Notre Dame vs Virginia College Hoops Lines Analysis

Posted by D.Zamzack on Saturday,January 2, 2016 9:51, EDT in

Later in the day on the 2nd of January we see another ACC battle between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Virginia Cavaliers, and based on the NCAA Basketball odds for this game, this is going to be a tight match. Notre Dame has suffered throughout the year, as they currently hold a 9-3 record. The Cavaliers have been nearly perfect, but like many other teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference, have suffered a random loss to a terrible team in the George Washington Colonials. Since the loss they’ve looked flawless both on the road and at home, and each win has been backed with a strong SU and ATS record. The Fighting Irish will visit the home of the Cavaliers at John Paul Jones Arena. The game will be broadcasted at 5:00 EST on ESPN2.

A Close Look At The Fighting Irish vs Cavaliers College Hoops Lines Match Up

Notre Dame comes into this game having never faced a serious opponent like Virginia, or any ranked opponent at all. They’ve still suffered three losses on the year and it’s hard to see them competing with Virginia in any way. Virginia has taken care of two top-fifteen teams in Villanova and West Virginia, and beat both teams easily by a margin of over ten points. The NCAAB odds for this game have Virginia as -9½ (-110) betting favorite in the latest lines posted at Mybookie.ag.

Why Bet on the Virginia Cavaliers

Virginia has played as flawlessly as any team in the ACC and they are currently the best ACC team in non conference play. They’ve handily defeated ten opponents in a row, most by double-digits, and it’s hard to find many reasons why Notre Dame isn’t going to suffer a similar defeat. As a team Virginia is playing as good as any team in the country. They’ve been spreading out their minutes, and Coach Sanchez recently stated that he’s been preparing his team for division play by spreading out the minutes. As long as Virginia can clean up the glass against the Fighting Irish, this game should be won easily by the Cavaliers.

Why Bet on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Virginia doesn’t have many weaknesses, but their one glaring problem is their rebounding. They fare very well on defense in most cases, but haven’t been able to clean up the glass. Who happens to be the best player on Notre Dame? Power Forward Zach Auguste, a physical freak who crashes the glass with authority and doesn’t let one rebound get out of his reach. He’s currently averaging over 10 rebounds per game and if he, and the over sized Notre Dame front line can stop Virginia, they may stand a shot in this game.

My Expert Pick and Final Score Projection:

Virginia is going to come away with this one, but the question is going to be how many points they win by. I think they’ll take care of Notre Dame by a good margin, but I can’t see them winning by any more than ten points unless things get really out of hand. They’ve struggled against some teams like California and Ohio State that play slow paced basketball (as Notre Dame tends to do).

Final Score Projection: Virginia 67 Notre Dame 60