Fargo’s Seton Hall at Cornell Picks
November 20, 2009
If you like reading just why a handicapper likes a certain team that he is taking, then Matt Fargo should be the top expert on your list. He puts a lot of work and effort into posting the top college basketball picks in the industry and accompanying each is a detailed report that breaks down the matchup and shows why he is supporting the team he is. Let’s take a look at the Seton Hall at Cornell game, and why he thought this was one of the college basketball point spreads that you could take advantage of:
This is one of those lines that makes you think if the right team is favored or not. Cornell is the class of the Ivy League and has started the season with two big road wins at Alabama and Massachusetts. The Big Red are now home where they have won 21 straight games but the line tells us this is far from a layup for the boys from Ithaca. The home schedule over this span has been very light and the best teams that have come to play at Cornell over the last six years have been Georgia Tech back in 2003 and Siena two years ago. This is a challenge and it comes against one of the big sleeper teams from the Big East Conference. Cornell has not beaten a Big East team since 1969. The Pirates are long, supremely athletic and have been mentioned as a team to watch in the Big East. Seton Halls returns four starters from last season and the depth that plagued it last year, as it often only went eight deep, should be fixed with five newcomers. The backcourt is deep and the frontcourt now has a weapon that is already proving to be a force. This is easily the most talented team in the four years under head coach Bobby Gonzalez even though one of the pieces is already lost. Guard Keon Lawrence, a transfer from Missouri, was supposed to help right away but he was arrested on a DWI charge last week and is suspended indefinitely. The Pirates are led by guard Jeremy Hazell who averaged 22.7 ppg last season and can light it up on any given night. After going 0-10 in the season opener against Saint Peter’s, Hazell scored a game-high 26 points on 9-23 shooting including five three-pointers. He can build off that solid performance. Seton Hall also has a four-year starter at point guard in Eugene Harvey who averaged 12.5 ppg and 4.9 apg last season. Down low, New Mexico St. transfer Herb Pope can do a little of everything, and at 6’8” he poses a succinct matchup problem. In the last game against Monmouth, Pope scored 15 points and grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds. Cornell is a great shooting team but I will take a much more athletic team that is getting points in this situation. 7* Seton Hall Pirates
