Update: Saturday, February 27 (Game Results). With the Cat’s 68-81 loss to St. John’s, we congratulate three VU Hoops readers who took medals in this round. Gold Medal: Johnnyb1 (68-77) earning 5.0 points; Silver Medal: Old School (70-75) earning 3.0 points; Bronze Medal: mj (67-72) earning 1.0 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 $200 by betting ‘St. John’s +6 (win) and the Over (win). The details follow. With the double-win, we are now +$500 for the season.
| VU Hoops | Vegas | Bet | Actual | Result | |
| Spread | 'Nova -4.0 | 'Nova -6.0 | SJU + 6.0 | SJU by 13 | WIN |
| Total | 138.0 | 134.5 | OVER | 149 | WIN |
Leader Board After 29 Rounds
| Reader | Points |
| regred | 25.0 |
| BarneyRubble | 21.0 |
| Hugh Jass | 21.0 |
| Beardog | 18.5 |
| Mouph Man | 15.5 |
| Pat'12 | 15.0 |
| chuck st.petersburg | 14.5 |
| Joe | 14.5 |
| TC'87 | 13.5 |
| mj | 13.0 |
| novafan95 | 12.5 |
| Old School | 11.0 |
| Robertrise | 11.0 |
| hit the bid | 10.5 |
| Joey | 10.5 |
| Nervous Nelly | 10.5 |
| NovaFlyer | 10.0 |
| Palsgraf | 10.0 |
| TK87 | 9.5 |
| dom | 8.5 |
| Pena Power | 8.0 |
| Simple'07 | 8.0 |
| Two in the Pinkston | 8.0 |
| Chicken Dinner | 7.5 |
| NovaCat94 | 7.5 |
| Dj pizzle | 7.0 |
| mfc4293 | 7.0 |
| REPRESENT804 | 7.0 |
| DP5 | 6.5 |
| friartownmayor | 6.5 |
| Kittlesfan95 | 6.5 |
| Steph | 6.5 |
| Johnnyb1 | 6.0 |
| mattymo | 5.5 |
| Clarkkell | 5.0 |
| honey badger | 5.0 |
| Jmac'09 | 5.0 |
| Kait'08 | 5.0 |
| marty1029 | 5.0 |
| SeanDon | 5.0 |
| Ed'77 | 4.5 |
| gaparch | 4.5 |
| Stevie V | 4.5 |
| Andy'06 | 4.0 |
| Colt | 4.0 |
| Ed'08 | 4.0 |
| doctor feelgoodes | 3.5 |
| Jimmy | 3.5 |
| Arctic Cat | 3.0 |
| Bill '77 | 3.0 |
| CJ | 3.0 |
| DMC | 3.0 |
| Mark Anderson | 3.0 |
| miles'88 | 3.0 |
| Novachamps22 | 3.0 |
| Schitzengigles | 3.0 |
| Tommyboy | 3.0 |
| cdtoffers | 2.5 |
| Pete (Aliti 13) | 2.5 |
| super nova | 2.5 |
| David '06 | 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 |
| Rick19 | 1.5 |
| Loser Cruiser | 1.0 |
| MarkA | 1.0 |
| Matt | 1.0 |
| Muhley | 1.0 |
| Rich'09 | 1.0 |
| The Chameleon | 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, February 27 (Game Time). A total of 52 VUHoops readers posted predictions, six picking the Red Storm to win. As a group, the readers see ‘Nova winning by a score of 71-67 (a margin of 4.0 points and implied over/under of 138). The Vegas odds makers are picking 'Nova to win by 6.0 points and set the over/under at 134.5 points, implying a final score of 70-64. KenPom.com’s model is predicting Nova to win by 7.0 points by a score of 71-64.
Scatter Plot of Predicted Scores
Window Opening: Thursday , February 24 (4:00 PM). The window is now open for readers to post their predicted final scores for ‘Nova’s game vs. St. John’s on Saturday at 2:00 PM (Wells Fargo Center) in our Closest to the Pin Contest. After twenty-eight rounds, regred has jumped into the lead with 25.0 points. Click here to see our current leader board. In our VUHoops vs. Vegas competition, VUHoops is up $300 for the season.
The #15 Cats (21-7, 9-6) have an RPI of 27, a SOS of 34, are scoring an average of 73.9 PPG while giving up an average of 64.1. The #23 Red Storm (18-9, 10-5) have an RPI of 10, a SOS of 1, and are scoring an average of 69.4 PPG while giving up an average of 66.3. The margins of victory / defeat for all of St. John’s Big East games so far this season are as follows:
| St. John's Wins | Winning Margin |
| Cincinnati | 2 |
| Connecticut | 17 |
| DePaul | 25 |
| Georgetown | 3 |
| Marquette | 12 |
| Notre Dame | 18 |
| Pittsburgh | 1 |
| Providence | 2 |
| Rutgers | 2 |
| West Virginia | 10 |
| St. John's Losses | Losing Margin |
| Cincinnati | -2 |
| Georgetown | -25 |
| Louisville | -25 |
| Notre Dame | -15 |
| Syracuse | -17 |
More statistical information about Syracuse is available at Statsheet.com.
KenPom.com’s model is predicting Nova to win by 6.0 points by a score of 70-64.
Be sure to check out Brian’s game preview.
Special Note: When posting scores, please remember to list your predicted score for Villanova first, followed by the opponent’s score (e.g., ‘Nova 70 – St. John’s 65).