Not our most detailed “Starting 5″, as there’s a lot of work to do on Saturday’s massive card.   But there’s some stuff here that should be helpful.

1. I like playing against teams that are off of a big upset win in their next game, particularly if it is an early afternoon game.  Sometimes the players are still “drunk with victory” as the late Mike Lee used to say, which can manifest itself more early in the day.  So it was disappointing to see that Clemson (off a wipeout of North Carolina) and NC State (off an upset win at Florida State) are playing one another at noon in Saturday’s action.  I would have looked long and hard to go against either one of them.

2. There are few players more valuable to their team than Jarvis Vanardo is to Mississippi State.   His late blocked shots helped catapult the Bulldogs over Ole’ Miss last Saturday and this week he helped pull out an 82-80 win Thursday night with 10 blocked shots against an Arkansas team that chose to continue to challenge him down the stretch.  The original statistical compilation had him with only 9 blocked shots but an additional swat appeared out of thin air from the stat crew in Starkville, giving him a triple double.   Bolstered by Vanardo’s shot blocking, MSU allows opponents to shoot only 36%, including less than 34% from the 3-point arc, as Vanardo’s presence inside allows his teammates to patrol the three point arc on defense.  The Bulldogs failed to cover Thursday night, dropping them to 8-4 against the pointspread on the season.  Saturday sees them as a substantial favorite over an improving Georgia team.

3. Southern Illinois’ three straight NCAA appearances, including a pair of Sweet 16 berths, earned coach Chris Lowery a big contract extension, but SIU is underachieving again this season, and are in danger of missing the tourney for the third straight year.   They’re on a 4-game losing streak, are disappointing bettors at a 5-8 clip against the pointspread, and Lowery has been critical of his team’s immaturity.   If the Salukis don’t win on their trip to Evansville to take on a young band of Purple Aces, things could really start to fall apart for them.

4. Depending on line value, I was looking to play Cal over Washington on Saturday if things broke right on Thursday night.  Things did not break right, as both teams won, but Cal had to really extend themselves at Washington State, with every starter playing 30 minutes or more, while UW coasted in a home win over Stanford, playing 9 guys for 12 minutes or more.   Cal’s a little thin without sixth man and “glue guy” Jorge Guitierrez, who remains out with an ankle sprain.

5. Any burst of energy that you thought Depaul might have from their new coach went away when Mac Koshwal’s injury was announced shortly before the Blue Demons game against Providence on Thursday night.  Koshwal will miss 2-4 weeks, not a promising sign for the Blue Demons, who play at moderately resurgent (7-3-1 pointspread mark in their last 11 lined games) St. John’s on Sunday.  

If you’d like to put our research and analysis to work for you in your personal hoops wagering, call my office at 770-649-1078.  Ask for the “Starting 5″ discount.