The West Virginia Moutnaineers travel to the Gampel Pavilion in Connecticut to take on the Huskies tonight in a Big East showdown.  West Va. is ranked in no.8 in the country with a 21-5 record and UConn is unranked with just a 16-11 record. West Va. is coming off an easy win, beating Seton Hall Saturday in Morgantown.  They covered their 11.5 point spread by a half point.  UConn just beat Rutgers over the weekend where they were 6 point underdogs.

Three of the five losses for West Va. have come on the road. They are simply not as good on the road as at home.  They lost to Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, and Purdue on the road and Syracuse and Villanova at home.  The fact is this; West Va. with Bob Huggins (Huggy Bear) is a top tear basketball team. They are ranked 8th in the country and play in the nations best conference (sorry ACC fans).   UConn is a mediocre team.  Half of their 16 wins have come against non-competing schools like Colgate, William & Mary, Boston U., and Harvard just to name a few. But they do have impressive wins against Notre Dame, Texas, and Villanova.

Coach Huggins will have his team primed up and ready to make a run at the big dance. Look for the Mountaineers to win and cover the three points easily in this one.

Current streak:
West Virginia has won 2 straight games.
Connecticut has won 2 straight games.

Team records:
West Virginia: 21-5 SU, 11-14 ATS
Connecticut: 16-11 SU, 11-14 ATS

West Virginia most recently:
When playing on Monday are 6-4
Before playing Cincinnati are 5-2
After playing Seton Hall are 3-7
After a win are 6-4

Connecticut most recently:
When playing on Monday are 8-2
Before playing Louisville are 6-2
After playing Rutgers are 8-2
After a win are 5-5

A few trends to consider:
West Virginia is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 4 of West Virginia's last 5 games
West Virginia is 8-2 SU in its last 10 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of West Virginia's last 5 games when playing Connecticut
Connecticut is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games when playing at home against West Virginia
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Connecticut's last 7 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Connecticut's last 5 games
Connecticut is 8-2 SU in its last 10 games when playing West Virginia

Next up:
West Virginia home to Cincinnati, Saturday, February 27
Connecticut home to Louisville, Sunday, February 28

stats by bodog