Best & Worst CBB Teams To Bet On

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hacheman@therx.com
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Best and worst CBB teams to bet on

Chad Millman
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In the week since the Miami Hurricanes debuted atop the Sweat Barometer that I work up with Sal Selvaggio of madduxsports.com, they have: racked up three wins (at Florida State, at Clemson and at home versus a very dangerous Virginia team); come closer to being the biggest surprise winner of the ACC since before we knew how to say Krzyzewski; and firmly established themselves as the second-best team in the country behind Indiana. (At least according to the polls.)You know what Miami didn't do? Cover the spread. Against the Seminoles, the line opened at Canes minus-7, closed at minus-6 and ended in a 74-68 push. The Clemson line closed at Canes minus-6 too, and Miami barely eeked by in that one 45-43. And against Virginia, the Canes were 8.5-point favorites and won by only four, 54-50.
<!-- begin inline 4 --><!-- start sidebar table -->[h=4]What is the Sweat Barometer?[/h]The Sweat Barometer measures how well college basketball teams do against the spread -- and how much they will make you sweat when you bet them. We'll know this by tracking the margin by which they cover -- or don't. For example, in its first 23 lined games this season, Virginia covered by an average of 4.39 points. That's good.
The against-the-spread (ATS) margin is based on the closing lines for each team's games.
The Sweat Barometer will run during the college hoops season and will list each team's ATS record (overall/home/away), its RPI and its sweat margin.


<!-- end sidebar table --><!-- end inline 4 -->And yet, as they were last week, Miami is still sitting atop the weekly Sweat Barometer, at plus-6.89, down slightly from the plus-8.34 it opened at. (FWIW, the mighty Virginia Cavaliers are No. 5 at plus-4.41 and are 15-7 against the spread. That is the value of this metric: it doesn't just offer an alternative angle on why teams you know are doing well, it also lends insight into the teams that handicappers are aware might not necessarily be on your radar.) But it's worth noting that in the first two months of the season, when no one except gamblers and bookmakers were paying attention to the Canes, they had just one line that was higher than nine points (minus-9.5 at Hawaii on Dec. 22). But since they were discovered by the rest of us fans in late January -- their first appearance in the Top 25 was the week of Jan. 28 -- they have had three spreads of nine points or greater, two more that were seven or higher and two more that were six. There was one pick 'em in that eight-game run, a 79-78 win at NC State.
It's no surprise their Sweat Barometer number has dropped. The spreads involving their games have been adjusted to more accurately reflect how good the Canes really are. And since they are clearly a potential No. 1 seed in the NCAA tourney, they have instantly become a résumé builder. Bubble teams that play them well or can pull off the miracle upset suddenly look a lot better.
Which is all a way of saying, too bad you weren't paying attention earlier in the year when there was real value in the Canes. But take a look at the rankings below. Maybe there will be some other team that catches your eye.
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<!-- begin inline 1 -->[h=4]Sweat Barometer Ranking Top 25 (minimum 18 games ATS)[/h]
Team (AP Rank)SUATSATS/HATS/ASBClosing LineRPI
Miami Hurricanes (2)22-3-015-6-19-1-06-3-16.89-4.522
Florida Gators (5)21-4-014-8-07-4-07-4-05.02-13.74
Colorado State Rams (22)21-5-012-9-16-3-14-6-04.86-4.5913
Towson Tigers15-13-014-8-04-4-010-4-04.414.36163
Virginia Cavaliers18-8-015-8-011-2-04-6-04.39-576
Southern Miss Golden Eagles21-6-014-10-05-3-07-7-04.38-3.2937
Gonzaga Bulldogs (3)26-2-014-11-17-6-05-4-13.87-12.8712
North Dakota State Bison20-7-015-9-06-4-07-5-03.83-8.0878
Eastern Kentucky Colonels22-6-011-7-13-6-18-1-03.79-2.4268
Indiana Hoosiers (1)24-3-014-10-09-5-04-3-03.77-16.277
Indiana State Sycamores16-11-014-10-05-4-06-6-03.62.8163
UC Davis Aggies11-14-014-10-14-5-18-5-03.463.98230
Weber State Wildcats19-5-011-9-15-4-16-5-03.45-6.79112
Oklahoma State Cowboys (14)19-6-012-10-27-6-13-4-03.44-6.7723
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs24-3-014-8-16-4-06-4-13.28-6.7247
Oklahoma Sooners17-8-014-7-07-2-05-4-03.02-1.3117
Samford Bulldogs10-17-014-8-16-2-08-6-138.48268
Western Michigan Broncos16-9-012-9-05-2-05-7-02.981.74111
Appalachian State Mountaineers12-15-014-8-04-4-010-4-02.916.05254
Arizona State Sun Devils20-7-014-8-08-5-05-2-02.91-1.2771
La Salle Explorers18-6-09-11-05-5-04-6-02.88-4.9235
Western Illinois Leathernecks19-6-015-6-06-2-07-4-02.81-3.19100
George Washington Colonials12-12-012-8-06-4-06-4-02.751.9125
Georgetown Hoyas (11)20-4-013-7-06-5-05-1-02.75-4.116
Colorado Buffaloes17-8-014-9-06-4-05-5-02.7-1.5722

