Update: Wednesday, January 25 (Game Results).With the Cat’s 68-83 loss at Providence, we congratulate three VU Hoops readers who took medals in this game. Gold Medal: friartownmayor (73-78) earning 5 points; Silver Medal: Beardog (68-71) earning 3 points; Bronze Medal: Clarkkell (76-78) earning 1 point. 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 broken even by betting ‘Nova -6.0 and the Under. The details follow. We remain +$1,000 for the season.
| VU Hoops | Vegas | Bet | Result | |
| Point Spread | 'Nova -10.0 | 'Nova -6.0 | 'Nova -6.0 | LOSS |
| Total Points | 154.0 | 155.0 | Under | WIN |
Leader Board After 20 Rounds
| Reader | Points |
| Hugh Jass | 13.5 |
| Joe | 13.5 |
| Pat'12 | 13.5 |
| TC'87 | 13.5 |
| regred | 13.0 |
| Joey | 10.5 |
| Nervous Nelly | 10.5 |
| chuck st.petersburg | 10.0 |
| Robertrise | 10.0 |
| TK87 | 9.5 |
| Beardog | 8.0 |
| mj | 8.0 |
| Dj pizzle | 7.0 |
| mfc4293 | 7.0 |
| REPRESENT804 | 7.0 |
| friartownmayor | 6.5 |
| Kittlesfan95 | 6.5 |
| BarneyRubble | 6.0 |
| hit the bid | 6.0 |
| Pena Power | 6.0 |
| mattymo | 5.5 |
| Palsgraf | 5.5 |
| Steph | 5.5 |
| marty1029 | 5.0 |
| Mouph Man | 5.0 |
| novafan95 | 5.0 |
| Old School | 5.0 |
| SeanDon | 5.0 |
| Two in the Pinkston | 5.0 |
| Stevie V | 4.5 |
| Andy'06 | 4.0 |
| Ed'08 | 4.0 |
| Kait'08 | 4.0 |
| doctor feelgoodes | 3.5 |
| Jimmy | 3.5 |
| Arctic Cat | 3.0 |
| Bill '77 | 3.0 |
| CJ | 3.0 |
| Mark Anderson | 3.0 |
| miles'88 | 3.0 |
| Novachamps22 | 3.0 |
| Schitzengigles | 3.0 |
| Simple'07 | 3.0 |
| Tommyboy | 3.0 |
| cdtoffers | 2.5 |
| Colt | 2.5 |
| super nova | 2.5 |
| Clarkkell | 2.0 |
| David '06 | 2.0 |
| DMC | 2.0 |
| CMM | 1.5 |
| DP5 | 1.5 |
| EG'77 | 1.5 |
| Esto | 1.5 |
| FLM'33 | 1.5 |
| Mark A | 1.5 |
| mprams | 1.5 |
| Pete (Aliti 13) | 1.5 |
| Chicken Dinner | 1.0 |
| Johnnyb1 | 1.0 |
| Loser Cruiser | 1.0 |
| Lou '06 | 1.0 |
| Matt | 1.0 |
| pttam7yanks | 1.0 |
| Rich'09 | 1.0 |
| Vinny'06 | 1.0 |
| bgunn | 0.5 |
| Brendan '10 | 0.5 |
| Christopher Coggins | 0.5 |
| David | 0.5 |
| FishersTalent13 | 0.5 |
Update: Wednesday, January 25 (Game Time). A total of 72 VUHoops readers posted predictions, three picking the Friars to win. As a group, the readers see ‘Nova winning by a score of 82-72 (a margin of 10.0 points and implied over/under of 154). The Vegas odds makers are picking 'Nova to win by 6.0 points and set the over/under at 155.0 points, implying a final score of 81-75. KenPom.com’s model is predicting Nova to win by a score of 83-72.
SCATTER PLOT OF PREDICTED SCORES
Window Opening: Monday, January 23 (7:30 PM). The window is now open for readers to post their predicted final scores for ‘Nova’s game at Providence on Wednesday at 7:00 PM (TV: WPVI-DT2) in our Closest to the Pin Contest. After nineteen rounds, we have a four-way tie for first place among Hugh Jass, Joe. Pat ’12 and TC’87, each with 13.5 points. Click here to see our full leader board. In our VUHoops vs. Vegas competition, VUHoops is up $1,000.
The #8 Cats (17-2, 5-1) have an RPI of 9, a SOS of 34 and are scoring an average of 76.9 PPG while giving up an average of 62.5 PPG. The Friars (12-8, 1-6) have an RPI of 103, a SOS of 61, and score an average of 77.7 PPG while allowing an average of 72.0 PPG.
Providence and Villanova have played five common opponents:
- La Salle (‘Nova +3; Providence -11)
- Syracuse (‘Nova +11; Providence -7)
- Rutgers (‘Nova +16; Providence -13)
- South Florida (‘Nova +12; Providence -7)
- Louisville (‘Nova +14; Providence +5)
Providence’s other Big East losses have come against St. John’s (-2), Pittsburgh (-4) and West Virginia (-30). More statistical information about Providence 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, Friars 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