Clemson vs. Virginia
College Basketball Pick: Clemson +9 (January 31st 2012)

This line is higher than I expected it to be and we will take a shot with Clemson in this spot as the Tigers are in need of a solid quality win. They are riding a modest two-game winning streak and those wins came against Georgia Tech and Wake Forest which are certainly nothing special. Clemson lost three in a row prior to that and while it included road losses at Boston College and Miami, both of those games could have and should have been won.

Virginia is coming off another narrow victory as it won at NC State by a point to move to 4-2 in the ACC. The two losses have come by five points combined so while Clemson should have a better record than it does, Virginia is right in the same boat. The Cavaliers have been the big surprise of the season in the conference and one of the biggest in the country with a 17-3 record after finishing only a game over .500 last year. Virginia is just 2-5 ATS as a favorite of more than seven points.

This figures to be a defensive battle and that makes the points a premium and even more so when we are dealing with a large pointspread. Virginia leads the ACC by allowing its opponents just 50.6 ppg, while Clemson is yielding only 59.7 ppg, second in the conference. Clemson has also produced 297 turnovers this season, turnovers that head coach Brad Brownell says makes what the Tigers do a little bit different than what the Cavaliers do and that is be more aggressive which can in fact lead to easy baskets.

Clemson has covered five of its last eight games as a road underdog and it is 19-8 ATS in its last 27 games coming off a home win where it did not cover. The Cavaliers as mentioned have struggled with the role of the large favorite and a lot of that is due to the style of play as they will be more than happy to just grind it out and win a low scoring, close game. They have failed to cover their last four games at home and the underdog is on an 11-5 ATS run in this series. 3* (515) Clemson Tigers. If you enjoyed this Clemson vs. Virginia college basketball pick from Matt Fargo, be sure to purchase his premium basketball picks today.

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