Sunday, March 20, 2005
Anyone who picked Vermont to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament either got real lucky or knew the scouting reports on Taylor Coppenrath and T.J. Sorrentine.
The Catamounts' two seniors have been among the best scorers in college basketball, but both were relatively ignored outside the America East Conference. They are well known now, after a first-round upset of Syracuse.
Michigan State is an 8-point favorite over Vermont today, but handicapper Steve Cofield said beware of the 'dog and take the points.
"Sometimes in the second round, these teams have already done what they wanted to do. But I don't think the Catamounts look at themselves as some Cinderella. They believe they belong," said Cofield (lasvegashotpicks.com).
Coppenrath, a forward, averages 25.4 points and point guard Sorrentine averages 18.5. The surprise contributor in the first round was wingman Germain Mopa Njila, who had a career-high 20 points.
"I don't think Vermont is intimidated," said Cofield, who said the 13th-seeded Catamounts (25-6) should have an advantage by playing in Worcester, Mass., which is close to their campus.
The Spartans (23-6) escaped the first round by beating Old Dominion 89-81 as 7 1/2-point favorites. The five Big Ten teams are 1-4-1 against the spread in the tournament.
Cofield analyzes his pick for today's game at Nashville, Tenn.:
• Georgia Tech (+1) over Louisville -- Louisville showed some of its warts in a 68-62 win over Louisiana-Lafayette in the first round. The Cardinals really have one reliable scorer, Francisco Garcia, who had 27 points in the victory. They usually overwhelm teams by playing a fast pace with superior athletes, but now they're up against a team with a similar profile. I also like this to go over the total (143).
Experience is crucial, and the Yellow Jackets basically brought back the same team that went to the final game last year. I like guard play, and Georgia Tech's is better with B.J. Elder, Jarrett Jack and Will Bynum.
