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First Round March Madness Picks - Thursday

March Madness is finally here, and if you are one of the one’s lucky enough to get the next two days off work, you’ll be rewarded with all of the basketball you can handle today and tomorrow!  The first round of the tournament can be a little tricky.  All of the really good teams are playing teams that they completely out-match, so the lines on them are all double digits, getting as high as 32 point favorites like UCLA is against Mississippi Valley State.  Knowing that, we are going to take a look at some of the match ups that are a little bit closer and give your our picks.

Georgia +8.5 vs. Xavier
Georgia is coming off of an emotional run to get here and they will play to their full potential to prove they deserved the trip.

George Mason +6.5vs. Notre Dame
I’m not convinced Notre Dame can win this game.  If they do it should be a tight one.

BYU +1.5 vs. Texas A&M
This is purely a fade-the-public type of play.  A&M seems like an easy winner and I know from experience that there’s no such thing.

Pitt -8.5 vs. Oral Roberts
Pitt is one of my sleepers to make the Elite 8.  They should roll against Oral Roberts.

Baylor +2.5 vs. Purdue
Baylor is a team that could surprise a lot of opponents.

Kentucky +6 vs. Marquette
This game is a toss-up in my opinion, the six points are a gift.

Good luck with your bets and brackets today!

Popularity: 89% [?]

Featured NCAA Conference Tournaments Odds and Picks

Thursday the NCAA Conference Tournaments shift into full gear.  The ACC, Big Ten, and Big 12, tourneys start today with the Big East and Pac-10 continuing their brackets with round-two action.  The Big East tournament gets top billing as they have the most good teams playing today, but there are several other games to watch for.  Here’s a rundown of today’s lines and our picks for each contest:

VILLANOVA (19-11) vs. GEORGETOWN (25-4)
Line:  Villanova vs. Georgetown -7
Over/Under:  122
Picks:  Villanova +7, UNDER 122
Nova struggled in the Big East this season, but they still won 20 games and lost several close games, including a 55-53 loss to Georgetown about a month ago.  Villanova has a lot more to play for than the Hoyas, who are already guaranteed a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

W VIRGINIA (22-9) vs. CONNECTICUT (24-7)
Line:  West Virginia vs. UConn -1.5
Over/Under:  141
Picks: UConn -1.5, OVER 141
This is probably the best matchup of the day.  The Huskies are just slightly better, but it’s enough to pick up this win and cover that spread.

OREGON (18-12) vs. WASHINGTON ST (23-7)
Line:  Oregon vs. Washington State -3.5
Over/Under: 127
Picks:  Washington State -3.5, UNDER 127
Oregon has more motivation to win here, but they aren’t the better team.  Washington State won both regular season contests handily.

DAYTON (21-9) vs. XAVIER (26-5)
Line:  Dayton vs. Xavier -9
Over/Under:  127
Picks:  Dayton +9, UNDER 127
Dayton kept up with Xavier in their last meeting, we’re banking on a repeat performance.

AUBURN (14-15) vs. VANDERBILT (25-6)
Line:  Aubrun vs. Vanderbilt -8.5
Over/Under:  152
Picks:  Vanderbilt -8.5, UNDER 152
Vandy takes it up a notch in tournament play.

Getting ready for your NCAA tournament bracket?  Check out these great tips for filling out a winning bracke!

Popularity: 78% [?]

Featured Big East Conference Tourney Game

The Big East conference tournament will get under way today around Noon Eastern time.  The first round has several good match-ups, but the one that is the most interesting is Seton Hall versus Marquette, and that game doesn’t tip until 9:00 PM EST.    Head to head, Marquette has won both contests, but Seton Hall is getting 10.5 points and they would love to play spoiler to Marquette in the Big East tourney.  Looking over the stat sheet, it’s no surprise that Marquette would be double digit favorites.  Seton Hall has lost 8 of their last 10 games and only finished with a 7-11 record in the Big East.  The fact is that the Pirates have struggled this season.  Their scores against the Big East’s elite has been awful.  The reason we’re taking Seton Hall is based on a few factors.  One is that during tournament time, anything can happen.  Emotions are high and players tend to play just a little bit harder and a little bit better during tournament play.  The other major factor is the three-point line.  Seton Hall isn’t great at shooting threes, but they aren’t bad either.  If they get a hot hand from beyond the arc, like I’ve seen them do before, they can not only make this a game, they make a run at winning the thing.

Seton Hall (17-14) vs No. 24 Marquette (22-8)
Line:  Seton Hall vs. Marquette -10.5
Over/Under:  150

Pick:  Seton Hall Pirates +10.5, Over 150

Popularity: 85% [?]

Missouri Valley Conference Championship Game Lines and Picks

The Drake Bulldogs and the Illinois State Redbirds fight for the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Championship today at 2:05 PM EST.  It’s fitting these two teams should meet in the conference final as they were consistently the best two teams in the MO-Valley, something that isn’t always the case with confernce tournaments.  The edge here has to go to Drake, who has beaten Illinois State twice already this season.  They do say it is hard to beat a team three times in one season, but I’ve yet to see any hard evidence of that as fact, it’s just something the announcers and pundits like to say.  Drake is the most cohesive team in the conference, nobody plays better together and nobody has as much all-around talent on the court.  They are excellent free-throw shooters and, maybe most importantly, they don’t turn the ball over.  The over/under for the game is set at 128.5, which is right around the same line as the over/under when these teams met in the regular season, in which both games went over the total.  Tonight’s contest should have no problem reaching that mark as both teams can have a very hot hand from behind the three-point arc.

Illinois St. (24-8) vs #21 Drake (27-4)  
Line:  Illinois State vs. Drake -2.5
Over/Under:  128.5
Betting Odds from BodogLife

Picks:  Drake Bulldogs -2.5, Over 128.5

Popularity: 43% [?]

North Carolina at Duke Betting Odds and Picks

This is the premiere match up in college basketball.  It’s been a long time since a meeting between these two teams hasn’t meant something and this year is no exception.  UNC is currently ranked #1 in the nation, while the Duke Blue Devils hold the #5 ranking.  The rankings have little to do with this game which is truly fueled by the intense rivalry between the two squads.  I mean how often is the #1 team in the nation an underdog?  Granted the Tar Heels are only a one-point dog in this situation, but it does speak to the respect Duke gets in the college basketball community, as well as just how much this games means to each team.  Here are the latest odds posted on the game and our pick for who will come out on top!

No. 1 North Carolina (28-2) at No. 5 Duke (26-3)  
Line:  North Carolina +1 @ Duke
Over/Under:  169.5
Betting Odds from SportsBook.com

Picks:  North Carolina Tarheels +1, Over 169.5
As much as you’d like to give Duke home-court advantage, you really can’t in this situation.  The two schools are so close together and there will be so many fans from both teams in attendance, it would be too difficult to gauge how much of an edge the home team really has.  With that being said, North Carolina is a better basketball team this year, despite the fact that the Blue Devils came into UNC and dominated the Tar Heels earlier this year.  Since then, Duke has stumbled, losing to Wake Forest and to the Miami Hurricanes.  Since the loss, the Tar Heels have been virtually unstoppable and they’ve propelled themselves into the #1 ranking.  We’re also taking the Over tonight as odds makers haven’t set this line high enough, ignoring the fact that the last 5 games in this series have gone well over the total.  Good luck tonight!

Popularity: 36% [?]

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