Did I write this to mostly crow about how I went 3-1 with my NIT semi-finals picks? Oh, most certainly. Does this have any relevancy to Iowa sports at all? Uh, well, former Hawkeye Jack Nunge will be competing in the NIT final for Xavier. Does that count? Not really? Oh well. On to the picks!

6:00pm Xavier v. Texas A&M -4.5 U137.5 — Texas A&M has a tenacious defense that forces turnovers and gums up the tempo of the game generally. Xavier is down their 5 year starting PG Paul Scruggs and generally hasn't faced a defense this stout for the entirety of the tournament. When Xavier has faced similar defenses (Seton Hall, Villanova), they've generally struggled to crack 70. Combine that with the fact that the under has hit in 5 Texas A&M games in a row, and you've got the makings of a low scoring game.