Update: January 25 (Game Results) ... With the Cat’s 74-84 loss Louisville, we congratulate five VUHoops readers who took medals in this round. Gold Medals: Bri’13 (72-80), BZ34 (72-80), and jtc123 (72-80), earning 5.0 points each; Silver Medal: regred (70-81), earning 3.0 points; Bronze Medal: Two in the Pinkston (70-78), 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 had a PUSH by picking ‘Nova +9.5 points (LOSS) and betting the Over (WIN). The details follow. With the push, we remain +$100 for the season.
| VU Hoops | Vegas | Bet | Actual | Result | |
| Spread | ‘Nova +2.0 | ‘Nova +9.5 | ‘Nova +9.5 | Louisville by 10 | LOSS |
| Over | 144 | 141.5 | Over | 158 | WIN |
Leader Board
| Reader | Points |
| Clarkkell | 14.0 |
| Scott0220 | 10.0 |
| BZ34 | 9.5 |
| Dom | 9.5 |
| TK87 | 9.5 |
| schitzengigles10 | 8.5 |
| Bill '62 | 8.0 |
| NovaCat94 | 6.5 |
| jtc123 | 5.5 |
| Loser Cruiser | 5.5 |
| barry class of 57 | 5.0 |
| Bri'13 | 5.0 |
| FruitLoops | 5.0 |
| Kait'08 | 5.0 |
| DP5 | 4.5 |
| Bill'77 | 4.0 |
| Stevie V | 3.5 |
| FLM'33 | 3.0 |
| marty1029 | 3.0 |
| Old School | 3.0 |
| Pretty Toney | 3.0 |
| regred | 3.0 |
| Robertrise | 3.0 |
| Southoftheborder | 3.0 |
| Beardog | 2.5 |
| Bstep011 | 2.5 |
| chuck st.petersburg | 2.5 |
| Nervous Nelly | 2.5 |
| novamsu | 2.5 |
| Steph | 2.5 |
| Jimmy | 2.0 |
| JDW71 | 1.5 |
| JMac726 | 1.5 |
| Johnnyb1 | 1.5 |
| Rick19 | 1.5 |
| stats | 1.5 |
| TimW | 1.5 |
| bhank | 1.0 |
| Jim89 | 1.0 |
| NovaFlyer | 1.0 |
| StatsManOne | 1.0 |
| Top Gere | 1.0 |
| Two in the Pinkston | 1.0 |
| Jimdribble | 0.5 |
Update: January 25 (Game Time) A total of 53 VUHoops readers posted predictions, with 34 (64%) picking the Cardinals to win. As a group, the readers see ‘Nova losing by a score of 70-72 (a margin of 2.0 points and an implied over/under of 144.0). The Vegas odds makers pick Louisville to win by 9.5 and set the over/under at 141.5 points, implying a final score of 66-76.
Scatter Plot of Predicted Scores
Window Opening (January 23, 8:30 PM) … The window is now open for readers to post their predicted final scores for ‘Nova’s game at Louisville on Wednesday (7:00PM, ESPN) in our Closest to the Pin Contest. Clarkkell remains in first place with 14.0 points. Click here to see our updated leader board.
Villanova (10-10, 3-5) is unranked in the AP and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls but is ranked #75 by Kenpom.com. The Cats have a RPI of 72, a SOS of 4, and score an average of 73.5 PPG while giving up an average of 70.7 PPG.
Louisville (15-5, 3-4) is ranked #23 by AP and #41 by Kenpom.com. The Cardinals have an RPI of 40, a SOS of 50, and are scoring an average of 70.8 PPG while giving up an average of 61.6 PPG. Their wins and losses break down as follows:
| Opponent | RPI | AP | H/A | Louisville | Opponent |
| WINS | |||||
| Tennessee Martin | 301 | - | Home | 83 | 48 |
| Lamar | 102 | - | Home | 68 | 48 |
| Butler | 108 | - | Away | 69 | 53 |
| Arkansas State | 197 | - | Home | 54 | 27 |
| Ohio | 77 | - | Home | 59 | 54 |
| Long Beach State | 41 | - | Home | 79 | 66 |
| Vanderbilt | 30 | 20 | Home | 62 | 60 |
| IUPUI | 256 | - | Home | 90 | 60 |
| Farleigh Dickenson | 338 | - | Home | 80 | 58 |
| Memphis | 26 | - | Home | 95 | 87 |
| College of Charlston | 104 | - | Home | 69 | 62 |
| Western Kentucky | 275 | - | Home | 70 | 60 |
| St. John's | 160 | - | Away | 73 | 58 |
| DePaul | 165 | - | Home | 76 | 59 |
| Pittsburgh | 99 | - | Away | 73 | 62 |
| LOSSES | |||||
| Georgetown | 13 | 12 | Home | 68 | 71 |
| Kentucky | 6 | 3 | Away | 62 | 69 |
| Notre Dame | 97 | - | Home | 65 | 67 |
| Providence | 123 | - | Away | 59 | 90 |
| Marquette | 12 | 25 | Away | 63 | 74 |
Be sure to check out Brian’s game preview on Friday.
When posting predictions, please:
- 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 anonymous readers cannot be accepted.
- List your predicted score for Villanova first, followed by the score for the opponent (e.g., Cats 100, Cardinals 75)