under at 138.0 points, implying a final score of 72-66. KenPom.com models predict a Nova win by a score of 70-65, a spread of 5.0 points and an implied over/under of 135.
VUHoops vs. Vegas: Based on the average predictions of the VUHoops readers and the Vegas posted point spread and total points, we would make the following bets:
| VU Hoops | Vegas | Bet | |
| Point Spread | 'Nova -6.0 | 'Nova -5.5 | 'Nova |
| Total Points | 146.0 | 138.0 | Over |
SCATTER PLOT OF PREDICTED SCORES
Window Opening: Friday, January 7 (8:30 pm). The window is now open for readers to post their predicted final scores for ‘Nova’s game vs. Cincinnati on Sunday at 12 Noon (Pavilion, TV: WPVI) in our Closest to the Pin Contest. After fourteen rounds, Joe remains alone atop the leader board with 12.5 points. Click here to see our full leader board. In our VUHoops vs. Vegas competition, VUHoops is up $400.
The #7 Cats (13-1, 2-0) have an RPI of 20, a SOS of 121 and are scoring an average of 77.6 PPG while giving up an average of 60.9 PPG. The # 24 Bearcats (15-0, 2-0) have an RPI of 63, a SOS of 322, and score an average of 74.5 PPG while allowing an average of 53.8 PPG. Cincinnati’s more notable wins have come against Dayton (+34), Oklahoma (+10), Miami, OH (+16), DePaul (+16), Seton Hall (+17) and Xavier (+20). More statistical information about Cincinnati is available at Statsheet.com.
Be sure to check out Brian’s game preview.
Special Note: When posting predictions, please be sure to:
- List your predicted score for Villanova first, followed by the score for the opponent (e.g., Cats 100, Owls 75)
- All future games (except Rivalry Games), points are awarded to winners as follows: Bulls-eye = 10 points; Gold (non-bulls-eye) =5 pts; Silver = 3pts; Bronze = 1pt.
- Note the following rule change: given the extraordinary number of readers participating in the contest, we can no longer enforce our rule prohibiting duplicate score predictions.
- 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 guests or anonymous readers cannot be accepted