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John, Zack, and Jeff discuss the Conference USA Saturday matchup between Western Kentucky and Marshall. Who will have the ATS advantage in this game Saturday.

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Tulsa is 10-1 in the American conference. They have managed that record because of sound defense and solid guard play offensively. Thursday they travel to face the defending champion UConn Huskies. UConn likely will not be in this year’s NCAA tournament unless they win the American conference tournament.

Coach Kevin Ollie just has not been able to get enough offense from there entire team. Guards Omar Calhoun, Sam Cassell Jr, Terrence Samuel, and Rodney Purvis just have not succeeded to help aid senior guard Ryan Boatright. Daniel Hamilton has tried to alleviate the pressure from Boatright but is probably a year away from filling that role.

In the earlier matchup between these two, Tulsa attacked UConn in half court sets at the rim. It worked and kept UConn’s transition offense in check.

The odds will surely be on UConn’s side as this is a key game for UConn and the anticipation is for a Tulsa loss. I’m don’t think that’s the right route to go with UConn’s consistent struggles to score. Kevin Ollie has tried everything to get the offense in gear and they just do not have the weapons to sustain an offensive edge against Tulsa. To win this game it’ll need to be done in a slow paced defensive battle.

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Friday there is a Pac-12 matchup between the Arizona Wildcats and Washington Huskies. Will UofA be able to bounce back after a loss to ASU? The opening spread likely will be factored as a bounce back spot even on the road for Arizona. Tune in and watch as Jeff, Zack, and John break down the game from a Vegas perspective.

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There is a striking commonality with college basketball Saturday’s conference matchups. Conference play is near the mid-point. In most conferences that means teams will square off for the second time this season.

Saturday there are a high-rate of repeat match ups throughout college basketball. Even in the NFL the second time around in most match ups presents a challenge for oddsmakers. You’ll see a vast difference in the point spread even when you factor in the home/away edge. Variables weigh-in on the line movement such as injuries, a team in decline, etc.

From a sports bettors perspective you have to be extra cautious in these second matchups. Keep in mind some of these teams will play a third time in the conference tournament. Expect close games Saturday to be the theme as defense starts to sharpen and coaches start to air out the ball late in games. Possessions get valued even more in February which limits turnovers on the road and allows coaches to execute effectively with a large shot clock.

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Down in Tucson, Arizona the Sun Devils will try to avoid a lopsided loss against the top tier Wildcats. A year ago they did defeat Arizona in a wild affair in Tempe to split the series in 2013-2014. Can they replicate last year’s fortune? It’ll be a tough accomplishment down in Tucson. It’s just an hour and a half to an hour and forty-five minute drive from Tempe to Tucson. See where Vegas handicappers Jeff, Zack, and John see the winning side from a spread standpoint.

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Experts in the sports handicapping world are a dime a dozen. Just like in fantasy sports the talk of achievement does not necessarily come to show at season’s end. The month of February can be an arduous trouble-maker for professional handicappers and sports players. Football is officially over and that means dedicated betting squarely on hoops.

Unlike football the hoops schedule is a never-ending seven day a week grind. From now until mid-March teams are pushing for viable positions before their conference tournaments.

In the power conferences seedings won’t move around very much but in the smaller conferences anything can happen. Last year Cal Poly, Milwaukee and a few others made the tournament by getting hot at the right time and winning their respective conference tournaments.

Rather than think short-term players need to think long-term. Don’t be afraid to take days off during the week even if there is a big slate of games on a Wednesday or Thursday in the NBA/college hoops. You did not handicap football seven days a week so why do it in the NBA or NCAAB?

Take some of the big slate days off and choose to evaluate teams rather than ferociously scour game action for lines. By March you’ll be in better position to make a deeper run ATS and see the results in your bankroll growth.

Conference play is one of the more difficult periods to handicap. Coaches are sharper but players are hot potatoes. Free throw shooting could be poor on a certain night. The three pointer may be falling at a ridiculous rate for the other team. Stretches of no buckets can happen in a blink of an eye. Big leads may evaporate and cause a gut-wrenching loss ATS.

The biggest difference in handicapping college basketball is the overall level of play. In the NFL for example you know the range of the Jaguars on a given Sunday. On a weekly Sunday their variance on a scale of a 1 to 10 as a team did not wane all season between the range of a 3-6. A power team like the Denver Broncos was typically in the range of a 7.5 to 9.

In college basketball though a power team that you would expect to be in the range of 7.5 to 9 could have an off-night and give an output of a 4. You can’t handicap a poor night out of the blue. It happens and you have to just file it away as a mental note of a team’s possible bottom.

All of these things and ten other factors are not “bad beats”. This is basketball.

I myself love the evaluation part of handicapping college basketball. There is truly strong money line value each and every night on underdogs of 7-12 points. Great kick backs to earn a little extra during a tough conference month. In fact personally before January I had a 51-14 ATS record. Now I sit at 87-50. That’s the exact same amount of wins/losses during that duration.

But I know with full confidence the evaluation part of handicapping will pay off before the end of the 2015 college basketball season.

Stay patient with your selections and do not get caught up in the daily point spread grind. If your looking at numbers too much than you’re already in the trap of a forthcoming free fall. Evaluating teams does not happen that way.

Good luck with the rest of conference play and if interested in sports picks services click under today’s picks. Follow me on twitter@cimini