Bryan Power

10* Notre Dame (7:00 ET): Virginia Tech already was a team I felt didn’t deserve to be ranked in the Top 25, now they’ve had to suspend arguably their best player for the foreseeable future. So the Hokies are a very logical fade Wednesday night when they travel to South Bend and face Notre Dame. They just lost by 18 in Syracuse Saturday and that was with starting guard Tyrece Radford (the suspended player in question) in the lineup. This will be their third straight game on the road as well. 

Notre Dame got me on Sunday by going to Coral Gables and beating Miami 73-59. They played a somewhat “sloppy” game (16 turnovers), but shot the ball very well and dominated the Hurricanes on the glass. The Fighting Irish finished the game at 53.8% from the field, including 10 of 18 on three-pointers. They also held a 37-28 rebounding advantage. That was a pretty impressive ACC road win and the Irish’s second win in a row overall. They defeated Boston College 80-70 here at home in their previous game.

It can’t be understated what losing Radford means to Va Tech. He is second on the team in both scoring and rebounding and was the “best player on the court” (Coach K’s words) when the Hokies beat Duke earlier this month. My power ratings are quite bearish on Va Tech, still having them outside the Top 40. They’ve lost two of their three “true” road games thus far. This is a revenge game for ND who lost by 14 down in Blacksburg 17 days ago on a bad shooting night. At home, things will be different. 10* Notre Dame

8* Rhode Island (5:00 ET): After suffering a disappointing loss at Duquesne last Wednesday, Rhode Island came up with a less than inspiring effort Saturday against lowly Fordham. They managed to win, 52-42, but never came close to covering the 17-point spread. That performance was especially disappointing me as I laid the point. When you give up only 42 points at home, that should be an ATS win, no matter how large the spread. 

La Salle is off a shocking win at Richmond Saturday where they came in as 16.5-point underdogs. The Explorers pulled the upset in large part because they shot 57.1% from the field. That was the second game in a row they shot that exact percentage from the field. One would figure they are due to “cool off.” Facing an opponent that just allowed only 42 points in its last game seems like the “right time.”

While LaSalle certainly isn’t as inept as Fordham offensively, URI can certainly turn in another top-notch defensive effort here. The Rams have held two of their last three opponents under 33% shooting. Something to keep in mind is that earlier this month La Salle shot just 28.1% from the floor in an ugly loss to George Mason. So they can be wildly inconsistent. Rhode Island is 11-4 SU, 11-3-1 ATS their L15 visits here. 8* Rhode Island

8* Milwaukee (7:30 ET): This rematch of the 2019 Eastern Conference Finals is being played in Orlando as are all Toronto “home games” this season. The Raptors have actually fared well in their new digs (5-2 SU), especially when compared to their poor 2-7 road record. But a matchup with the team I still consider the “beast of the East” is unlikely to go well for the home team as they have been playing short-handed (no Pascal Siakam). The Raptors lost 129-114 at Indiana their last time out. 

Though their 10-6 SU record is hardly dominant, the Bucks continue to boast the East’s best point differential and net efficiency rating. Make no mistake about it, this is the best team in the league outside of the Lakers. After losing B2B games for the first time all season, the Bucks went out and handled their business Sunday with a 129-115 win over a good Atlanta team. They continue to pace the league in offensive efficiency and have the league’s highest scoring average as well at 120.1 PPG. 

The big key here is that Toronto has not fared well when facing teams with winning records. They are just 1-8 SU and 2-7 ATS in those games this season. This will be their third game in four nights (after a hard-fought split in Indiana) while the Bucks have been off for two days. I just don’t see any way the Bucks lose tonight and the number isn’t very big. Lay it. 8* Milwaukee

10* Aston Villa (1:00 ET): I know Burnley has won two straight matches, one of them being of a rather historic nature, but this price on Aston Villa seems quite generous given where both sides currently sit in the table. The Clarets remain 15th even after becoming the first Premier League visitors to defeat Liverpool at Anfield since April of 2017. That shocking 1-0 win occurred last Thursday with the lone goal scored on a penalty in the 83rd minute. But neither that, nor the fact it was followed by a 3-0 win over Fulham in the FA Cup over the weekend changes our read on this side, which is closer to relegation than their 8th place opponents Wednesday. 

Aston Villa was a solid 2-0 winner for me on Saturday as they took care of Newcastle United in a rescheduled affair. This is the most underrated side in the Premier League right now, at least in my eyes. The fact they are only 8th in the table is somewhat misleading when you consider they’ve played two fewer matches than seventh place West Ham United. COVID-19 put a halt to their campaign for nearly two weeks, but Aston Villa should be feeling good about itself right now considering their YTD goal differential (+13) places them right among the EPL’s best. I feel we are likely to see Villa make a charge up the table. 

Coming off the shocking win over Liverpool and then advancing to the 5th round of the FA Cup, Burnley might very well be overconfident heading into this fixture. They did play to a scoreless draw with AV back in December, but expect the visitors to score this time. Meanwhile, AV has conceded the third fewest times in the entire Premier League while Burnley’s 10 goals are tied for a league low. Europa League qualification is a real possibility for AV this season and I expect them to continue their chase by earning the full three points here. 10* Aston Villa