It’s day two in the Battle 4 Atlantis and we’ve got a surprising matchup in the winner’s bracket with West Virginia set to face Louisville.

The Mountaineers took down No. 3 Gonzaga in overtime in the opening round while the Cardinals pounded No. 14 Indiana to start the event.

Here are my picks for today’s game. Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.

1 Star – Not very confident
2 Star – A little confident
3 Star – Fairly confident
4 Star – Very confident
5 Star – Should be a lock to happen

2-star play on Louisville (-1.5): As thrilling as Wednesday’s win was for West Virginia, the odds are stacked against them here in this matchup, but not from a talent standpoint. They have the horses to be able to hang in there and potentially even win this game, but they had to exert a ton of energy to knock off Gonzaga in overtime.

Meanwhile, the Cards beat No. 14 Indiana by 38 in a game that was pretty much decided early on in the second half. Because they were able to get out to such a comfortable lead, they were able to rest their starters. Couple that with West Virginia playing an exhausting game with essentially a 7 or 8-man rotation, and you’d have to figure that the Mountaineers are at a slight disadvantage.

Put it this way: if these two squared off in the opening round, I’d tend to lean toward West Virginia. That being said, I’m not completely counting this Mountaineer squad out, especially after last night.

2-star play on the under: Playing on consecutive days can lead to high-scoring games because teams have tired legs, and that fatigue shows on defense or those tired legs show on the offensive end of the floor, resulting in a low-scoring affair. I’m going to go with the ladder here, partially because West Virginia is going to have to play stingy defense to win this game.

The Cardinals do a pretty good job of pushing the pace and scoring in the fastbreak, and playing in an up-and-down style of game just doesn’t seem ideal for the Mountaineers after yesterday. You could tell West Virginia began to lose some energy in the final few minutes in regulation by really slowing things down offensively. I expect that we’ll see a similar approach today, given the short turnaround. Darian DeVries probably doesn’t want this to be a game that’s settled in the 80s or 90s.

ATS: 2-3 (40%)
O/U: 3-2 (60%)
Overall: 5-5 (50%)

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While taking plenty of hits in regards to their standing in the College Football Playoff, there is no doubting that the Big 12 Conference is No. 1 in college basketball.

On Wednesday, the league scored six wins in six games, none bigger than West Virginia’s 86-78 upset of No. 3 Gonzaga in overtime.

Fifth-ranked Iowa State, No. 17 Cincinnati, 17th-ranked Baylor, No. 24 Arizona and UCF were also victorious while sixth-rated Houston battled Notre Dame well past midnight at the Players Era Festival Impact Tournament.

Darian DeVries, who led Drake to incredible success, appears to have the Mountaineers (4-1) well on their way. Tucker DeVries, Darian’s son and the former Missouri Valley Conference player of the year, sank two free throws to tie it at 71-all and force overtime.

From there, it was all WVU, as they outscored the Zags 15-7 in the extra session. Javon Small scored 31 points with seven rebounds, draining four 3-pointers, as Amani Hansberry had 19 and DeVries scored 16. 

West Virginia sank 11 triples and held a 42-36 edge on the glass. 

While West Virginia advanced at the Battle 4 Atlantis, fifth-ranked Iowa State locked up fifth place at the Maui Invitational with a 99-71 win over Colorado. The Buffaloes, ironically also part of the Big 12, had knocked off two-time defending national champion Connecticut to advance. 

Milan Momcilovic scored 24 points with six made 3-pointers, as Curtis Jones added 19 and Keshon Gilbert 15. 

Iowa State, always known for pressure defense under head coach TJ Otzelberger, continues to light up the scoreboard. They have reached the 81-point mark in all six games this season.

Cincinnati, Baylor and Arizona all claimed wins over smaller schools, as the Bearcats topped Alabama State, 77-59, the Bears downed New Orleans, 91-60, and the Wildcats stifled Davidson, 104-71.

UCF picked up an 84-76 decision vs. Milwaukee,