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| Notre Dame and Scott Martin - two things that don't make us very happy. |
Why Purdue Will Win
You know deep down that this Purdue team can compete with just about anyone. They can also lose to just about anyone. The week off came at a perfect time after Purdue suffered the shockingly awful loss up in Ypsilanti last Saturday. One may worry about our less than stellar performances on neutral floors this year, but Notre Dame's sole loss came to St. Joeseph's in the Coaches vs. Cancer classic. Oh, by the way, St. Joe's just lost to Villanova. You know Byrd will struggle as "Fighting Irish" is technically human (and not a non-bird animal), but expect Painter to have rallied the rest of the troops as he finally gets his chance to knock off soon-to-be grandpa and enemy of Purdue, Scott Martin.
Why Notre Dame Will Win
Notre Dame is on a huge roll, winning 6 straight including an impressive victory against Kentucky. However, they've amazingly played only one game in the last 16 days. When you're playing well, the last thing you want is a huge break. Expect Notre Dame to come out rested, but sloppy, cooling down their leading scorer and big man, Jack Cooley. Unfortunately, Notre Dame mainly plays a seven man rotation and with all of them averaging at least 6.9 shots per game, they have a lot of weapons. Expect one of them to go off (please please please don't let it be Scott Martin) - we're banking on it being Jerian Grant.
One thing you absolutely need to know before the game
Ok, we've taken some shots at Scott Martin, but casual or new fans may not really remember who he is. Scott Martin was part of the Baby Boilers class and was considered as good of a recruit as any of them. His freshman year was off and on, and he became a very solid sixth man as a freshman. Unfortunately, Martin came across as unhappy about his playing time, and whether it was jealousy of former high school teammate Robbie Hummel's success, a falling out with Matt Painter, or wanting to be closer to his girlfriend in Michigan (???), Martin decided to transfer to Notre Dame. Looking back on it, a healthy team of Hummel, Johnson, Moore, and Martin in the 2010-2011 season would have been the HEAVY favorite to win the National Championship. Martin's struggled with injuries himself, but imagine having him filling in for the injured Robbie Hummel in Jajuan and E'twaun's senior year. He's been viewed by many bitter Purdue fans as mentally weak and emotionally fragile - someone who just couldn't cut it at Purdue
As for us? We hope he ends up not scoring, Purdue wins on a last second shot, and ESPN2 catches him heading to the locker room with tears streaming down his face. What could have been, Scott? What could have been...
Oh, and we hate Notre Dame. Forgot to mention that earlier.
Our Picks - We like to think we're better than Vegas. So throughout the season, we'll be "betting" a whole dollar amount versus the spread between $1 and $32, but we can't repeat the same value twice. The spread for this game is Purdue 6.5.
Erik's Bet: $3
Erik's Pick: Notre Dame 58 - Purdue 55
Kirk's Bet: $21
Kirk's Pick: Notre Dame 66 - Purdue 57
Standings
Erik +201 (10-1 ATS)
Kirk -109 (4-7 ATS)
Values already bet
Erik 6, 11, 12, 13, 14, 26, 27, 30, 31, 32
Kirk 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32
BOILER UP!!!!
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