2012 Final Four picks against the spread

Hard to bet against John Calipari and his 'Cats right now, lay the points in both games. (AP Photo)

30-26-2 is the total record against the spread for the tournament heading into the final weekend.  We’ll save the longwinded analysis for the championship matchup on Monday.  Here are the quick picks for tonight’s games.

For entertainment purposes only.

Kentucky (-8) vs Louisville 6:09 p.m. CBS  Prediction:  Kentucky 76-Louisville 67 Push

Ohio State (-3) vs Kansas 7:49 p.m. CBS Prediction:  Ohio State 70  Kansas 65 Loser

NCAA Tournament 2012 Elite 8 picks against the spread

Billy Donovan will battle his former coach Rick Pitino for a spot in the Final Four. Pitino is 6-0 in head-to-head matchups against Donovan. (AP Photo)

The record from the Sweet 16 was 4-4, giving LaLa a record of 29-25-2 for the tournament.

Here are the picks for the remaining four games in the Elite 8.  For entertainment purposes only.

Louisville (+1.5) vs Florida 3:30 p.m. CBS

Analysis:  Florida seems to have hit their stride through three games in the tournament, but they have had a much easier path to the Elite 8 than Louisville — beating (10) Virginia, (15) Norfolk St. and (3) Marquette.  Louisville has taken down (13) Davidson, (5) New Mexico and (1)Michigan State.  Surprisingly, Louisville (17-43 .395) has shot the three better in the tourny than regular season-leader Florida (21-78 .269).

Louisville’s perimeter defense has the ability to limit Florida’s three-point game and the athleticism to keep up with the Gators’ speedy guards.  Offensive rebounding will be key in this game.  Florida freshman Bradley Beal could be the x-factor for Donovan, in his attempt to reach his 5th Final Four.

Matchup to watch for:  Sophomore centers — Florida’s Patric Young (6’9 247lbs) vs Louisville’s Gorgui Dieng (6’11 235lbs)

Prediction:  Florida 67, Louisville 66  Winner – Louisville 72 Florida 68 Final

Jared Sullinger (left) and Deshaun Thomas (right) will present problems for the Melo-less Syracuse. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)

Syracuse (+3) vs Ohio State 6:05 p.m. CBS

Analysis:  Syracuse has managed to get by without their suspended 7-foot center Fab Melo, but the true test will come today against the Buckeyes and Jared Sullinger.  Boeheim will need a lights-out performance from his group of guards and his 2-3 zone defense will need to get better in a hurry.  Sophomore center Baye Keite (6’10 215lbs) and freshman forward Rakeem Christmas (6’9 228lbs) will have their hands full in the paint against the more physical Sullinger (6’9 265lbs), and Buckeye forward Deshaun Thomas, averaging 25 points per game, will be instrumental in attacking Syracuse’s zone defense with the three-point shot.

This game might be won at the free throw line.  In the tournament, Ohio State is 76% at the charity stripe while Syracuse is not far behind at 72%.  Post-game note on Free Throws:  Ohio State 31-42 Syracuse 20-25

Prediction:  Ohio State 71, Syracuse 69 Loser Ohio State 77 Syracuse 70

Saturday record against the spread:  1-1

Overall tournament record against the spread:  30-26-2  .517

 

Maurice Clarett excerpt from new book “Illegal Procedure: A Sports Agent Comes Clean on the Dirty Business of College Football”

Former sports agent and current author Josh Luchs has written a new tell-all book about the uglier side of college football — ‘Illegal Procedure:  A Sports Agent Comes Clean on the Dirty Business of College Football‘.  In the book, he details troubled former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett’s shady path to the NFL.

Is there really any surprise that Clarett and Ohio State would be mentioned in a book about the dirty business in college football?

The book is scheduled to be released on March 27th.

“I got a call one day in the fall of 2004 from my wife’s brother, who, like the rest of the family, worked in real estate. In his work he’d come across someone named Hai Waknine, an Israeli “businessman” . My brother-in-law said, “Have you ever heard of a guy named Maurice Clarett?” and I started laughing because nobody who does what I do within 500 miles of a college football game hadn’t heard of Clarett.

After Ohio State won the 2002 national championship, Clarett attempted to declare his eligibility a year earlier than the NFL allows. His decision wasn’t so much trying to set a groundbreaking legal precedent as it was a practical one. He’d been suspended by Ohio State for the 2003 season for misconduct, so his choices were to sit out a whole season then play another year as an amateur, or go pro and get paid. It wasn’t a tough call.

Clarett won the first round in his legal battle for eligibility, but lost round two in a higher court. Once he lost, and his attorney Alan Milstein reported that he’d hired an agent, he forfeited all his remaining college eligibility.

At that point, he had no choice but to wait for the next draft, which was what he was doing. My brother-in-law said that Hai Waknine was taking care of Clarett – who was living at Waknine’s house – and they were looking for help in representation. Wow.

Clarett was not exactly an ethics major, but he was the kind of high-profile player that could really put us on the map. It was a chance to start recruiting big-ticket prospects again. So my brother-in-law made a call and patched me in to Hai Waknine, and other than him being a little scattered, the opportunity seemed legitimate. I started thinking I could end up representing this kid. I told Steve Feldman, the agent I was working with. Even though we’d only been together a few months, Steve trusted me and said he was all in. I put together a portfolio on Clarett.