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<!-- end inline 1 --><!-- begin inline 2 -->[h=4]Remaining AP Top 25 (minimum 18 games ATS)[/h]
Team (AP Rank)SUATSHome ATSAway ATSSBClosing LineRPI
Louisville Cardinals (10)21-5-013-12-15-7-16-3-02.4-13.216
Marquette Golden Eagles (17)19-6-011-10-05-5-04-4-01.88-3.5514
Oregon Ducks (23)21-5-010-13-06-7-04-5-01.87-6.2238
Michigan Wolverines (7)22-4-013-11-07-6-03-5-01.31-11.569
Wisconsin Badgers (19)19-8-011-14-07-7-04-5-01.16-7.7228
Duke Blue Devils (6)22-3-013-12-06-7-01-5-01.14-11.91
Syracuse Orange (8)22-4-014-8-09-4-05-4-01-11.4111
Butler Bulldogs (15)22-5-016-9-07-5-06-3-00.9-5.6221
Pittsburgh Panthers (20)20-7-09-11-04-7-04-3-00.83-7.6739
Kansas Jayhawks (9)22-4-011-13-19-7-02-5-10.78-11.385
Kansas State Wildcats (13)21-5-09-11-17-4-02-5-10.67-4.919
Memphis Tigers (21)23-3-010-13-04-9-05-2-00.15-10.824
Arizona Wildcats (12)22-4-011-13-06-6-04-5-0-0.15-10.5210
Michigan State Spartans (4)22-5-011-12-16-7-04-5-1-0.19-7.318
New Mexico Lobos (16)22-4-013-9-27-3-25-4-0-0.85-6.853
Ohio State Buckeyes (18)19-7-013-11-08-6-04-4-0-0.94-11.5630
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (25)21-6-012-12-06-8-04-3-0-1.17-7.2943
VCU Rams (24)21-6-08-12-06-4-01-6-0-1.2-9.4536

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<!-- end inline 2 --><!-- begin inline 3 -->[h=4]SB Bottom 5 (minimum 18 games ATS)[/h]
Team (AP Rank)SUATSHome ATSAway ATSSBClosing LineRPI
Mississippi State Bulldogs7-18-08-13-03-5-05-5-0-4.269.26233
North Texas Mean Green10-18-010-13-04-5-04-8-0-4.890.33259
Marshall Thundering Herd12-15-05-16-13-7-12-9-0-5.251.98205
Furman Paladins6-20-08-13-04-6-04-7-0-5.297.86345
IUPUI Jaguars6-22-06-18-01-7-04-9-0-5.527.98306

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