SOURCE: Las Vegas Sun

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The situation set up well for La Salle, because the Seminoles figured to come out flat against a team they expected to beat. They were a big favorite “and they knew it,” Boston said.

La Salle lost 81-76, easily staying within the number. The lesson wasn’t that Boston won his bet, he said, but that similar scheduling spots show up frequently.

“I always say, look for parallel situations,” Boston said.

2. Look for big underdogs early in conference play.

In early season nonconference games, heavy favorites tend to pull away and win by even more points than expected, Boston said. In conference competition, however, coaches usually have at least a grudging respect for each other when they meet a couple of times a year.

“They don’t run up the score on their brethren,” Boston said, making “backdoor” covers a strong possibility. A case in point came when Iowa covered an 18-point spread against Wisconsin, losing 64-51 in an early Big Ten clash.

Boston, a supporter of Iowa coach Todd Lickliter, expects the Hawkeyes to pull an upset or two this season, although they won’t qualify for any tournament.

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