clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Closest to the Pin Round 21: Rutgers

Update:March 1 (Game Results)With the Cat’s 77-71 win over Rutgers, we congratulate four VUHoops readers who took medals in this round. Gold Medal - Bulls-Eye: bhank (77-71), earning 10.0 points; Silver Medal: Two in the Pinkston (75-70), earning 3.0 points; Bronze Medals: Hardcore fan (77-67), and Jim89 (75-69) earning 1.0 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 had a PUSH by picking ‘Nova +3.5 points (WIN) and the Under (LOSS). The details follow. With the PUSH, we remain down $100 for the season.

VU Hoops Vegas Bet Actual Result
Spread ‘Nova -1.0 ‘Nova +3.5 ‘Nova +3.5 ‘Nova by 6 WIN
Over 135.0 138.0 Under 148 LOSS

Leader Board

Reader Points
Dom 17.5
Scott0220 17.5
Clarkkell 15.5
TK87 15.0
Jim89 14.5
bhank 14.0
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
Bogg357 7.5
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
wildcat07 4.5
Beardog 4.0
Ed'77 4.0
Two in the Pinkston 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
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
Hardcore fan 1.0
LouBevi 1.0
NovaFlyer 1.0
StatsManOne 1.0
TC 1.0
Jimdribble 0.5

Update March 1 (Game Time) … A total of 37 VUHoops readers posted predictions, with 17 (32%) picking the Cats to lose. As a group, the readers see ‘Nova winning by a 1.0 points, 68-67, implying an over/under of 135.0. The Vegas odds makers are picking ‘Nova to lose by 3.5 points and set the over/under at 138.0 points, implying a final score of 68-71.

Scatter Plot of Predicted Scores


Window Opening: February 28, 5:00 PM … The window is now open for our readers to post their predicted final scores for Thursday’s game against Rutgers in Piscataway (9:00PM, ESPN2) in the 21st and penultimate round of our Closest to the Pin Contest. Dom and Scott0220 continue to share first place; click here to see our full leader board.

Special Note: I will be traveling this week with limited access to the internet. I will do my best to post the game results for this and the final game against Cincinnati while I am away, but please be patient.

Villanova (11-17, 4-12) is unranked in the AP and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls but is ranked #94 by Kenpom.com. The Cats have a RPI of 110, a SOS of 4, and score an average of 71.6 PPG while giving up an average of 71.8 PPG.

Rutgers (13-16, 5-11) is unranked in the AP and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls but is ranked #95 by Kenpom.com. The Scarlet Knights have an RPI of 137, a SOS of 42, and are scoring an average of 66.0 PPG while giving up an average of 65.6 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 Rutgers Opponent
South Florida 47 - Away Loss 65 67
West Virginia 45 - Home Loss 64 85
Connecticut 26 - Home Win 67 60
Pittsburgh 86 - Away Win 62 39
West Virginia 45 - Away Loss 60 84
Notre Dame 39 20 Home Win 65 58
Georgetown 11 9 Away Loss 50 52
DePaul 199 - Home Loss 64 69
Cincinnati 72 - Home Win 61 54
Providence 155 - Away Loss 67 78
Louisville 21 17 Away Loss 66 78
Seton Hall 44 - Home Loss 54 59
Notre Dame 39 20 Away Loss 53 71
Syracuse 1 2 Home Loss 64 74
Marquette 8 10 Away Loss 65 82
Seton Hall 44 - Away Win 77 72

Be sure to read our game preview as well. 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, Scarlet Knights 75)