Update: Saturday, January 29 (Game Results). With the Cat’s 66-69 loss at home to Georgetown in this bonus points rivalry game, we congratulate ten VU Hoops readers who took medals in this game. Gold Medals: Beardog (63-66), NovaCat94 (72-69), and novafan95 (61-68) earning 7.5 points,; Silver Medals: gaparch (72-68) and Palsgraf (66-62), earning 4.5 points each; and Bronze Medals: Bri’13 (71-66), chuck st. petersburg (74-69), Colt (71-66), Mouph Man (70-65), and Pat ’12 (74-69), earning 1.5 points each. Our updated leader board is provided below.
VUHoops vs. Vegas: Placing two rational bets based on the average predicted scores of the VUHoops Crowd vs. the posted Vegas line and total points, we would have lost $200 on this game. The details follow. We remain +$800 for the season.
| VU Hoops | Vegas | Bet | Result | |
| Point Spread | 'Nova -6.0 | 'Nova -5.0 | 'Nova -5.0 | LOSS |
| Total Points | 146.0 | 145.0 | Over | LOSS |
Leader Board
| Reader | Points |
| Beardog | 15.5 |
| Pat'12 | 15.0 |
| Hugh Jass | 13.5 |
| Joe | 13.5 |
| TC'87 | 13.5 |
| regred | 13.0 |
| novafan95 | 12.5 |
| chuck st.petersburg | 11.5 |
| Joey | 10.5 |
| Nervous Nelly | 10.5 |
| Palsgraf | 10.0 |
| Robertrise | 10.0 |
| TK87 | 9.5 |
| mj | 8.0 |
| NovaCat94 | 7.5 |
| Dj pizzle | 7.0 |
| mfc4293 | 7.0 |
| REPRESENT804 | 7.0 |
| friartownmayor | 6.5 |
| Kittlesfan95 | 6.5 |
| Mouph Man | 6.5 |
| BarneyRubble | 6.0 |
| hit the bid | 6.0 |
| Pena Power | 6.0 |
| mattymo | 5.5 |
| Steph | 5.5 |
| marty1029 | 5.0 |
| Old School | 5.0 |
| SeanDon | 5.0 |
| Two in the Pinkston | 5.0 |
| gaparch | 4.5 |
| Stevie V | 4.5 |
| Andy'06 | 4.0 |
| Colt | 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 |
| super nova | 2.5 |
| Clarkkell | 2.0 |
| David '06 | 2.0 |
| DMC | 2.0 |
| Bri'13 | 1.5 |
| 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: Saturday, January 29 (Game Time). A total of 61 VUHoops readers have posted predictions, three picking the Hoyas 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 are picking 'Nova to win by 5.0 points and set the over/under at 145.0 points, implying a final score of 75-70. KenPom.com’s model is predicting Nova to win by a score of 75-69.
Scatter Plot of Predicted Scores
Window Opening: Thursday, January 27 (8:30 PM). The window is now open for readers to post their predicted final scores for ‘Nova’s game vs. Georgetown on Saturday at 12:00 Noon (Wells Fargo Center / ESPN) in our Closest to the Pin Contest. After twenty 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.
Note: This is the second of four Rivalry Games. Points increased as follows: Bulls-eye = 15 points; Gold (non-bulls-eye) =7.5 pts; Silver = 4.5 pts; Bronze = 1.5 pts.
The #8 Cats (17-3, 5-2) have an RPI of 10, a SOS of 36 and are scoring an average of 76.5 PPG while giving up an average of 63.5 PPG. The #21 Hoyas (15-5, 4-4) have an RPI of 7, a SOS of 4, and score an average of 75.9 PPG while allowing an average of 66.5 PPG.
Georgetown and Villanova have played two common opponents, with the following results:
- Temple (‘Nova W (+4); Georgetown L (-3)
- Rutgers (‘Nova W (+16); Georgetown W (+9)
Georgetown’s other Big East wins have come against DePaul (+11), Seton Hall (+5) and St. Johns (+25). Their other Big East losses have come against Notre Dame (-14), St. John’s (-3), West Virginia (-6) and Pittsburgh (-15). More statistical information about Georgetown is available at Statsheet.com.
KenPom.com’s model is predicting Nova to win by a score of 75-69.
Be sure to check out Brian’s game preview, "Throwing Stones."
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.