NCAA basketball betting: Rhode Island Rams vs. St. Louis Billikens

NCAA basketball betting festivities in the Atlantic 10 Tournament return on Friday afternoon, and they immediately get underway with a crucial bubble battle between the Rhode Island Rams and the St. Louis Billikens.

Thanks to the demise of several other bubble teams, the Rams may be able to get into the field of 65 regardless. However, it would behoove them to win this game, which would most likely remove all doubts about the A-10 getting at least four teams into the tournament.

For the Billikens, the situation is significantly direr as they clearly need a 'W' in this game to have a gripe to go dancing. But with all the other bubbles bursting across the country, a win in this game alone might be enough to punch their ticket.

Rhode Island Rams (22-8, 11-15-1 ATS) vs. St. Louis Billikens (20-10, 15-9-1 ATS)

College Basketball Odds:

Rhode Island Rams -3.5
St. Louis Billikens +3.5
Game Total 128.5

If Rhode Island is going to win this game and take its high flying act into March Madness, it's going to need to keep the tempo of this NCAA basketball game at a breakneck pace.

The team is averaging 77.4 points per game, which is one of the higher marks in a conference that promotes stellar defense and slow paced games.

The Rams are deep enough to be able to make a good run both in the Atlantic 10 Tournament and the NCAA Tournament. They legitimately have seven scorers that can take over the game in short spurts. G Keith Cothran leads them all scoring 15.0 points per game, but Fs Delroy James and Lamonte Ulmer (12.7 and 11.8 points per game respectively) can handle things in the post.

When you're only allowing teams to shoot 39.9 percent from the floor and 27.1 percent from three-point range, and you can successfully keep teams from pushing the pace on you, you're inevitably going to be known as a fantastic defensive team.

The Billikens are just that, and even though they only score 63.8 points per game, they only concede 59.7 points per game, which makes them one of the best defenses in the entire country.

However, St. Louis is also going to have the top scorer in this NCAA basketball duel, as G Kwamain Mitchell is averaging 16.1 points per game.

It will also be imperative for the Billikens to take care of the basketball better than they usually do. To date, they turn the ball over 13.2 times per game.

College Basketball Insider Betting Tip: Rhode Island is just 2-6 ATS in its L/8 NCAA basketball betting affairs when playing in the favorite role.

Four weeks ago, the Billikens knocked the Rams off 62-57 at home as short underdogs. URI has been playing very questionable basketball of late, losing five out of eight to put it into this position.

The Billikens more ominous situation will show on the court Friday. St. Louis will use its stifling defense to slow down the Rams, and that should propel it to an upset of very slight proportions that could help the A-10 get as many as six teams into the NCAA Tournament.

My College Basketball Prediction: St. Louis by 5 > > SIGN UP HERE!