The North Carolina Tar Heels appear to be safe for now when it comes to the NCAA tournament.
The Tar Heels enter the week on the right side of the bubble and they need a strong showing against Syracuse on Monday night to keep that fate.
Monday's ACC clash in Chapel Hill should feature a ton of points out of two strong three-point offenses. North Carolina played much better at home and that should lend itself to a high-scoring game.
The Mountain West is also in focus again on Monday night with Wyoming playing host to San Diego State.
The Cowboys have been one of the best home teams in conference play, and there is a chance to take advantage of that tonight.
Oh by the way, there's some Pac-12 After Dark to take advantage of as well.
Monday CBB Picks
Overall Record: 235-253-3 (22-7 Last Week)
Syracuse at North Carolina (Over 155.5) (7 p.m. ET, ESPN)
North Carolina is 4-1 to the over in its last five home games and it is 7-3 to the over in the last 10 games.
The Tar Heels and Syracuse both rank in the Top 40 in three-point offense on KenPom and they both sit in the Top 25 in offensive adjusted efficiency.
Both teams give up over 72 points per game and they do not have fantastic metrics across the board on defense.
Carolina should push the pace at home in a game in which it needs to win to remain in decent standing on the right side of the bubble. That should lead to plenty of three-point shots being thrown up inside the Smith Center.
Northwestern at Iowa (-10.5) (8 p.m. ET, BTN)
Iowa has had success against some of the worst teams in the Big Ten at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The Hawkeyes beat Nebraska, Minnesota and Penn State by double figures at home and they routed Michigan State by 26 points last week.
Northwestern only has road wins over Nebraska, Maryland and Michigan State. Two of those three teams reside at the bottom half of the standings with the Wildcats.
The Wildcats scored 66 points or fewer in their last three road games and they are going up against an Iowa team that averages 83.8 points per game.
The Hawkeyes should cruise by double digits in this matchup.
Alcorn State at Texas Southern (-6.5) (8:30 p.m. ET)
Texas Southern's defense is the difference-maker in this matchup/
Texas Southern gives up five fewer points per game compared to Alcorn State. The Tigers rank 19th in three-point defense and 24th in effective field-goal defense.
The Tigers need a win to remain on top of the SWAC standings and their defense should keep Alcorn State at bay to achieve that.
San Diego State at Wyoming (+105) (9 p.m. ET, CBSSN)
It feels like we get a massive clash in the Mountain West about every three days.
That speaks to the strength of the conference and I think we see Wyoming flex its strengths on Monday night.
Wyoming has not lost at home in Mountain West play, while San Diego State suffered defeats at Boise State, Colorado State and Utah State.
San Diego State failed to score 60 points in all of those losses and it could be tough for it to score against a Cowboys defense that gives up 65.6 points per game.
The Aztecs play solid defense, but their offense may not be there to back it up, and I can't go against Wyoming as a home underdog after all of its success in Laramie this season.
UCLA (-8) at Washington (11 p.m. ET, ESPN2)
UCLA is 4-0 against the spread in its last four games as a favorite of eight or more points.
One of those games was a 26-point victory over Washington on February 19.
Washington is 1-4 straight up in its last five games and its two-point and three-point offense both sit below 290th. That does not bode well for a team facing a UCLA defense that ranks 10th in adjusted efficiency.
Washington State (-8) at Oregon State (11 p.m. ET, ESPNU)
Oregon State is terrible.
I'm not just saying that because the Beavers got rolled by UCLA on Saturday.
Oregon State is 2-8 ATS in its last 10 games and it has not reached the 70-point mark in nine of those contests.
Washington State ranks in the Top 50 in five defensive metrics on KenPom and it gives up 14 fewer points per game than the Beavers.
Basically what I'm saying here is we are not getting another Oregon State Cinderella run.