Notre Dame gets the nod in latest college basketball picks over Providence

The latest college basketball betting picks show that the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have been installed as -3 ½ -point favorites over the Providence Friars as the two squads prepare for their Big East encounter on Wednesday night at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence.

#9 Notre Dame (21-5, 10-4 Big East) at Marquette (14-13, 3-11 Big East)

 Date/Time: Wednesday, February 23, 2011, 7:00 PM EST       

Venue: The Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, RI.

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Broadcast: ESPN3

Money Line: OFF

Spread: Notre Dame -3 ½

Over/Under: OFF

The No.9 ranked Irish are still trying to chase down Pittsburgh for the top spot in the Big East Conference regular season standings, as well as further enhance their position as one of the top four in the league. Notre Dame is favored to win this matchup in the college basketball lines.

Doing so means they play one less game during the Big East Championship Tournament, thanks to the top four teams getting first round byes. On the other side, Providence is in much more desperate straits, needing to climb up the standings and qualify for the first round of the conference tournament.

The Irish are undefeated at home. But Saturday’s 14-point loss at West Virginia raised recurring questions about Notre Dame’s ability to win games away from the Joyce Center. With season-ending contests against two ranked opponents (Villanova and Connecticut), Mike Bray’s bunch will look to secure victory against an opponent that the college basketball picks indicate they should obtain.

Notre Dame’s Ben Hansbrough has been producing points from outside the painted area. The senior guard is leading the Irish with 17.4 points per game, shooting threes at 41.5 percent efficiency. Fellow senior Tim Abromaitis is next on the club at 14.1 points per contest, and is second on the club with 6.3 rebounds per game as well. The Fighting Irish are also a top selection in many college basketball picks because of their unselfish nature. Notre Dame is 15th in the entire country with 16.5 assists per game as a team.

Meanwhile, Providence was looking good for a middle seed in the conference tournament just three weeks ago. After defeating South Florida on February 2nd, the Friars were 14-9 overall. But they’ve lost four straight since, including losing to lowly DePaul at home last week. To be fair, two of the four losses have been by fewer than three points, and a third loss came in overtime in their last outing against Cincinnati.

Despite many college basketball picks listing them as underdogs, the Friars will enter the contest with the confidence to know they can win at home against ranked opponents. Senior swingman Marshon Brooks has just one home game left after this one. So figure on the Friars leading scorer, at 24.4 per outing, to try and fill it up. He’s scored more than 20 points in his last nine straight contests.

College basketball picks favorite Notre Dame has too much at stake with a high seeding in both the Big East and NCAA Tournaments in play for them to lose this one. The Friars will be tough in their own building.

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