5* CONF-USA BLUE CHIP GAME OF THE YEAR

Tulane vs. UAB, 03/07/2012 22:00 EDT, Score: 64 - 72

Point Spread: -7/-106 UAB

Sportsbook: 5Dimes

Result: Win

Tulane is not as good as their 15-15 record may indicate. The Green Wave come into the tournament having lost seven straight, and I can't see them turning on the switch against a UAB team that has won 7 of their last 9 games, which includes a 81-73 win over Tulane.

To give you an idea of how well the Blazers are playing, their only two losses came against Memphis (No. 1 seed in tournament) and UCF (No. 4 seed in tournament). UAB's stingy defense will be the difference in this one. The Green Wave already find it hard to score, averaging just 56.3 ppg away from home. The UAB defense only allows 61.3 ppg. Back on Feb. 15 the Blazers went on the road and held SMU to just 28 points! Look for UAB to really turn up the defense in a win or go home situation, and I have them easily winning this game by double-digits.

No need to worry about Tulane playing in a revenge spot. The Green Wave are just 3-12 ATS revenging a road loss vs opponent over the last 2 seasons. While this game is being played on a neutral site, its worth noting that the Blazers are 13-5 ATS in road games after a conference game over the last 2 seasons. BET UAB!