Daily Three 3/8

 Hello,

 Well, South Dakota State missed a free throw with five seconds left to cover. Brutal! We cannot dwell on missed opportunities. We must move on. I have a great feeling about our three picks tonight.

NCAAB
Penn State Nittany Lions -1.5 (10 units wagered, 9 units won) vs Nebraska Cornhuskers
Time: 4:30 EST TV: ESPN2

 During Conference Championship week, we are going to encounter matchups where one team is fighting hard and trying to continue their season, while the other team is burned out and just wants to hit the University Golf Course. I think this matchup provides us an opportunity to take advantage of Cornhuskers team that has apparently checked out. The Cornhuskers and Nittany Lions are coming into this game with massive losing streaks. The Cornhuskers have lost four straight games, while the Nittany Lions have lost five straight games. Neither of these streaks are very encouraging obviously. However, Penn State has been fighting hard. During the losing streak, they have taken NCAA Tournament teams, Purdue and Minnesota, down to the wire. They lost on a buzzer beater against Ohio State, and they gave a solid effort against the Hawkeyes in Iowa City, which is a very hard place to play. The Cornhuskers, on the other hand, have been absolutely blown out in every game during their losing streak. Every loss has been by at least fifteen points with the worst loss coming on Sunday in their own building to the Wolverines (a 93-57 beating). The Cornhuskers appear to be over the 2016-2017 basketball season. That is unfortunate for coach, Tim Miles, who may be coaching for his job today. I think he will get one more chance to prove himself, considering he got this program to the Big Dance, a few seasons ago. Regardless, his job status will not be enough to get his team to stop wobbling. Expect the Nittany Lions to throw the knockout punch tonight in the Verizon Center.

Rutgers Scarlett Knights +8 (10 units wagered, 9 units won) vs Ohio State Buckeyes
Time: 7 EST TV: Big Ten Network

 I just wanted to take the opportunity to recognize the amazing job that Rutgers coach, Steve Pikiell, has done at the state university of New Jersey. When Pikiell took the job last year, he inherited a total wasteland. The program had dealt with scandals, poor play, and a total lack of interest from the fan base. Now at face value, 14-17 overall and 3-15 in conference doesn't look like much, but for this program, it is actually quite the accomplishment. Pikiell got this team to play hard on the defensive side of the ball and really pushed Big Ten opponents all year long. They took Wisconsin to overtime, lost to Northwestern and Iowa by very small margins, and they may have ended Illinois' Big Dane hopes on Saturday by upsetting the Illini in their building. Heck, Pikiell got the Scarlet Knights to be single digit underdogs in a Big Ten tournament game. So, hats off to Coach Pikiell. For his last act of magic, he will find a way to cover this spread.

Lehigh Mountain Hawks at Bucknell Bison -4.5 (10 units wagered, 9 units won)
Time: 7:30 EST TV: CBSSN

This Patriot League Final is between two previous Cinderellas, who will be looking to fit into another slipper. In 2012, the Mountain Hawks, led by Portland Trail Blazers star, CJ McCollum, upset the #2 seed Duke Blue Devils in one of the bigger NCAA Tournament upsets in history. The win set the stage for McCollum to move onto the NBA and become a consistent scoring threat for Portland. In 2005, The Bison dished out a shocker by beating the #3 Kansas Jayhawks. That Bison roster did not have NBA studs on it, but it did shock a Kansas squad that included future NBA players, Wayne Simien and Darnell Arthur. Although no one in those games will be playing tonight, it is important to note that whoever wins this game has a great chance to pull off an upset next weekend. I think the Bison will be that team. First, the Patriot League plays all of their tournament games on the home courts of the higher seed. Bucknell is the #1 overall seed in this tournament. Second, the Mountain Hawks are coming off of a double OT thriller against Boston University on Sunday. They are going to have some tired legs and traveling on the bus to Bucknell will probably not help. Lastly, the Bison are just a better team. The Bison are a top 100 Kenpom team at 81, while the Mountain Hawks fall outside the top 100 at 121. The Bison are solid on both sides of the ball rating in the top 100 in both offensive efficiency. Lehigh ranks outside the top 100 in both categories. In the end, I think the home court advantage and overall efficiency advantage that the Bison have will be too much for the Mountain Hawks to overcome. The Bison will roll tonight and dance for the first time since 2013.

Yesterday: 1-2
Overall: 92-87-7 (+68.5 units)
March: 10-13 (-31.5 units)