Dennis Macklin's Free Pick
Drexel vs. Old Dominion, Take Drexel Dragons

Old Dominion has been a ticket incinerator of late. The Monarch are 7-3 SU L10 but just 3-7 ATS with five of the wins coming by six or less. Old Dom is 2-8 ATS after scoring less 60, 1-6 ATS L7 vs. winning records and 0-5 as a CAA home fave. Drexel hasn't loss a conference game by six yet this year and routed Old Dominion in first meeting 61-42. In that game, Dragons led 31-10 at half, outrebounded the Monarchs 47-29, and held ODU to just 14-49 shooting from the field. Getting a very generous 7.5 here, take Drexel.


Matt Fargo's Free Pick
Pacific vs. California Polytechnic, Take Pacific Tigers

Pacific has a nice run going with eight wins in its last 11 games. The Tigers are no longer the class of the Big West Conference but they are still a solid and veteran team that has plenty of time to make noise down the stretch. They are 4-4 away from home this season, going 4-2 in their last six with losses to conference leader Cal-Irvine and in overtime at UTEP. The Tigers have always been known for efficiency and this year is no different as they are shooting 48.5 percent from the floor, 20th in the country.

Cal Poly is a very surprising 3-2 in the Big West thanks to its two most recent wins over Riverside and Santa Barbara. Those teams have RPI’s of 313 and 246 respectively so while they are wins, they aren’t good wins. The Mustangs have an RPI of 302 so their spot in 3rd place in the conference is simple due to playing a weak schedule thus far. They have yet to defeats a team with an RPI better than 238 while two of their five wins have come against non-division I teams.

This is an extremely young Cal Poly team as five of the nine players averaging 3.5 ppg or more are freshmen and there are only two seniors on the roster getting playing time. 11 different players have made starts which does not help the cohesiveness of the youngsters. Cal Poly is 215th in shooting offense and 242nd in shooting defense. The part that is even worse is the Mustangs dismal 0.753 assist/turnover ratio. They are dead last in the Big West in assists per game.

Pacific is shooting nearly just as well on the road as it is hitting 47.8 percent of its shots while the defense is almost as stifling, holding opponents to just 41.9 percent from the floor. Pacific has owned this series, winning the last four meetings by an average of 17.3 ppg. Granted, those were with much better Tigers’ teams but those were also with much better Poly teams as well. Dating back to 2003-04, the Tigers have won 23 of their last 28 road games. Play Pacific Tigers One Unit



These picks are by courtesy of ProCappers Free Picks Chick