Sport: College HoopsPick Selection: XAVIER
I'm playing on XAVIER. West Virginia has beaten a pair of what people perceive to be tougher opponents (Arizona and Duke) to get here. That has caused the majority of the general public to feel that the Mountaineers are the better team and they're currently slight favorites. Its not Xavier's fault that it "only" played Georgia and Purdue though. Also, while those two opponents admittedly don't have the big names like Duke and Arizona, Purdue played great all season and Georgia entered the tournament on a very big emotional high and was as hot as just about any team in the country at the time. Meanwhile, Duke wasn't playing that well down the stretch while many people didn't even feel Arizona deserved to be here. Therefore, while I've been impressed with the Mountaineers' victories, I disagree that they somehow make them better than Xavier. Yes, the Mountaineers play in the stronger conference. However, we've already seen arguably better Big East teams, like Georgetown and UConn, lose to the likes of San Diego and Davidson. Additionally, the A-10 is a lot more competitive than many people realize. While the Mountaineers have a couple of stars, the Musketeers are one of the most balanced teams in the country. They've got six players who are capable of scoring and with no real star among them, all of them have a "team first" mentality. The Musketeers have been listed as underdogs twice this season and they won both games outright. I expect their depth to prove the difference and for them to score another "upset" this evening. *Best Bet
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