Update: February 7 (Game Results) … With the Cat’s 51-65 loss to South Florida, we congratulate three VUHoops readers who took medals in this round. Gold Medal: FruitLoops (57-63), earning 5.0 points; Silver Medal: Justin (57-68), earning 3.0 points; Bronze Medal: TC (62-66), 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 DOUBLE LOSS by picking ‘Nova +3.5 points (LOSS) and the Over (LOSS). The details follow. With the double-loss, we drop to -$200 for the season.
| VU Hoops | Vegas | Bet | Actual | Result | |
| Spread | ‘Nova -1.0 | ‘Nova +3.5 | ‘Nova +3.5 | Bulls by 14 | LOSS |
| Over | 139.0 | 130.5 | Over | 116 | LOSS |
Leader Board
| Reader | Points |
| Scott0220 | 17.5 |
| Clarkkell | 15.5 |
| TK87 | 14.0 |
| FruitLoops | 13.0 |
| jtc123 | 13.0 |
| Jim89 | 10.5 |
| Bri'13 | 9.5 |
| BZ34 | 9.5 |
| Dom | 9.5 |
| schitzengigles10 | 8.5 |
| Bill '62 | 8.0 |
| marty1029 | 8.0 |
| Loser Cruiser | 7.0 |
| NovaCat94 | 6.5 |
| barry class of 57 | 6.0 |
| Kait'08 | 5.0 |
| marc | 5.0 |
| DP5 | 4.5 |
| bhank | 4.0 |
| Bill'77 | 4.0 |
| Steph | 3.5 |
| Stevie V | 3.5 |
| FLM'33 | 3.0 |
| Justin | 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 |
| Jimmy | 2.0 |
| JDW71 | 1.5 |
| JMac726 | 1.5 |
| Johnnyb1 | 1.5 |
| Rick19 | 1.5 |
| stats | 1.5 |
| TimW | 1.5 |
| Ed'77 | 1.0 |
| Gorms | 1.0 |
| LouBevi | 1.0 |
| NovaFlyer | 1.0 |
| StatsManOne | 1.0 |
| TC | 1.0 |
| Top Gere | 1.0 |
| Two in the Pinkston | 1.0 |
| Jimdribble | 0.5 |
Update: February 15 (Game Time) A total of 43 VUHoops readers posted predictions, with 17 (40%) picking the Cats to lose. As a group, the readers see ‘Nova winning by a 1.0 points, 70-69, implying an over/under of 139.0. The Vegas odds makers pick ‘Nova to lose by 3.5 points and set the over/under at 130.5 points, implying a final score of 64-67.
Scatter Plot of Predicted Scores
Window Opening: February 13, 6:00 PM … The window is now open for our readers to post their predicted final scores for Wednesday’s game against South Florida in Tampa (7:00PM, ESPN2) in the 17th round of our Closest to the Pin Contest. Scott0220 stands alone in first place; click here to see our full leader board.
Villanova (11-13, 4-8) is unranked in the AP and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls but is ranked #78 by Kenpom.com. The Cats have a RPI of 90, a SOS of 6, and score an average of 73.6 PPG while giving up an average of 72.1 PPG.
South Florida (15-10, 8-4) is unranked in the AP and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls but is ranked #99 by Kenpom.com. The Bulls have an RPI of 60, a SOS of 40, and are scoring an average of 61.2 PPG while giving up an average of 58.9 PPG. The table below sets out their Big East wins and losses so far this season.
| Opponent | RPI | AP | H/A | W/L | USF | Opponent | |
| Connecticut | 20 | 9 | Home | Loss | 57 | 60 | |
| Rutgers | 147 | - | Home | Win | 67 | 65 | |
| Villanova | 90 | - | Away | Win | 74 | 57 | |
| Notre Dame | 39 | - | Away | Loss | 49 | 60 | |
| Seton Hall | 31 | 24 | Home | Win | 56 | 55 | |
| St. John's | 131 | - | Home | Win | 64 | 49 | |
| DePaul | 170 | - | Away | Win | 75 | 59 | |
| Marquette | 11 | 17 | Away | Loss | 47 | 67 | |
| Providence | 152 | - | Home | Win | 81 | 78 | |
| Georgetown | 13 | 14 | Away | Loss | 45 | 75 | |
| Pittsburgh | 65 | - | Home | Win | 63 | 51 | |
| Providence | 152 | - | Away | Win | 55 | 48 |
Be sure to read our game preview tomorrow. Good luck!
Special Note: When posting predictions, be sure to:
- 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, Bulls 75)