Closest to the Pin Contest: Round 5 West Virginia
Update: December 28 (Game Results) With the Cat’s 69-83 loss to West Virginia, we congratulate three VU Hoops readers who took medals in this round. Gold Medal: TK87 (70-84), earning 5.0 points; Silver Medal: FLM’33 (70-80), earning 3.0 points; Bronze Medal: StatsManOne (73-84) earning 1.0 point.  Our updated leader board is provided below.
VUHoops vs. Vegas: Based on the average predicted scores of the VUHoops Crowd and the posted Vegas line, we would have PUSHED by betting ‘Nova +8.5 (LOSS) and the Over (WIN). The details follow. With the push, we remain down $200 for the season.
| VU Hoops | Vegas | Bet | Actual | Result | |
| Spread | ‘Nova +2.0 | ‘Nova +8.5 | ‘Nova +8.5 | WVU by 14 | LOSS |
| Over | 138 | 137 | OVER | 152 | WIN |
Leader Board
| Reader | Points |
| Scott0220 | 10.0 |
| schitzengigles10 | 7.5 |
| TK87 | 5.0 |
| FLM’33 | 3.0 |
| Bstep011 | 2.5 |
| chuck st.petersburg | 2.5 |
| Nervous Nelly | 2.5 |
| novasmu | 2.5 |
| Steph | 2.5 |
| Beardog | 1.5 |
| Clarkkell | 1.5 |
| Dom | 1.5 |
| JDW71 | 1.5 |
| Johnnyb1 | 1.5 |
| NovaCat94 | 1.5 |
| Old School | 1.5 |
| Rick19 | 1.5 |
| stats | 1.5 |
| TimW | 1.5 |
| StatsManOne | 1.0 |
| Jimdribble | 0.5 |
| jtc123 | 0.5 |
| Stevie V | 0.5 |
Update: December 28, 7:00 PM A total of 61 VUHoops readers posted predictions, with 29 (49%) picking the Mountaineers to win. As a group, the readers see ‘Nova losing by a score of 68-70 (a margin of 2.0 points and implied over/under of 138). The Vegas odds makers pick West Virginia to win by 8.5 and set the over/under at 137.0 points, implying a final score of 64-73.
Scatter Plot of Predicted Scores
Window Opening: December 27, 3:00 PM The window is now open for our readers to post their predicted final scores for Wednesday night’s game at West Virginia (7:00PM, WPHL) in the fifth round of our Closest to the Pin Contest. Points now double with conference play underway.  Scott0220 stands alone in first place; click here to see the full leader board.
Villanova (7-5, 0-0) is unranked in the AP and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls but is ranked #60 by Kenpom.com. The Cats have a RPI of 79, a SOS of 50, and score an average of 72.8 PPG while giving up an average of 66.0.
West Virginia (9-3, 0-0) also is unranked in the AP and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls, but is ranked #31 by Kenpom.com. The Mountaineers have an RPI of 35, a SOS of 40, and are scoring an average of 77.2 PPG while giving up an average of 66.3 PPG. Morgantown is always a tough place to play, but the Mountaineers can be beaten there (e.g., Kent State). The table below sets out their wins and losses so far this season.
| Opponent | RPI | AP | Location | Score | |
| Wins | |||||
| Oral Roberts | 70 | - | Home | 78 | 71 |
| Alcorn State | 223 | - | Home | 97 | 62 |
| Morehead State | 209 | - | Home | 83 | 48 |
| Akron | 127 | - | Home | 77 | 56 |
| Kansas State | 20 | - | Away | 85 | 80 |
| Miami | 49 | - | Home | 77 | 66 |
| Texas A&M | 310 | - | Home | 84 | 64 |
| Tennessee Tech | 188 | - | Home | 72 | 53 |
| Missouri State | 112 | - | Home | 70 | 68 |
| Losses | |||||
| Kent State | 98 | - | Home | 60 | 70 |
| Mississippi State | 61 | 21 | Away | 62 | 75 |
| Baylor | 10 | 6 | Home | 81 | 83 |
Be sure to read Brian’s game preview. We’ll post the Las Vegas spread / over-under on game day. Good luck!
Special Note: When posting predictions, be sure to:
- Use a consistent handle / ID so that we can keep an accurate running leader board over the course of the season. Obviously, score predictions posted by anonymous readers cannot be accepted.
- List your predicted score for Villanova first, followed by the score for the opponent (e.g., Cats 100, Mountain Men 75)
