Joe D's NCAAB Consensus Winner

Detroit vs. Alabama, 12/11/2011 18:00 EDT, Score: 54 - 62

Point Spread: -13½/-110 Alabama

Sportsbook: TopBet

Result: Loss

Today's winner is Alabama over Detroit. This is my Consensus Play.

Alabama started the season 7-0. The 16th ranked Crimson Tide had their flawless season come to an end when Hoya's Hollis Thompson hit a 3-pointer with only 1.8 seconds left in the game and took down 'Bama, 57-55. That loss snapped Alabama's 24 game home win streak. Then the Tide followed that game with a 74-62 beating at Dayton as a 5-point favorite. Through their first 8 contests, the Crimson ranked 5th in the nation in FG% defensively, holding opponents to a mere 33.3%, but their below-par performance against Dayton shocked the college basketball community. With victories over respectable teams like Wichita State, Purdue, and VCU, Alabama will come into this meeting with a vengeance, highly-motivated, and with something to prove. The trio of Tony Mitchell, JaMychal Green, and Trevor Releford are combining for 41.6 PPG, 16.8 RPG, 24 steals, and 56 assists. They can and will overwhelm Detroit defensively. The Titans rarely face a "D" of this level of pressure. Detroit's HC, Ray McCallum is forced to change his game plans because his frontline is so depleted. Center, Eli Holman is out, Forward, Josh Hoskins has yet to even practice due to a knee injury, and Forward, Nick Minnerath has missed the L5 games also with a knee problem. Guard, Chris Blake is suspended and won't be eligible until December 15th. Detroit comes off of 2 straight wins over St. Johns and Western Michigan, but prior to that, the Titans lost 3 in a row to Akron, Youngstown State, and Cleveland State. Detroit just will not be able to deal with Alabama's athleticism and their strength in transition. The Titans are 3-12-3 ATS their L18 games played on the road, 1-9-1 ATS their L11 games vs. teams with a winning percentage of over .600, and 2-7-1 ATS their L10 games played overall. Take Alabama. Thank you.