Game Time: 4:30 PM  ET, Friday, March 17th, 2022

Venue: Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Where to Watch:  TBS

 

DraftKings Sportsbook:  Longhorns -1; O/U 123.5

Caesars:  Spread:  NL

VegasInsider:  Spread:  Longhorns -1; O/U 123.5

FanDuel: Spread: Longhorns -1; O/U 123.5

Hokies: 23-12 overall, 11-9 in the ACC,     11th seed East 

Longhorns: 21-11 overall, 10-8 in the Big12,     6th seed East

A NCAA mid-level matchup between two very close teams.  Virginia Tech had 11 wins in the ACC this season.  Texas had 10 wins in the Big 12.  Neither of these teams are giants.  Vegas agrees with the nearly pick em’ point spread…. Also the low scoring Over/Under total of 123.5.  Everyone feels this will be a great game… a real traditional down to the wire March Madness burner.  I don’t.  You do not need help filling out your bracket… you need help deciding where to put your game by game betting cash.  The bankroll this time of year in college basketball can grow quickly.  You simply have to be decisive.  The only thing that will let us know how to be decisive is the numbers…. Virginia Tech has a guy that kills the numbers.  6’7 forward Justyn Mutts…. His stats do not point to a Kobe Bryant… instead this ia a Draymond Green type… buried deeply in anonymity.  Justin bring 10 ppg, 3.4 apg, 7.4 rpg, 1.2 stpg, and 1.0 bpg.  Nothing jumps off the page… until you realize that Justyn leads his team in assists, rebounds, steals, and blocks.  Justyn opens the floor for the Hokies with a little offense… a lot of defense… and heads up play.  Justyn will do it all.  Justyn is a coaches dream.  The Hokies should be worried about their guard play if the assist leader on their team only brings 3.4 assists per game… and plays forward.  Still the Hokies have a floor leader worth watching.  The Longhorns have Timmy Allen… a 6’6 Forward who leads the team in points, rebounds, and steals.  Timmy is 12.3 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 2.1 apg and 1.3 stpg.  If you pay attention closely you will see that in this first round matchup the team’s best players have similar skill sets and will be going HEAD-to-HEAD.  That’s right, both teams have a two-way small forward butting heads.  This is March Madness… it’s literally a who is better right now man on man matchup up.

Virginia Tech did not look all that special in the ACC this season… then the conference tournament hit!  VT was getting thrashed in and out of the conference… they lost to Xavier, Memphis, Wake Forest, Dayton., Duke, North Carolina State, University of Virginia, UNC, Miami.  It was tough sledding.  Then they won 8 of their last ten games on the season.  When the tournament started they were no one's pick.  In the ACC tournament the Hokies beat (in order) Clemson, Notre Dame, UNC, and finally DUKE.  Duke was having another emotional goodbye for Mike Kzyzewski and his wonderful ACC tournament winning record… VT wasn’t hearing any of it.  They blew Duke out of the water 82-67 for the win and they were 5.5 point underdogs.  That is a big swing!  Plus the entire tournament was a revenge tour… They throttled 3 teams that beat them in regular season play and 1 team that dared to think about beating them… they went 3-1 ATS in the tournament.  This team has definitely had a come to Jesus moment… The first tournament game against Clemson almost ended it all… Virginia Tech beat Clemson by 1 point in overtime… everything since then has been a whole new group.  An addition to the Tension in this game is Virginia Tech coach Rick Barnes… who was fired from Texas back in 2015.  Barnes then took the VT job and immediately increased the Volunteers win total in each of his first four seasons… exactly as he had done in Texas!  Barnes will want to chew up the Longhorns and spit them back into Austin.

The Texas Longhorns have a fugazzi ranking.  There is no other explanation for them being a 6th seed.  The tournament selection committee knows they are casting one of the highest rated TV shows that must protect its ratings turf every spring.  Texas lost their last 2 regular season games to Kansas and Baylor… both good teams… They then lost the first game of the Big12 tournament to TCU (a so-so team).  So, the Longhorns on a three-game losing streak… that did zero damage in the Big12 tournament.  That lost to TCU SU and ATS while being the favorite in the game.  That lost 1 game less… AND won two games less than VT (because they played 3 games less)... get’s let into the tournament AS A 6 SEED?... The Longhorns should be a 10-12 seed if they should be in the tournament at all.  Oh… and their 6’9 Center Tre Mitchell is out with injury!  This is a bracket trap game.  Lots of people will simply fill in Texas to advance because they are a 6 playing an 11.  That is a mistake.  Texas Longhorns coach Chris Beard is in his first highly paid season in Austin… he was a young assistant coach at the University of North Texas back in 98’ when Rick Barnes started building the Texas program he would inherit decades later.  These are not his players (recruiting)... and Rick Barnes is the savvy vet that is about to teach the highly paid kid a lesson.

Al McMordie was 0-2 in the NBA yesterday, and is 78-52 his last 130. Big Al was 28-19-1 in the Conference Tourneys, and was 4-0-1 in last year's NIT. Here, pick up Big Al's Tuesday NIT Tourney Winner out of a super 18-2 ATS angle. Pick it up right now, and HIT IT HARD! Don't miss out! Get Big Al’s pick!!  It's available right now at the Shop Picks page, where you can find all of the Best Bets from our champion sports handicappers. Also don’t miss Monday’s picks!!  All your NCAA basketball needs for the entire college basketball season!  All your needs in any sport for that matter!   

Our prediction for Friday, March 18th is… Virginia Tech 78 - Texas 75

Look for Texas to extend their losing streak to 4 games.  Enjoy having 1 point in your pocket that you will not need.   If there is time then scratch out that immediate advance you gave Texas on your bracket and simply pencil in VT.  

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These schools play each other in football, but have no head to head basketball matchups since before 1997.

Virginia Tech is 5-1 ATS off an upset win versus a conference rival as an underdog the last 3 seasons.

Texas is 1-6 as a neutral court favorite the last 3 seasons.

Texas is 3-10 ATS after 3 consecutive conference games the last 3 seasons.  

Virginia Tech: No injuries to report.

Texas: C Tre Mitchell Out

Virginia Tech: Hunter Cantor, Anaheim Alleyne, Storm Murphy, Keve Aluma, Justyn Mutts

Texas: Timmy Allen, Andrew Jones, Marcus Carr, Courtney Ramey, Christian Bishop

VT

Points: Keve Aluma 15.8

Assists: Justyn Mutts 3.4

Rebounds: Justyn Mutts 7.4

Steals: Justyn Mutts 1.2

Blocks: 1.0

UT

Points: Timmy Allen 12.3

Assists: Marcus Carr 3.2

Rebounds: Timmy Allen 6.5

Steals: Timmy Allen 1.3

Blocks: Christian Bishop 0.9

VT: Rick Barnes

UT: Chris Beard