Pick title: 3* Northern Iowa +8 1/2
Pick Date: 03/19/2009

Pick description:
After hitting just 38 and 34 percent from the floor in the semifinals and finals of the Big 10 Tournament last week, Purdue didn't exactly blow me away as being too impressive. I sense the Boilermakers could get beat today. They were 1-3 SU in their final four regular season games losing to Michigan State, Northwestern, and Michigan. From January 28th to March 8th, Purdue was 1-4 SU on the road. They were 2-9 ATS away from home against good shooting teams or those that hit 47 percent or better from the field. I like the fact that Northern Iowa was 7-0 ATS this year after the midway point of the season (15th game) when facing opponents with a winning record. They were 7-1 ATS on the road this year against opposition that won 60 percent or more of their games this year. Since December 14th, Northern Iowa was an INCREDIBLE 8-0 ATS AS AN UNDERDOG! That includes 7 OUTRIGHT WINS! I love the balance on this team with five starters averaging 8.4 points per game or more. This team plays solid defense allowing 63 points a game. This is a nice number of points to get considering the expectations are for a low scoring game with the posted total in the mid 120's. Plus it doesn't hurt knowing the Panthers have been off 11 days to prepare and certainly watched Iowa play three games in three days last weekend. Take the puppy Panthers here.