#753 ASA PLAY ON 8* Rutgers -1.5 over Clemson, Friday at 9:20 PM ET - Going with the Big 10 (stronger league) over a down ACC this season. The Scarlet Knights finished 10-10 in the Big 10 but we think they are undervalued having played an extremely tough schedule (7th SOS nationally). They currently rank as the 8th best team in the conference but 34th nationally which obviously shows just how good the Big 10 was this season. They are very good defensively (18th nationally in defensive efficiency) and they score mainly inside the arc with 60% of their coming from 2-point range (12th most nationally). We like that scenario when playing at a new NBA venue (Bankers Life Fieldhouse home of the Pacers) as it’s often more difficult to shoot from outside at the bigger arenas. That’s the direct opposite from this Clemson team who has to shoot well from beyond the arc to have a chance to win. The Tigers are 27th nationally scoring almost 40% of their points from 3-point land yet they aren’t a great shooting team (130th in 3 point%). Rutgers defends the arc well so this should be a tough game offensively for Clemson. The Tigers were a shaky team away from home winning just 2 true road games this season @ Wake and @ Miami – 2 of the 3 worst teams in the ACC. Rutgers had a losing road record in Big 10 play which is not surprising, however they did beat Maryland, Indiana, Northwestern and Minnesota all on the road. The only thing where Rutgers is at an obvious disadvantage is at the FT line where they make just 63%. However, Clemson goes to the FT line very infrequently (336th nationally) so we don’t expect a big advantage if any for the Tigers at the stripe. Rutgers is the 10 seed yet favored over the 7-seed Tigers for a reason. They are the better team in most aspects of the game. We fully expect the Knights to win so we’ll lay the small number.