clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Closest to the Pin Round 19: Connecticut

Update: February 20 (Game Results)With the Cat’s 70-73 loss to UConn, we congratulate seven VUHoops readers who took medals in this round. Gold Medals: Kait’08 (71-75), earning 5.0 points; Silver Medals: JDW71 (68-75), Dom (71-70), Jim89 (68-75), Ed’77 (72-71), and Gorms (68-71), earning 3.0 points each; Bronze Medals: Jimmy (75-73), 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 SINGLE WIN by picking ‘Nova +3.0 points (PUSH) and the Over (WIN). The details follow. With the single-loss, we are up $100 for the season.

VU Hoops Vegas Bet Actual Result
Spread ‘Nova +2.0 ‘Nova +3.0 ‘Nova +3.0 UConn by 3 PUSH
Over 138.0 137.5 Over 143 WIN

Leader Board

Reader Points
Dom 17.5
Scott0220 17.5
Clarkkell 15.5
TK87 15.0
Jim89 13.5
FruitLoops 13.0
jtc123 13.0
marty1029 11.0
Kait'08 10.0
Bri'13 9.5
BZ34 9.5
Bill'77 9.0
schitzengigles10 8.5
Bill '62 8.0
Loser Cruiser 7.0
NovaCat94 6.5
barry class of 57 6.0
Top Gere 6.0
Colt 5.0
Gorms 5.0
marc 5.0
DP5 4.5
JDW71 4.5
bhank 4.0
Ed'77 4.0
chuck st.petersburg 3.5
Steph 3.5
Stevie V 3.5
FLM'33 3.0
Jimmy 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
Nervous Nelly 2.5
novamsu 2.5
JMac726 1.5
Johnnyb1 1.5
Rick19 1.5
stats 1.5
TimW 1.5
LouBevi 1.0
NovaFlyer 1.0
StatsManOne 1.0
TC 1.0
Two in the Pinkston 1.0
Jimdribble 0.5

Update: February 20 (Game Time) ... A total of 39 VUHoops readers posted predictions, with 18 (46%) picking the Cats to lose. As a group, the readers see ‘Nova losing by a 2.0 points, 68-70, implying an over/under of 138.0. The Vegas odds makers are picking ‘Nova to lose by 3.0 points and set the over/under at 137.5 points, implying a final score of 67-70.

Scatter Plot of Predicted Scores

Window Opening: February 19, 9:30 AM … The window is now open for our readers to post their predicted final scores for Monday night’s game against Connecticut at Wells Fargo Center (7:00PM, ESPN) in the 19th round of our Closest to the Pin Contest. Scott0220 remains alone in first place; click here to see our full leader board.

Villanova (11-15, 4-10) is unranked in the AP and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls but is ranked #89 by Kenpom.com. The Cats have a RPI of 101, a SOS of 4, and score an average of 72.6 PPG while giving up an average of 71.9 PPG.

Connecticut (16-10, 6-8) is unranked by AP but ranked #40 by Kenpom.com. The Huskies have an RPI of 25, a SOS of 1, and are scoring an average of 68.4 PPG while giving up an average of 63.3 PPG. The table below sets out their wins and losses since the beginning of the Big East season.

Opponent RPI AP H/A W/L Connecticut Opponent
South Florida 56 - Away Win 60 57
St. John's 128 - Home Win 83 69
Seton Hall 34 - Away Loss 63 75
Rutgers 157 - Away Loss 60 67
West Virginia 32 - Home Win 64 57
Notre Dame 36 - Away Win 67 53
Cincinnati 80 - Home Loss 67 70
Tennessee (OOC) 110 - Away Loss 57 60
Notre Dame 36 - Home Loss 48 50
Georgetown 13 14 Away Loss 44 58
Seton Hall 34 - Home Win 69 46
Louisville 20 - Away Loss 59 80
Syracuse 1 2 Away Loss 67 85
DePaul 182 - Home Win 80 54
Marquette 8 12 Home Loss 64 79

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, Huskies 75)