Until further notice, I will always ,at least consider, taking the 'under' when Merrimack is playing. Through five games, the Warriors have hit the 'under' every time, by no fewer than 4.5 points. I went under the 123.5 at Virginia Tech last night and hit it with ease (the total was 115). Tomorrow I won't be able to bet Merrimack-Hartford (I'm in CT, after all), but that doesn't mean you can't! Also yesterday; I really wanted to take Bryant -8.5 against Holy Cross, but I didn

Standings: As always during non-conference play, sorted by Adjusted Efficiency Margin (aka Kenpom rankings) NEC Team of the Week: Mount St. Mary's Sure, the Mount went just 1-1 on the week, and their win over Robert Morris wasn't as impressive as, say, Bryant's victory over Holy Cross or Merrimack knocking off Lehigh. However, it was not a great week for the NEC as a whole, so when you knock off the school that left the league less than 24 months ago, you deserve props. After

For the second Saturday in a row, I didn't publish a Best Bets column yesterday. I'm assistant coaching a 5th grade travel basketball team, and we had our first scrimmage at 8am yesterday morning. The good news? We won 45-31 despite some major homerism on the count of the college-aged ref. The bad news? We took ~5 shots with our heels on the three-point line. That can't happen, boys! On to the NEC; Friday night was a great night in our little corner of the college hoops unive

Last night's NEC docket featured three buy games, with Northeast Conference squads all 20+ point underdogs. I took Virginia Tech -20.5 based on how good the Hokies have looked in the early going, and while the Red Flash kept it close for awhile, ultimately Saint Francis (PA) lost 85-55. The best performance of the evening came from the other St. Francis. The Brooklyn guys hung with Penn State before falling 74-59, easily covering the 20.5 spread. Patrick Emilien put up 16 poi

After what looked like a nice start for the Northeast Conference as a whole, it's been a major struggle of late; especially this week. Based on Kenpom's projections, the NEC should have ~5 wins on the season and they have 4. So, not a huge difference. However, the scoring margins tell a different story; again, using Kenpom's spreads, the NEC was projected to be outscored by 240 points so far. In actuality? They've lost by a total of 465 points. That's nearly double! Merrimack

While I was at Mohegan Sun last night watching Central Connecticut hang with NC State for the better part of 30 minutes, I was able to scratch out another win as Kentucky covered the 23.5 points in a 90-55 win over Mount St. Mary's. That's a 3-game win streak! We have a full 4-game NEC slate tonight, and my first thought was to take Long Island +26 at UConn, but I'm not sure I trust the Sharks after last week's west coast trip. I need to see more. Saint Peter's at Wagner is p

In the lone NEC game on the docket last night, I took Clemson -11.5 over Bryant, largely because I was worried about two things; Bryant turnovers, and the Clemson frontline. Turnovers weren't an issue; in fact, they coughed it up just 9 times (13%). However, Clemson was too much for Bryant up front. Led by P.J. Hall (7 of 12 from two) and Hunter Tyson, Clemson converted 14 of 22 at the rim, which ultimately opened up the 3-ball to the Tigers in the 2nd half (they finished 10

Taking the under 143.5 in the Brown-CCSU game yesterday felt like easy money; while some saw Brown putting up 87 on North Carolina as a sign that this Bears team was suddenly offensive-minded, the analytics new that was a 1-game anomaly. A 1-game slate tonight; Bryant at Clemson. I don't love the line, but I have to bet it. Them's the rules. A reminder; this is not gambling or financial advice, and I'm not suggesting anyone copy me. These are my bets, and my bets only. Season

Every week I will go through the NEC schedule (D1 games only; games against non-D1s don't exist in my world) and highlight some games to watch. As always, point spreads are per Kenpom. All NEC home games can be found on NEC Front Row. Monday, 11/15: Bryant (+15) at Clemson, 7pm, ACCNetwork Tuesday, 11/16: Mount St. Mary's (+25) at Kentucky, 7pm, SEC Network Central Connecticut (+24) vs. NC State at Mohegan Sun, 8pm, FloSports Wednesday, 11/17: Central Connecticut (+10) vs. UM

The first week of the college hoops season is in the books, and it was a reasonably strong one for the NEC; Kenpom projected the league would win ~4.3 games (against D1 competition), and Northeast Conference teams won...4 games. What could have been a huge week for the league flamed out over the weekend with St. Francis-Brooklyn and Sacred Heart both losing home games in which they were favored. Standings: During the conference season, I'll sort the standings by Efficiency Ma