Closest to the Pin Round Seven: Xavier

NovaEngineer moves into a tie for second place with five points in this round. Original Honey Badger joins the leader board with class, also earning five points. pacAdam is hanging onto first place despite being shut out in the last two rounds. Kevin.Pulsifer was called into Mike's office after predicting that Xavier would win this game by three points, and was later seen writing on the blackboard one-hundred times,"I will never doubt the Cats again." It was a great win for the Nova Nation as the magical carpet ride continues.

By Ed Donohue Feb 2, 2014, 11:12pm EST

RESULTS: With the Cats surprising many here and in Vegas with the ease of their victory over Xavier at The Pavilion, 81-58, we congratulate six VUHoops readers who earned points in this round.

NovaEngineer (Nova 82, Xavier 65) awarded 5 points
Original Honey Badger (Nova 80, Xavier 65) awarded 5 points
Steve92 (Nova 76, Xavier 62) awarded 3 points
villanovakevin14 (Nova 77, Xavier 63) awarded 3 point
sjkqw (Nova 74, Xavier 61) awarded 1 point
jnmurf16 (Nova 84, Xavier 65) awarded 1 point

The updated leader board after seven rounds 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 taking ‘Nova giving 9.0 points (WIN) and betting the OVER (LOSS). After seven rounds, we would remain up $400.

LEADER BOARD

Player	Points
pacAdam	10
Kantcant	8
NovaEngineer	8
jwscones	6
NovaDave	6
novanation63	6
BosshogHazzard	5
Original Honey Badger	5
ryanshock24	5
speedracer33	5
trevor.pleasant	5
Villanovafan152	5
sjkqw	4
villanovakevin14	4
Ed Dechellis	3
efgvu1977	3
Nova'85	3
novAbrasion	3
Steve 92	3
Wildecat15	3
jnmurf16	2
Mike J	2
BrendanColliton	1
Brian Ewart	1
Ed Donohue	1
Jack The Tripper	1
kevin.pulsifer	1
Lahey	1
Novabrasion2	1
tk1434	1
Wildcat91	1
Zachary Rahn	1

UPDATE (February 3, 7:00 PM, Tip-off) ... Here's how the VUHoops Crowd sees things:

# Reader Predictions: 43

% Picking Cats to Win: 91%

Wisdom of VUHoops' Crowd Prediction:

o Spread: Villanova -10.0

o Over/Under: 150.0

o Final Score: Cats 80 - Xavier 70

Vegas Odds Makers' Prediction:

o Spread: Villanova -9.0

o Over/Under: 147.5

o Final Score: Cats 78 - Xavier 69

SCATTER PLOT OF PREDICTED SCORES

Window Opening (February 2): The window is now open for our readers to post their predicted final scores for Monday's game vs. Xavier in the seventh round of the Closest to the Pin Contest. PacAdam remains in first place after six rounds. Click HERE to see the full leader board and HERE to see the official contest rules.

Villanova (19-2, 7-1 conference) is ranked #9 in the AP Poll, #3 in the RPI and #28 SOS. The Cats average 80.9 PPG while giving up an average of 68.0 PPG.

Xavier (15-6, 5-3) is not ranked in the AP Poll but is ranked #49 in the RPI and #50 SOS. The Musketeers average 75.1 PPG while giving up an average of 67.5 PPG. Xavier comes into town riding a two-game losing streak with losses to Providence (-9) and Seton Hall (-8). In their other conference games, the Musketeers have wins vs. St. John's (+10), vs. Butler (+11), vs. Marquette (+7), vs. Georgetown (+13) and at DePaul (+10), and a loss at Creighton (-6).

Enter your predicted final score in the comments section in the format: Nova xx, Xavier yy. Good luck to you all!