Re: 1-5-10
Matt Fargo
South Florida +2 (-110)
Notre Dame is being favored by a bucket on name alone, nothing new there. Back the South Florida Bulls on Tuesday night when they host the Fighting Irish.
I don’t think Notre Dame should be favored in this spot. The Irish are coming off their first true road game of the season at Connecticut and it was not a good result as they lost by 12 points to move to 1-1 in the Big East so far this year.
They are 12-3 overall but this has come by way of playing a schedule ranked 316th in the nation.
Notre Dame has a big advantage down low with Big East Preseason Player of the Year Luke Harangody who is averaging 24.2 ppg and 10.1 rpg. He could have a very big game here as the Bulls are not a big team with the loss of Augustus Gilchrist but that does not lead to a definite as he put up 31 points against the Huskies, over 44 percent of the total points, and it still resulted in a loss.
This game will be won up top and while the guard play of Notre Dame has been solid, a lot of that was due to the schedule already played.
South Florida lost its Big East opener at Louisville which was a disappointment as the Bulls trailed by just a point at the half before a big run to start the second half by the Cardinals enabled them to run away with it.
The Bulls are 10-3 on the season which is tied for the best start in school history so this is definitely a team on the rise and they are no longer the punching bag of the conference.
The guard trio of Dominique Jones, Chris Howard and Mike Mercer has had a solid start to the season as they are averaging a combined 34.8 ppg and 10.2 apg. They match up very well with the Notre Dame backcourt and forward/center Jarrid Famous will need to hold his own against Harangody.
Only Louisville dominated South Florida but again that was just for a half as the other two losses came by just by three points. This is a much stronger team at home and even when the Bulls were much weaker the past few years, they gave fits to a lot of elite teams down in South Florida.
This could be a signature win to start the season and one to provide some momentum heading into a tough stretch coming up.
Matt Fargo
South Florida +2 (-110)
Notre Dame is being favored by a bucket on name alone, nothing new there. Back the South Florida Bulls on Tuesday night when they host the Fighting Irish.
I don’t think Notre Dame should be favored in this spot. The Irish are coming off their first true road game of the season at Connecticut and it was not a good result as they lost by 12 points to move to 1-1 in the Big East so far this year.
They are 12-3 overall but this has come by way of playing a schedule ranked 316th in the nation.
Notre Dame has a big advantage down low with Big East Preseason Player of the Year Luke Harangody who is averaging 24.2 ppg and 10.1 rpg. He could have a very big game here as the Bulls are not a big team with the loss of Augustus Gilchrist but that does not lead to a definite as he put up 31 points against the Huskies, over 44 percent of the total points, and it still resulted in a loss.
This game will be won up top and while the guard play of Notre Dame has been solid, a lot of that was due to the schedule already played.
South Florida lost its Big East opener at Louisville which was a disappointment as the Bulls trailed by just a point at the half before a big run to start the second half by the Cardinals enabled them to run away with it.
The Bulls are 10-3 on the season which is tied for the best start in school history so this is definitely a team on the rise and they are no longer the punching bag of the conference.
The guard trio of Dominique Jones, Chris Howard and Mike Mercer has had a solid start to the season as they are averaging a combined 34.8 ppg and 10.2 apg. They match up very well with the Notre Dame backcourt and forward/center Jarrid Famous will need to hold his own against Harangody.
Only Louisville dominated South Florida but again that was just for a half as the other two losses came by just by three points. This is a much stronger team at home and even when the Bulls were much weaker the past few years, they gave fits to a lot of elite teams down in South Florida.
This could be a signature win to start the season and one to provide some momentum heading into a tough stretch coming up.

Comment