College Hoops Underdog

[theoddsfather]

The OddsFather scored again yesterday with his college hoops underdog as 9-point underdog Loyola Marymount won outright over a Saint Louis team with an extremely unfavorable travel situation. Wednesday we have an injury based underdog play that is just as strong and again believe will win the game outright,



Virginia Tech +3




Minnesota will be shorthanded and possibly fatigued Wednesday when they host Virginia Tech in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.




The Gophers have suffered a rash of injuries this week and none more important the torn acl suffered by leading scorer and rebounder Trevor Mbakwe, who will miss the remainder of the season. Mbakwe was averaging 14 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.1 steals, and 1.7 blocks per game while shooting .604 from the field and a very respectable .727 from the free throw line for a big man. Mbakwe was one of the best defensive players in the Big Ten and was the Gophers go to guy when they needed a basket. Here is just one example of his importance to this team. Mbakwe is averaging 9.1 rebounds per game and the next closest player is averaging 3.7 per game so averages almost triple the rebounds of the next closest player on the team. That type of production cannot be understated.




The Gophers will also be without starting center Ralph Sampson III, who is the son of NBA Hall of Famer Ralph Sampson. The younger Sampson was averaging 20 minutes, almost 6 points and was the second leading rebounder pulling down 3.7 per game as mentioned earlier.




The Gophers may also be without second leading scorer Austin Hollins who bruised his knee in practice Monday and did not practice yesterday. Hollins averages 10.3 points and 2.1 assists while playing 25 minutes per game. Hollins is officially listed as probable but if he plays he will likely be less than 100percent.




This game fits one of the most key situations when dealing with injury value and that is a team's first game without star players. In the case of Mbakwe, who will be out for the season, once a team has had to play several games without a star player then normally new players get adjusted to new roles and eventually the team develops some type of consistency again and will actually go through an upswing ATS. Yet the first game or two without the star player are the most difficult for a team as they have not yet been able to get acclimated to new roles or a new system they will have to run to make up for the loss.




This game is a great example of this as Minnesota will definitely be without it's two best big men and may be without it's best back court player, who should be at least limited in this game. To make matters worse the Gophers will be playing their fifth game since November 21 and five games in nine days is more than the norm.




The Gophers are 6-1 and have a great, well known coach in Tubby Smith, who won a national championship while at Kentucky and that is likely as far as the public is looking at this game. Yet once we break down the injuries and the difficulty of the schedule we find that Minnesota is in a real bind tonight and probably should not be favored in this game. Look for a very physical Virginia Tech team to exploit the void left in the middle by the loss of Mbakwe and Sampson and get the high profile road win tonight.

[Gobbler's Knob]

I'm on them small for many of the same reasons. Just not a fan of the line movement. Good luck

[BOBBYW]

gl..

[LOCKsmith]

Good Luck!
This is a nice one right here

[LordCC]

Good luck tonight Odds!

[mgman2121]

Like it as well... I thought va tech would open up as favorites guess I was wrong...Gl