[GBFanJ]

Cleveland State (4-10, 0-3) at Youngstown State (3-10, 0-4)
Edge: Cleveland State

You can call me insane for going with Cleveland State, a winless conference team on the road, but they're facing a winless team that is at home. I've been able to see both of these teams play, and I think that Cleveland State is MUCH better than Youngstown State. After the way they played so far this season, I don't think they stand a chance in the conference this year. Don't expect to see any more predictions going Youngstown State's way this season. From the way Cleveland State plays, it seems like they do better on the road than at home. I think they'll win this battle of the winless.

Wisconsin-Milwaukee (8-5, 3-0) at Loyola of Chicago (6-6, 2-1)
Edge: Wisconsin-Milwaukee

It took a little longer to think about this one, and I actually had to look at a few other predictions to finally come up with my own. Sometimes, it's better to see or hear about how a team plays before you can really say how good a team is, so thanks to pnthr for a little help here. That's why I think Cleveland State is pretty good, after watching how well they played against Green Bay. Anyway, on to the game. Despite a large roster I found on Milwaukee's website (about 20 players I think..maybe a little less, any reason for that?) they seem to rotate around mainly eight players. They definitely have a deep bench with a lot of different sizes of guys, and have been playing well so far (I believe they lead the conference in scoring). Also looking at Loyola, they do seem to be inconsistent. From what it looks like, they keep rotating starters and play a lot of different guys. If they're having some problems with their players, that may have a negative effect on the team. Overall, it seems as though UWM has the edge here, though, through experience and testing.

Wright State (5-8, 3-1) at Detroit (7-5, 1-1)
Edge: Detroit

Yes, I know that Wright State has the better record in conference, but this is Detroit playing at their home of Calihan Hall. They've beaten better opponents, have a higher RPI, and more skill and experience. This should be a double-digit win for Detroit, but if Wright State can put up a good fight, they might have a case to finish around 5th. We'll see how good Wright State is here.

Butler (4-8, 0-3) at Wisconsin-Green Bay (10-4, 4-0)
Edge: Wisconsin-Green Bay

In an early 2nd round of the two teams, it looks good that Green Bay will win again against Butler. Butler is still struggling, and Green Bay is thriving. If Green Bay could beat them at Hinkle Fieldhouse, they should be able to win here. Still, they'll have to put up a good fight to win it, because no matter how bad Butler's record gets, they're still a good team. With an improved defense coming for Green Bay over the last few games, they should be able to pull it off here.

Illinois-Chicago (11-5, 2-2) Off

Games for Jan 14th/15th (after a much deserved rest for all of these teams, some playing as many as 4 games in 8 days):

Jan 14th:
Texas-Pan American at Wright State

Jan 15th:
Loyola at Butler
Illinois-Chicago at Detroit
Youngstown State at Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Off:
Cleveland State, Wisconsin-Green Bay

 

[pnthr30]

Cleveland State at Youngstown State
Edge: Cleveland State

There is no question in my mind that CSU will beat YSU. Unfortunatlely, IMO YSU will stuggle to win any conference games this year - even at home.

Wisconsin-Milwaukee at Loyola
Edge: UWM

UWM has shown some mental toughness by recovering from LONG scoreless streches in each of its last two games. More specifically, UWM did not score a basket against Detroit for the first 7 minutes of the game and UWM went scoreless for about 7 minutes in the first half against Butler, but ended up winning both games. To me, this shows that UWM will not just fade away, but will continue to battle until the ball starts bouncing their way. Admittedly, they cannot continue to do this or they will be in for a long season, but at least it hasn't bitten them yet. Loyola appears to be a jeckle and hyde team. After the drubbing that they took against UIC last night, there is not telling which team will show up on Sat - but with all their internal problems (ineligible players, lineup shuffling, etc.) I don't think Loyola will be able to pull it out.

Wright State at Detroit
Edge: Detroit

Detroit is tough to beat at home, plain and simple.

Butler at Wisconsin-Green Bay
Edge: Wisconsin-Green Bay

First off, why are they playing BU for the second time already? Nicely done HL (heavy sarcasm). Anyways, Butler continues to look out of sync. Although they did play well at times against UWM, I don't think that they can sustain it for a whole game, which is what they would need to do against GB. Butler cannot score, their defense is good, but their offense is marginal at best. I gotta think GB is gonna take care of business at home and send BU looking for a win somewhere else.

Illinois-Chicago Off

 

[GBFanJ]

Two games before half...

The away Butler game for GB was originally scheduled for the 21st of February, but moved because of the Bracket Buster, and both coaches wanted an early conference game. In my opinion, early conference games are good to see where your team stands.

That's the only matchup that the second one is occurring early in the Horizon League, I think. The GB women have the same thing, but I don't know why. They played at Butler on the 3rd of January and play them again on the 10th, just a week apart. For the men, it was because of the Bracket Buster, but I don't know about the women. That might be Horizon League scheduling for you.

 

[GBFanJ]

Don't read Mejia on CBS Sportsline

I just checked his predictions for today...he has Green Bay listed to lose at home by 7 to Butler. Is there any logical reasoning that would support that prediction?

Also, I checked his mid-major top 25 poll, and there are a few teams in it that Green Bay is doing better than, and one it has beat, but it's not listed in it. I think that all he is basing his decisions on is what he has heard from last season. If he checked his facts, he would see that Green Bay is doing better than Butler this season in MANY ways.

Sorry I was a little harsh there. I think it just needed to be said.

 

[bballraider]

NFL and Horizon in Sync

I wonder if anybody noticed that the NFL and the Horizon League results were pretty much the same.

Panthers Win (UWM over Loyola, Carolina over St. Louis)
Titans Lose (WSU over Detroit, New England over Tennessee)

Good thing Minnesota wasn't playing today as CSU also loses. However, Oakland wishes they were playing with the Wright State win. :grinning:

If this trend pans out, maybe tomorrow the Packers will do the same. (win-UW Green Bay).

PS. GBFan, I'm sure there were a lot of people making money on the UWGB-Butler game. I noticed on some message boards that the betting pronosticators were calling to take UWGB plus points their "lock of the day".