Ohio State Buckeyes at Northwestern Wildcats 2011 NCAA Basketball Preview, Odds, and Predictions: Head coach Thad Matta will lead his No. 1 undefeated Ohio State Buckeyes on the road to Welsh-Ryan Arena to take on Big Ten rival the Northwestern Wildcats on Saturday evening at 6:00 PM ET on ESPN2. The Wildcats enter the game 13-7, 3-6 8th in the Big Ten while the Buckeyes perfect record 21-0, 8-0 leaves them as the only major college team in the country without a defeat and 1st overall as well as in the Big Ten. “Our guys said it – the last time we played there we lost on a last-second shot,” coach Matta said, referring to a 72-69 loss at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Feb. 18, 2009. “Our guys have tremendous respect (for them). Honestly, now that we’ve been through this and we’ve had the ups and downs throughout the course of games, our guys understand now that this is for real: On any given night, if we don’t play well, we’re not going to like the outcome.” Freshman Deshaun Thomas believes what his coach teaches, “I learned from what coach Matta said, ‘Don’t worry about what everybody says that is good,”‘ he said. “We’re trying to win a national championship. We’ve got to get there. That’s our goal.” The odds makers at BetUS have the Ohio State Buckeyes a -10 1/2 point favorite on the road against the Northwestern Wildcats.
Ohio State is coming off an 87-64 home victory over the Purdue Boilermakers leaving them at 10-8 ATS for the season. Guard William Buford led the Buckeyes with 19 points and 4 rebounds while forward Jared Sullinger chipped in 17 points 7 boards and 2 assists. Guard Jon Diebler had an impressive game with 13 points 8 boards and 6 assists and Thomas came off the bench with 13 points 6 rebounds and 2 dimes. Ohio State is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games when playing on the road against Northwestern. Vegas odds makers have the Ohio State Buckeyes +450 to win the 2011 NCAA Championship.
The Northwestern Wildcats are coming off an 81-70 loss on the road to Minnesota leaving them at 8-6 ATS for the season. The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Northwestern’s last 5 games when playing at home against Ohio State. Vegas odds makers have the over/under for the total score at 143 points combined of the Ohio State Buckeyes and Northwestern Wildcats.
I predict a Buckeye win on the road.
Note: Rich Fritz is a Blog Writer on NSAwins.com and not a pro handicapper. For expert NFL Football Predictions against the Vegas spreads please visit the NSAwins.com homepage for top predictions today from the National Sports Advisors.