The Starting Five

On this episode of The Starting Five, I recap what’s taken place since last time. A handful of high quality games and high quality beatdowns are all on the ledger today.

Villanova 76 Wisconsin 66 (OT): 0:00-2:32

Seton Hall 72 Providence 67: 2:33-4:43

Kentucky 78 St. John’s 66: 4:44-7:36

Houston 94 Arkansas 85: 7:37-9:53

North Carolina 71 Ohio State 70: 9:54-12:03

Texas Tech 82 Duke 81: 12:04-14:57

Others/Villanova @ Seton Hall: 14:58-22:35

On this episode of The Starting Five, I make my rerun after giving out the worst bet in the history of basketball. I also recap what’s missed, and what we have to look ahead to (not much).

Best Bet: Xavier -2.5 ❌ (deserves two losses)

YTD Record: 10-7

Vanderbilt 77 Memphis 70: 0:00-2:21

Creighton 98 Xavier 57: 2:22-6:39

Previews:

Villanova vs Wisconsin: 6:40-9:14

Seton Hall @ Providence/Others: 9:15-12:46

On this episode of The Starting Five, I breakdown Tuesday’s (light) action, and preview Wednesday’s (lighter) action. I bet against my Alma mater, though I think I provide plenty of reasoning and logic behind the pick (side note: I’m on fire picking games off the pod this month, so either ride the wave, or sell high. The latter is probably a better idea).

Best Bets Result: Tennessee +1 💰

YTD: 10-6

Tennessee 83 Louisville 62: 0:00-3:58

Other Games (shoutout Miami Ohio): 3:59-6:52

Previews:

Vanderbilt @ Memphis: 6:53-9:44

Creighton @ Xavier: 9:45-17:29

Best Bet: Xavier -2.5

Arizona State @ UCLA: 17:30-19:44

On this episode of The Starting Five, I kick it off with something different. Noted college basketball pariah Jeff Goodman set the (very niche) CBB Twitter (X) sphere on fire by claiming today had no good games. Fair or foul? (Spoiler Alert: Fair). Joel Klatt then said the NCAA Tournament sucks and is stupid. Fair or Foul? (Spoiler Alert: a little fair but mostly very foul). I then do a normal preview.

Jeff Goodman: 0:00-2:22

Joel Klatt: 2:23-6:47

Previews:

Illinois @ Tennessee: 6:48-12:01

Best Bet: Tennessee +1

YTD Record: 9-6

Butler @ UConn: 12:02-14:02

UC San Diego @ Loyola Marymount: 14:03-17:20

Others: 17:21-19:51

On this episode of The Starting Five, I recap the last few days (90% Saturday because we still pretend these are students and thus they can’t play games during the week). I highlight a few of the big games, but then swing around to other notables you might have missed. This includes, LSU, SMU, Santa Clara, Radford, North Texas, and more!

Best Bet: Nebraska -1.5 (from Thursday) 💰

YTD: 9-6

Intro/Nebraska’s Two Wins: 0:00-6:11

Arizona 96 Alabama 75: 6:12-9:12

Kansas 77 NC State 76 (OT): 9:13-13:56

Arkansas 93 Texas Tech 86: 13:57-16:53

Kentucky 72 Indiana 60: 16:54-18:55

Whip Around: 18:56-26:46

On this episode of The Starting Five, I recap another devastating close loss for Florida, an infinitely more devastating loss for Clemson, and another loss for Ohio State that shows they’re probably a Crown team. I also look to get back in the Best Bets win column after (incorrectly) being gun shy yesterday.

UConn 77 Florida 73: 0:00-4:13

BYU 67 Clemson 64: 4:14-8:58

Illinois 88 Ohio State 80: 8:59-11:51

Other Notes: 11:52-12:58

Previews:

Wisconsin @ Nebraska 12:59-18:12

Best Bet: Nebraska +1.5

YTD: 8-6

On this episode of The Starting Five, I recap the weekend that was, including Duke and Iowa State’s big road games. I touch on a handful of scores, and give a breakdown of tomorrow’s top heavy slate.

Best Bets Results: YTD 8-6

Tennessee -1.5 ❌

Marquette +11.5 ❌

Duke 66 Michigan State 60: 0:00-3:51

Illinois 75 Tennessee 62: 3:52-7:31

Iowa State 81 Purdue 58: 7:32-10:52

Louisville 87 Indiana 78: 10:53-12:53

Weekend Roundup: 12:54-18:45

Previews:

Florida vs UConn: 18:46-21:12

Clemson vs BYU: 21:13-25:04

Illinois @ Ohio State: 25:05-27:30

On this episode of The Starting Five, I do a quick preview, and then get into an absolutely loaded Saturday Slate. Two games feature KenPom top 10 squads facing off, with other great supplemental games as well.

Best Bets (8-4 YTD):

Tennessee -1.5

Marquette +11.5

Gonzaga 95 Kentucky 59: 0:00-4:17

Xavier 79 Cincinnati 74: 4:18-5:32

Previews

Duke @ Michigan State 5:33-8:44

Illinois vs Tennessee: 8:45-12:44

Iowa State @ Purdue: 12:45-15:52

Louisville @ Indiana: 15:53-17:45

Marquette @ Wisconsin: 17:46-22:15

On this episode of The Starting Five, I take the opportunity to go around the country at large and give thoughts on various topics due to the lack of games. This is the place to go for all of my random musings on the sport.

South Florida 74 Utah State 61: 0:00-2:03

Preview:

Gonzaga vs Kentucky: 2:04-5:41

ACC vs SEC: 5:42-9:08

*A Sunday best bet preview where I will lose a lot of money if the KenPom line is accurate (and I don’t think it will be) because it features the team I think is the most underrated and overrated in the entire country* 9:09-10:49

The difference of this SEC vs last year: 10:50-12:17

The Dubai MTE/a warning to CBK: 12:18-19:35

Positive Mid Majors: 19:36-22:11

Bad Mid Majors: 22:12-25:37 (+Cal Baptist)

Great at half of basketball: 25:38-28:09

Buys and Sells: 28:10-32:14

On this episode of The Starting Five, I recap the final day of the ACC/SEC challenge. A weak Thursday slate leaves us light on recaps, but a good day of hoops gives plenty to breakdowns.

Best Bets Result: NC State +6.5 ❌

YTD: 8-4

Arkansas 89 Louisville 80: 0:00-4:19

Auburn 83 NC State 73: 4:20-7:55

Virginia 88 Texas 69: 7:56-9:26

Alabama 90 Clemson 84: 9:27-12:29

Vanderbilt 88 SMU 69: 12:30-13:50

ACC/SEC Challenge: 13:51-15:06

Previews

Utah State @ South Florida: 15:07-17:49