Lock Mamba

Pickswise Expert

My name is Robby Nardini and I have been a diehard college basketball fan my whole life. I am a former University of Illinois basketball manager and have been writing about college hoops since I moved on from the program in 2020. My gambling picks here on Pickswise are heavily calculated by using my overall college basketball knowledge, specific trends and analytical sites such as KenPom, Bart Torvik, Evan Miya and more. I write here at Pickswise as well as Illinois basketball specific outlets such as Armchair Illini and The Champaign Room. You can find me on X @robbynardini and @lockmamba, where I write a wide range of college hoops focused pieces and do my own Bracketology.

Live Picks 4

Live Parlays 0

Weekly News Articles 0

Location

Chicago, Illinois

Favorite Sports

NFL

MLB

CBB

Favorite Teams

Greatest Betting Win

My best betting memory is having a Same Game Parlay on the Buccaneers and Rams game back when Tom Brady was the quarterback. DraftKings gave me a $25 no sweat bet to use on the game so I created a same game parlay to win $3,250. The parlay was Tyler Higbee to score the first touchdown, Cooper Kupp anytime touchdown, Chris Godwin anytime touchdown and Rams money line (plus money). Tyler Higbee scored the first touchdown of the game followed by Kupp scoring the second and Godwin scoring the third. The touchdown’s all hit in the first half, so all I needed was for the Rams to get the upset win. They got the job done and I cashed the $3,250 parlay!

Greatest Achievements

+40.65 units overall as a college basketball handicapper from plays tweeted out and tracked on Lock Mamba Twitter. Featured on the Bracket Matrix Bracketology website which includes the best Bracketologist out there from ESPN, CBS, etc. Braves to win the 2021 World Series at +1000 odds. Kansas Jayhawks to win the 2022 NCAAB National Championship.

Education

Lock Mamba has his Bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in Recreation, Sport & Tourism from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He also received a certification in Sports Media from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Experience

Lock Mamba has been working with Pickswise writing college basketball previews for three years and has proven to be one of the best out there. He gained interest in sports betting through playing fantasy football and participating in numerous sports pools ran by friends over the years. His official college basketball plays tweeted off his Lock Mamba twitter account have an all-time ROI of 6.49% and is +40.65 units. As of February 16th , his NCAAB plays tweeted and tracked are +21.45 units. Lock Mamba has also tapped into other sports such as NFL, NBA and MLB showing that he can provide great knowledge in every sport.

Favorite betting market / type

Point Spreads and Futures.

Favorite bookmakers

Lock's Picks

Point Spread Pick

UCLA -5.5(-115)

Reasoning

The UCF Knights and the UCLA Bruins will face off on Friday in Philadelphia for the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The game will tip off at 7:25pm EST in Xfinity Mobile Arena before UConn and Furman take the court afterwards. UCLA made it to the Big 10 semifinals last weekend and are playing like we expected in the preseason as of late. They struggled early in the season but have seemed to turn the corner recently, so I am backing them to cover this spread.

UCLA is -5.5 and that is my best bet of the game. I like UCLA to cover against UCF because I believe their offense will be too much for the UCF defense. According to KenPom, the Knights are ranked just #235 nationally in effective field goal percentage and #187 in three-point percentage. The Bruins offense is ranked #16 in three-point percentage and should have success from beyond the arc here. Guard play is important in March and UCLA has three great guards in Donovan Dent, Trent Perry and Skyy Clark. I am backing them to cover here and would not be surprised if they challenge UConn in the round of 32. Take UCLA to over in this one.

*UCLA -5.5 available at time of publishing. Playable at -6*

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Lock Mamba

Point Spread Pick

Houston -23.5(-115)

Reasoning

The Idaho Vandals and the Houston Cougars will face off on Thursday for round one of the NCAA Tournament. This game is a late tip off in Oklahoma City following the Saint Mary’s and Texas A&M game. I do not expect this one to be a very close one as Houston should be able to handle Idaho with not many issues. The Vandals finished the regular season just 17-14 but went on a four-game winning streak to win the Big Sky Conference Tournament. The Big Sky has not fared well in the big dance as they are just 3-10-1 against the spread since 2010. I expect Houston to add to that bad record and cover the spread here.

Houston -23.5 is my best bet of the game because I do not see Idaho having any success against Houston’s high-level defense. The Cougars have an elite defense every year under Kelvin Sampson, and this year is no different. According to KenPom, Houston’s defense is ranked #5 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, #17 in effective field goal percentage and #10 in two-point percentage. The Vandals offense is ranked just #176 in adjusted offensive efficiency, so I expect them to struggle to score. They shoot a bunch of threes but only shoot 34.5 percentage from beyond the arc and will likely not be able to score much inside here. Take Houston to cover.

Idaho vs Houston prediction: Houston -23.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to -25.

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Lock Mamba

Game Totals Pick

Under 129.0(-115)

Reasoning

The Iowa Hawkeyes and the Clemson Tigers will meet in Tampa Bay for the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The game will tip off at 6:30pm EST on Friday and should be one of the best games of the day. The eight vs nine matchup is usually a toss-up and the spread indicates that it will be a close finish. The winner of this one will likely play Florida in the round of 32 and have the opportunity to shock the world. Iowa is a short favorite as the nine seed in this one, but my best bet of the game is the under. The total is currently set at 129 points and that is the play here.

I am taking the under in this game because both teams play at a very slow pace and will look to slow the game down as much as possible. According to KenPom, Iowa is ranked #357 in adjusted tempo while Clemson is ranked #333. Neither team is ranked highly in points per game, so I do not expect points to be that many points to be scored. The total has finished under the number in 60 percentage of Clemson’s games this season and I expect that trend to continue here. Take the under.

Iowa vs Clemson prediction: Under 129 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to 128.

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Lock Mamba

Point Spread PickBest Bet

Troy +13.0(-115)

Reasoning

The Troy Trojans and the Nebraska Cornhuskers will meet on Thursday for round one of the NCAA Tournament. It will be the second game to tip off in this year’s tournament, and we could see the first upset early in the big dance. Troy is a 13-point underdog in this game but will be a trendy upset pick in the round of 64. Nebraska started the season 20-0 but has finished the season going just 6-6. The Cornhuskers will look to win their first NCAA Tournament game in program history, but I expect that the Trojans will keep this one close.

My best bet of the game is Troy +13. That feels like too many points for a team that played well against high level opponents this year. Troy beat San Diego State earlier in the season and lost to USC in triple overtime. They beat tournament teams Akron and Furman as well, so will not be shocked by Nebraska’s talent. Nebraska’s offense has not been good recently, so I do not expect Nebraska to overpower Troy offensively. Since February 1^st, the Cornhuskers offense is ranked #132 in adjusted offensively efficiency. Combine that with the slow pace of play expected in this one, I see Troy keeping it within the number.

Troy vs Nebraska prediction: Troy +13 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to +10.

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Lock Mamba