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RESULTS: With the total annihilation of the Cats at the hands of an unconscious Creighton team, we congratulate five VUHoops readers who were the least wrong in this one:
- pacADAM (Nova 71, Creighton 76) awarded 5 points
- efgvu1977 (Nova 81, Creighton 80) awarded 3 points
- jnmurf16 (Nova 72, Creighton 70) awarded 1 point
- kevin.pulsifer (Nova 79, Creighton 77) awarded 1 point
- Mike J. (Nova 81, Creighton 79) awarded 1 point
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 taking ‘Nova giving 6.5 points (LOSS) and betting the OVER (WIN). After four rounds, we would remain up $400.
UPDATED LEADER BOARD
pacADAM takes over the lead with his second 5-point game of the contest.
| Player | Points |
| pacAdam | 10 |
| NovaDave | 6 |
| novanation63 | 6 |
| BosshogHazzard | 5 |
| Kantcant | 5 |
| speedracer33 | 5 |
| Villanovafan152 | 5 |
| Ed Dechellis | 3 |
| efgvu1977 | 3 |
| jwscones | 3 |
| Nova'85 | 3 |
| novAbrasion | 3 |
| NovaEngineer | 3 |
| sjkqw | 3 |
| Wildecat15 | 3 |
| Mike J | 2 |
| BrendanColliton | 1 |
| Jack The Tripper | 1 |
| jnmurf16 | 1 |
| kevin.pulsifer | 1 |
| Lahey | 1 |
| Novabrasion2 | 1 |
| tk1434 | 1 |
| villanovakevin14 | 1 |
| Wildcat91 | 1 |
| Zachary Rahn |
1
|
UPDATE (January 20, Tip-Off, 7:00 PM) ... Here's the sentiment of 'Nova fans in this round of the Contest:
# Reader Predictions: 52
% Picking Cats to Win: 98%
Wisdom of VUHoops' Crowd Prediction:
o Spread: Villanova -9.0
o Over/Under: 155
o Final Score: Cats 82 - Jays 73
Vegas Odds Makers' Prediction:
o Spread: Villanova -6.5
o Over/Under: 147.5
o Final Score: Cats 77 - Jays 71
SCATTER PLOT OF PREDICTED SCORES
Window Opening (January 19): The window is now open for our readers to post their predicted final scores for Monday's game vs. Creighton Bluejays in the fifth round of the Closest to the Pin Contest. NovaDave and novanation63 have taken the lead with six points each after a strong showing in round four. Click HERE to see the full leader board and HERE to see the official contest rules.
Villanova (16-1, 5-0 conference) is ranked #6 in the AP Poll, #3 in the RPI and #19 SOS. The Cats average 81.3 PPG while giving up an average of 65.4 PPG.
Creighton (15-3, 5-1 conference) is ranked #20 in the AP Poll, ranked #55 in the RPI and #35 SOS. The Jays average 81.8 PPG while giving up an average of 66.1 PPG. Creighton comes into Philly two days after a 68-81 loss to Providence. Prior to that game, Creighton had beaten Seton Hall (by 13 points), DePaul (by 19 points), Xavier (by six points) and Butler (by 18 points). The Jays' other two losses have both come on a neutral court against San Diego State (RPI #13, by 6 points) and George Washington (RPI #20, by 7 points, led by 12 points from old friend Isaiah Armwood).
Enter your predicted final score in the comments section in the format: Nova xx, Creighton yy. Good luck to you all!