Weekly Basketball Picks: 1/3-1/9

Now that conference play has started, it should get very interesting.

Record: 7-3 (Overall: 56-19)
Kentucky over Louisville - And now I'm already tired of all the undefeated talk.
Gonzaga over BYU - Ok everyone, start working on your lame excuses for why Gonzaga shouldn't be a #1 seed.
Indiana over Georgetown - It went to OT, so I wasn't that wrong.
Georgia St. over Green Bay - It looks like home court advantage comes into play for these two teams more than I thought.
Xavier over FGCU - I think I want FGCU to be better than they really are.
Michigan St. over Maryland - Again, 2 OTs, so I wasn't all that wrong.
Ohio St. over Iowa - Is this the year that Iowa finally doesn't choke under pressure?
Villanova over Butler - I'm proud that I predicted Nova as the best team that no one was talking about before the season.
Wyoming over UNLV - So much for UNLV beginning a big run of games.
California over Washington - Nailed it!

West Virginia at TCU (Saturday)
People've questioned TCU's legitimacy so far. They are undefeated with super easy non-conference schedule. They are a balanced team, with only Kyan Anderson averaging over 10 ppg. Even as the home team, that worries me since I don't see a star on the team. West Virginia is used to unfriendly environments too. I'm giving the Horned Frogs one more game before the pressure gets to them.
Winner: TCU

Baylor at Oklahoma (Saturday)
The bears are too much of a team of leftovers from better recruiting classes for me to think they are anything more than a team who doesn't get rattled. Oklahoma has defense, depth, and home court.
Winner: Oklahoma

Virginia at Miami (Saturday)
Let me make this clear, Virginia will probably run away with this, but if I'm on upset watch, I will look to an experienced team with a great back court playing at home. The Cavaliers will win, but I wouldn't be shocked to see it stay close or even go the other way.
Winner: Virginia

Washington at Stanford (Sunday)
 A lot of people expected big things from Stanford this year after their surprise sweet 16 last season. Washington is looking very vulnerable after losing to Stony Brook at home. And playing on the road? I think we're looking at a fire sale for Washington right now.
Winner: Stanford

Oklahoma at Texas (Monday)
Tough week for Oklahoma. I'm still very high on Texas (will they have Isaiah Taylor back yet?), so I expect this to be an easy win.
Winner: Texas

Indiana at Michigan St. (Monday)
I basically never know when to buy in on Indiana and when to sell. Beating Nebraska on the road is impressive though and Troy Williams and Hanner Mosquera-Parea are looking like a much more formidable front court than I expected. Screw it, I'm picking Hoosiers!
Winner: Indiana

Notre Dame at UNC (Monday)
Overachievers vs. underachievers. I'll take the take with Marcus Paige playing at home. Maybe the Tar Heels are finally ready to play as well as they look on paper.
Winner: UNC

Villanova at St. Johns (Tuesday)
The Seton Hall loss for St. John's takes away some of the luster to this. Both teams are very experienced. I like Villanova's depth over St. John's talent though.
Winner: Villanova

Kansas at Baylor (Wednesday)
Am I really choosing two Baylor games this week? Wow, the Big 12 must be better than I thought. Even though I like the Jayhawks overall more this season, I think that until they get all their highly-touted freshmen playing like they should I'm going to have to pick the veteran home team.
Winner: Baylor

Georgia St. at Louisiana Lafayette (Thursday)
Aka: The only Sun Belt game worth watching. LoLa's Shawn Long is a potential pro one day and Georgia St. has, as I like to point out nearly every week, that fantastic back court. I'm starting to learn that this is not a league for performing well on the road so that makes this one a bit easier.
Winner: Louisiana Lafayette