Posted at 12:00 PM EST. Odds subject to change.

Pinnacle +7 -113 BET365 +7 -110 Sportsinteraction +7 -110  888Sport +7 -110

Manhattan +7 over Quinnipiac

Draddy Gymnasium, Riverdale, NY

Streaming: ESPN+

7:00 PM EST. The Bobcats of Quinnipiac are an absolute smoke show, having won nine of their last 10, including seven in a row. The Bobcats are tops in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) at 8-1, and their record on the season is a tidy 16-4. It’s an impressive mark for a program that had modest expectations this year, at best. Quinnipiac was pegged for a finish in the middle of the MAAC standings with little to no shot at that conference at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. However, as the calendar turns to February and the madness begins to go from simmering to boiling over, the Bobcats are in the driver's seat in the Metro.

The offseason for Quinnipiac was an odd one, to say the least, as they won 20 games last season, but former head coach Baker Dunleavy took off for an administrative position with Villanova, leaving the Bobcats to elevate one of his assistants, Tom Pecora, to take over the reins. On the surface, one could argue that Pecora was the perfect man to take over a team that largely returned most of its roster from last season, but it’s hard to get too excited about the success when we delve deeper into just how the Bobcats got here.

Quinnipiac has played one of the weakest non-conference schedules in the nation, as it ranks 337 of 362 graded Division I programs. Furthermore, when we factor in the Bobcats' tear through the MAAC, their Strength of Schedule (S.O.S.) on the whole grades at just 348th overall. Quinnipiac’s wins this season are nothing to write home about and include the likes of Coast Guard (Division II), Central Connecticut (256), Army (331), UAlbany (251), Stonehill (355), Niagara (273), Navy (312), Holy Cross (352), Lafayette (309), Rider (277), Marist (247), Siena (354), Iona (172), Mount St. Mary’s (266), Fairfield (181), and of course, the Jaspers of Manhattan (337), who the Bobcats will face again tonight.

There is no sugar-coating the plight of the Jaspers, as they are just 5-13, but that is about where Manhattan was slotted in the preseason prognostications. The Jaspers are just 2-7 in MAAC play, but again, they were supposed to finish last, so, again, no surprises here. That said, we are not in the business of predicting the outcomes of these games, but rather to find teams that are over and undervalued and take back inflated points when presented with the opportunity.

That’s certainly the case in this game, as the Bobcats have won seven in a row, while the Jaspers have won just one of their last 10 games. The Bobcats were a -9-point favorite at home against Manhattan on January 7th, and they won that game by 17, which makes this line tonight look very beatable. However, the Bobcats have no business spotting road points in this range. There is no bigger paper tiger in the MAAC than Quinnipiac, and the Bobcats must be considered fade material the rest of the way.

Sherwood

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