Tuesday NCAA Basketball picks from Kern: Maryland vs Rutgers, Penn State vs Michigan State, Xavier vs DePaul, and more

Now that football is finally behind us, it’s time to focus more on some other things. So let’s put out some college basketball picks to get us going.

In the mighty MAC, well I have a friend out that way who tries to lead me in the right direction. It actually worked out fairly well in football. I love playing conferences that most people don’t pay too much attention to. You never know what you might find. So …

Largely on his guidance I’m going to take a shot on Bowling Green getting 2 points at Central Michigan, in a matchup of the two division leaders. But BG has won five more games overall, and is 4-1 on the road. Central Mich is 10-1 at home (as is BG). I’ll still take a chance that the road team can come up with the win in this spot.

I’ll also take Northern Illinois at Toledo, getting 6.5. Toledo is a .500 team, and two games behind the visitors in the standings. The Rockets are 6-4 at home. I’m not saying they can’t win. I’m just saying that covering that much might be tough.

And in the Big Ten, I’ll go with a teaser. Which, if you’ve been following the football stuff, is what I occasionally do. For better or whatever.

Give me Maryland minus 1.5 at home against Rutgers. I know Rutgers is better, but I think the Terps should be able to cover this line. Not as sure about the 7.5. Put that with Penn State getting 14.5 at Michigan State. Don’t know if the Nits can get the road win, but they’re pretty good and I think the two touchdowns might be enough to get us by.

One more. Xavier is at DePaul, getting a point. The Musketeers have been one of the biggest disappointments in not just the Big East but overall. But they’re coming off their best game, a win at Seton Hall. I know DePaul is better, but it’s still DePaul. The Blue Devils have one win in the league. Maybe I’m getting lulled into a sucker bet, but I guess we’ll find out.

As always, try not to get too carried away. It’s still relatively early. The Madness is still six weeks away. Let the fun start.

I will have the weekly golf picks for you soon. So keep reading. And hopefully we’ll have some more college and maybe even pro hoops stuff as we go forward. All we can do is try.