Having watched college hoops closely for 60 years, we've always put Pete Carril, Boyd Grant, and a few others as the best sideline tacticians we've seen. Maybe it's time to make room for Drake's Ben McCollum, dead-serious in his work, with the best-drilled team we've seen this season. McCollum's team, largely the transfer he brought with him from a wildly successful D-II run at NW Missouri, allows only 58.4 ppg and completely dictated pace and tempo vs. go-go Mizzou on Thursday, while transfer G Bennett Stirtz (19.2 ppg; 23 pg the last three) leads the offense. Not even Santa Clara tries as many 3s as did Texas Tech (4 of 'em!) on Thursday vs. UNCW, a risky strategy vs. Drake.. Play Drake (NCAA at Wichita)

Drake was outstanding in its first round win over Mizzou, and the Bulldogs' ability on the defensive end makes this number too high in my opinion. Texas Tech is a very good team, and I expect the Red Raiders to advance. This will be a game that comes down to the wire, though. Take the points.

I am thoroughly enjoying all these Division II transfers on Drake kicking DI/power conference tail as a former brief small-college player myself. And the Bulldogs are doing it defensively. Which makes me think this is a fair amount too high. Expect TTU to advance but neither team may have 8 points by the second media timeout of the first half. Tough to cover a number like this in a rock fight. Also the fact one of TTU's best players, Chance McMillian (14.2 PPG, 4.1 RPG), may be out again. He has missed the past two-plus. Love the Drake ... but not enough to buy him a TV (oh man, I'm George/Larry David).

This is a wildly low line for two teams that may not push the pace but do operate at a pretty efficient clip when it comes to the offensive end. Drake ranks No. 362 out of 364 Division I teams when it comes to getting out in transition but good offensive rebounding allows for even more chances to score in the half-court, and as a fairly sizable underdog the expectation is that Ben McCollum’s crew will be chasing the game a little bit and can’t afford to milk away the clock. Texas Tech, meanwhile, has one of the most efficient offenses in the country, spaces the floor well and can heat up from deep.