Just more than a month removed from the Ravens pilfering the Super Bowl from the Broncos…errr… I mean, the 49ers, I’ve finally washed myself clean of the stink that was my 2012-2013 football gambling debacle.  Debacle actually doesn’t do it justice- massacre is more fitting.  Made a nice little comeback in the playoffs, then Flacco stole it from me, just like he stole $120 million from the Ravens, but I digress.  I needed some time to regroup.  The point is, I’M BACK! Basketball is my favorite sport, and it’s only that much more fun with money on the line.  Plus, the NBA and college hoops are as entertaining as ever right now. My issue is that I have a hard time separating who should win from who I want to win– the old head/heart conundrum.  Same reason I’ll never draft Phillis Rivers or that man-doll Tom Brady and his stupid boots to a fantasy squad- fuck ’em, that’s why.  My buddy David, however, has a much more defensible system – full of all kinds of metrics and convoluted power rankings that he drops for college hoops (check him on Twitter @WiseGuyBet).  Here’s his Saturday picks:

• Syracuse (+2) over Georgetown (plus the over at 121)
• Florida (-6) over Kentucky (big admission from him, a Kentucky true blood)
• Minnesota (-2.5) over Purdue (typical B1G Ten snoozefest)
• UConn (-3.5) over Providence (wait, providence has a basketball team?)
• Kansas State (+5.5) over Oklahoma St (a big middle finger to OSU for crapping the bed at Iowa State on Tuesday night and ruining a 3-teamer for me)
• UCLA (+2) over Washington

UCLA and Syracuse have essentially flung their own feces at me when I’ve taken them this year, so I’ll stay away… but besides that, I like these.  As usual, I recommend throwing these, and any other games, into all sorts of ridiculous parlays… JUST LOOK AT THOSE PAYOUTS!! Then, just for fun, let’s throw in the Nuggets -15.5 over the TWolves tonight, if for nothing else than to have a reason to watch Pierre McGee do Pierre McGee things- like this and this.

Finally, take Indiana over Michigan tomorrow, no matter what the spread is.  In case you missed it, they cut down the nets after a loss.  I’m not making that up.  But they have that cyborg Victor Oladipo, and Michigan sucks.  More on that tomorrow.