Valparaiso Basketball a Quality Twelve or Thirteen Seed
2 min read
Ending strong and getting a favorable seed is what the mid majors and below aim for as the NCAA tournament comes into focus. #16 is instant death with #15 retaining only the slightest of pulse. What the smaller schools aspire are the #13 and #12 seeds where upsets seem to be a yearly occurrence. ATB has found one team during the year that has a favorable record ATS and might just eek into one of the seeding groups. We will examine the Valparaiso basketball (24-4).
- 14-8-1 ATS
- 8-7 Totals
What we can glean from this is that the Horizon League team has overachieved most of the year. With their totals being pegged accurately, the ATS tells us this team might be a bit better defensively than what people would consider. Let us go to the tape and see. This is born out of the metric that they are the 35th best team in the nation for team defensive efficiency. Even in the Ken Pom rankings they exceed their normal ranking by being in the top 40 in the land. The only thing stopping them is the traditional lack of strength of schedule.
International Flair
Croatia, Spain, Canada, and Jamica are the exotic locale represent on Valpo. The willingness to hit the road and be a friendly port for foreign players allows this program to get a talent level they would normally not have access to. This allows a rotation depth of eight quality players. Frequently you will have five and maybe six players reaching double digits in scoring. This team also has room to grow in the future as only one senior gets key minutes. The man in the middle from Jamai ca is 6’10” and saw great improvement by playing for the national team this summer. With the excellent outside shooting guards and the stop gap in the middle, Valpo has been able to crush competition equal to their level.
ATB will have for you our free pick for Valpo as they travel to play the University of Detroit. As for today’s free pick,we like the Michigan Wolverines plus the points. Michigan has battled for most of the season while the Spartans have oddly lost focus in key junctions. With +4 1/2, we have enough to take home the cash tonight for all those that tail ATB.
