It is important in life to always have something out in front of you that you are excited about. It makes the days go by in a flash and the spirit always remains high. There was no need to search for that dangling carrot this week as all you had to do was get to Thursday. Well, Thursday is here and its time to get focused on the games at hand. Below is a breakdown of tonight’s games and The Dean’s pick.

Southern Illinois +8.5

Kansas runs the floor as well as anybody which is one reason for their near 50% FG percentage. We will see of So. Illinois can find a way to limit the easy buckets and keep this game close. KU does not have a Senior on their roster, while the Salukis main players are primarily Seniors and Juniors. I am not sure that is enough for the Salukis to win this game, but I believe it will be enough to keep them in the game all night and 8.5 points is too many for the inexperienced Jayhawks to cover.

Texas A&M -3.5

Its unfortunate for Memphis that the past week has gone down this path. The injury to Douglas-Roberts is going to cripple the Tigers and it couldn’t come at a worse time. The Aggies are an experienced team that are playing in their own backyard. On top of that, Texas A&M does just about everything better than Memphis except cause turnovers. All other statistical information points in the Aggies favor. The shoot 10% better from the foul line, they shoot 7% better from behind the arc and their FG% is 4 points higher than Memphis’. The one item in Memphis favor is their ability to cause turnovers, but it will not be enough this evening.

Pittsburgh +3

A very intriguing matchup as the Panthers go against their old coach. UCLA’s style does not serve as an advantage tonight and their inability to handle physical teams will do them in. Statistically neither team has a big advantage over the others. Pitt has three things working in their favor: 1) UCLA has no answer for Aaron Gray, 2) Pitt has more experience and 3) UCLA’s loss to West Virginia shows Pitt everything they need in terms of game planning. I fully expect this game to be close for the majority and then for Pitt to pull away and win by double-digits.

Tennessee +5

There is no way I am laying money on the Buckeyes. Ohio St. is on my short list of most despised athletic programs and I have bad mouthed them since January and will continue to do so. They are bandits in all things and their alums are hypocritical idiots. Were is the outrage at the Buckeyes dismal graduation rate? What would be fair is for the Big 10 to put Ohio St. on notice that if they don’t clean up their act they will be out of the conference. From their stupid nut mascot to Jim Tressler’s pedophile sweater vests to Thad Matta chewing gum off the floor, I loathe that phony university and will never support them. That being said, Tennessee does have a chance tonight and OSU is the most likely #1 seed to fall. Lets hope they do, and that they never get back up.