Update: Wednesday, February 9 (Game Results). With the Cat’s 76-77 loss at Rutgers, we congratulate nine VU Hoops readers who took medals in this game. Gold Medals: Barney Rubble (77-70), Chicken Dinner (73-72) and DP5 (79-72) earning 5 points each; Silver Medals: dom (82-74) and Ed’77 (78-70) earning 3 points each; Bronze Medals: Joe (76-67), Lou’06 (79-70), MarkA (75-68) and Robertrise (77-68) 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 broken even by betting ‘Nova -5.5 (loss) and the Over (win). The details follow. We remain for the season +$1,000.
| VU Hoops | Vegas | Bet | Actual | Result | |
| Spread | 'Nova -10 | 'Nova -5.5 | 'Nova -5.5 | Rutgers by 1 | LOSS |
| Total | 142.0 | 136.0 | OVER | 153 | WIN |
Leader Board After 24 Rounds
| Reader | Points |
| BarneyRubble | 21.0 |
| Beardog | 15.5 |
| Pat'12 | 15.0 |
| chuck st.petersburg | 14.5 |
| Joe | 14.5 |
| Hugh Jass | 13.5 |
| TC'87 | 13.5 |
| regred | 13.0 |
| novafan95 | 12.5 |
| Robertrise | 11.0 |
| Joey | 10.5 |
| Mouph Man | 10.5 |
| Nervous Nelly | 10.5 |
| NovaFlyer | 10.0 |
| Palsgraf | 10.0 |
| TK87 | 9.5 |
| mj | 9.0 |
| Two in the Pinkston | 8.0 |
| NovaCat94 | 7.5 |
| Dj pizzle | 7.0 |
| mfc4293 | 7.0 |
| Pena Power | 7.0 |
| REPRESENT804 | 7.0 |
| DP5 | 6.5 |
| friartownmayor | 6.5 |
| Kittlesfan95 | 6.5 |
| Steph | 6.5 |
| Chicken Dinner | 6.0 |
| hit the bid | 6.0 |
| mattymo | 5.5 |
| Clarkkell | 5.0 |
| honey badger | 5.0 |
| Kait'08 | 5.0 |
| marty1029 | 5.0 |
| Old School | 5.0 |
| SeanDon | 5.0 |
| gaparch | 4.5 |
| Stevie V | 4.5 |
| Andy'06 | 4.0 |
| Colt | 4.0 |
| dom | 4.0 |
| Ed'08 | 4.0 |
| doctor feelgoodes | 3.5 |
| Jimmy | 3.5 |
| Arctic Cat | 3.0 |
| Bill '77 | 3.0 |
| CJ | 3.0 |
| Ed'77 | 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 |
| David '06 | 2.0 |
| DMC | 2.0 |
| Lou '06 | 2.0 |
| pttam7yanks | 2.0 |
| Bri'13 | 1.5 |
| CMM | 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 |
| Johnnyb1 | 1.0 |
| Loser Cruiser | 1.0 |
| MarkA | 1.0 |
| Matt | 1.0 |
| Muhley | 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, February 9 (Game Time). A total of 61 VUHoops readers posted predictions, one picking the Scarlet Knights to win. As a group, the readers see ‘Nova winning by a score of 76-66 (a margin of 10.0 points and implied over/under of 142). The Vegas odds makers are picking 'Nova to win by 5.5 points and set the over/under at 136.0 points, implying a final score of 71-65. KenPom.com’s model is predicting Nova to win by 4.0 points by a score of 70-64.
Scatter Plot of Predicted Scores
Window Opening: Monday, February 7 (9:00 PM). The window is now open for readers to post their predicted final scores for ‘Nova’s game vs. Rutgers on Wednesday at 8PM in our Closest to the Pin Contest. After twenty-three rounds, Barney Rubble remains in the lead with 16.0 points. Click here to see our updated leader board. In our VUHoops vs. Vegas competition, VUHoops is up $1,000.
The #9 Cats (19-4, 7-3) have an RPI of 12, a SOS of 28, and are scoring an average of 75.5 PPG while giving up an average of 63.4 PPG. The Scarlet Knights (12-11, 3-8) are unrated, have an RPI of 97, a SOS of 48, and are scoring an average of 66.5 PPG while giving up an average of 64.3 PPG.
Villanova defeated Rutgers in the Big East opener for both teams by a score of 81-65. Rutgers three Big East wins have come against Providence (+13), South Florida (+9) and Seton Hall (+6). Their other Big East losses have come against Marquette (-8), Connecticut (-14), Georgetown (-9), Cincinnati (-16), Pittsburgh (-3), St. John’s (-2) and Notre Dame (-7). More statistical information about Rutgers is available at Statsheet.com.
Be sure to read Brian’s game preview.
Special Note: When posting scores, remember to list your predicted score for Villanova first, followed by the opponent’s score (e.g., ‘Nova 70 – Rutgers 65).