Game Time:  Saturday, April 5th - 8:45 PM ET
Pick:  North Carolina -3 vs Kansas
If you’ve watched these teams play, you’ve seen how good they both really are.  The reason North Carolina gets the edge is consistency.  Kansas is a hot-cold team as we all saw against Davidson, and though they managed to pull out the victory based purely on superior talent, they won’t have that luxury against UNC.  The Jayhawks almost certainly have more players that will end up in the NBA, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are the better college basketball team.  I guess you could say that I see North Carolina as more of an elite team and Kansas more of five individuals on the court with a few elite players.  Look, I realize that I’m on the bandwagon here as over 70% of the betting world has picked the Tar Heels to cover the three point spread.  However, one thing I’ve noticed throughout the years is that the public struggles mightily during regular season games in all sports, but in the big prime time events they fair significantly better, particularly when the spread is so low.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Game time:  Saturday, April 5th - 6:05 PM ET
Pick:  UCLA +2 vs Memphis
Memphis looks to be the better team in this match up on paper.  Their problem is that, of course, basketball is not played on paper, it’s played on the hardwood.  I still have a problem with Memphis accumulating their stats for the season in Conference USA.  My contention is that UCLA would earn at least as good of stats as Memphis if they were to play in Conference USA while I do not think Memphis could match UCLA’s numbers in the PAC 10.  What I’m really saying here is that I see UCLA as the better team.  I can tell you right now that Memphis has impressed me throughout this tournament.  It’s not that I didn’t think they could make it to the Final Four, it’s just that I did not expect them to dominate teams like Texas and Michigan State like they did.  UCLA has done pretty much what everyone thought they would do.  They play some of the best defense in the nation and they’ve dominated the teams you’d expect them to.  It probably sounds like a broken record at this point since it’s been said so many times, but the difference in this game will come from the Bruins’ defense.  You basically have to pick a side.  You’ve got a Memphis team that has been virtually unstoppable on offense, against the UCLA team that has held three of their last four NCAA tournament opponents under 60 points.  Match that stat with the fact that UCLA has been able to play with high-octane offenses throughout the season and you’ve got a real winning combination.

Popularity: 13% [?]

Now that the field has been set for the NCAA Men’s College Basketball Tournament, we’d like to take a look at who Vegas thinks is going to win it all.  As you might expect, the #1 seeds have the best odds.  North Carolina and UCLA are the odds-on favorites, both coming in at 4 to 1 to win the tournament.  Kansas and Memphis, the other two #1 seeds, are coming in at 5/1 and 6/1 respectively, so, according to Las Vegas odds makers, one of the number one seeds is likely to win the NCAA Championship.  But you don’t need us to tell you that the #1 seeds are the favorites to win the tourney, that’s why they are ranked #1, right?  What we’re more interested in, and what you’re probably more interested in, is which teams could make a run at the tournament that have odds that are a little more in your favor.  The first two teams I’d consider are Texas and Duke, both with 14 to 1 odds to win it all.  You aren’t looking at a monster pay off if one of them does win it all, but I feel that both Duke and Texas have just as good a chance to win the title as a team like Memphis or UCLA and you have to love 14 to 1 compared to 6 to 1 or worse.  Other teams I like in the field to possibly make a run are Wisconsin at 20/1, Stanford at 25/1, and Pitt at 30/1.  These are teams that, if they catch fire, could make a legitimate run in the tournament.  Granted, it would be difficult to do, but the possibility is enough for me to put them on this list.  There are two 40/1 teams that I also like, UConn and Clemson.  These are teams that struggled a little down the stretch, but teams I could see making it deep into the tournament and possibly upsetting one of the big guns in the bracket.  Well, those are our opinions on the recently released odds for the NCAA Basketball Tournament.  Here is the complete listing of the odds from BodogLife.com so you can form your own opinions: 

American 2000/1
 
Arizona 80/1

Arkansas 150/1
 
Austin Peay 1000/1
 
Baylor 150/1
 
Belmont 1500/1
 
Boise State 750/1
 
Butler 100/1
 
BYU 200/1
 
Cal State Fullerton 1500/1
 
Clemson 40/1
 
Connecticut 40/1
 
Coppin State 2500/1
 
Cornell 750/1
 
Davidson 150/1
 
Drake 80/1
 
Duke 14/1
 
George Mason 500/1
 
Georgetown 14/1
 
Georgia 250/1
 
Gonzaga 125/1
 
Indiana 100/1
 
Kansas 5/1
 
Kansas State 75/1
 
Kent State 200/1
 
Kentucky 150/1
 
Louisville 18/1
 
Marquette 55/1
 
Memphis 6/1
 
Miami Florida 100/1
 
Michigan State 50/1
 
Mississippi State 80/1
 
Mississippi Valley State 2500/1
 
Mount St. Mary’s 2500/1
 
North Carolina 4/1
 
Notre Dame 60/1
 
Oklahoma 150/1
 
Oral Roberts 500/1
 
Oregon 150/1
 
Pittsburgh 30/1
 
Portland State 2500/1
 
Purdue 70/1
 
Saint Joseph’s 250/1
 
Saint Mary’s 150/1
 
San Diego 500/1
 
Siena 500/1
 
South Alabama 200/1
 
Stanford 25/1
 
Temple 300/1
 
Tennessee 18/1
 
Texas 14/1
 
Texas A&M 200/1
 
Texas Arlington 2000/1
 
UCLA 4/1
 
UMBC 2000/1
 
UNLV 250/1
 
USC 45/1
 
Vanderbilt 50/1
 
Villanova 250/1
 
Washington State 40/1
 
Western Kentucky 500/1
 
West Virgnia 125/1
 
Winthrop 500/1
 
Wisconsin 20/1
 
Xavier 35/1

Popularity: 38% [?]

With March Madness just a week away and Selection Sunday coming this weekend, it’s time to prepare to fill out your bracket!  Before we jump right into the tips, let’s get a few things out of the way.  First off, you are going to run into thousands of tips on the Internet on how to win your NCAA bracket.  So what makes our list so much better?  Well, it pains me to say it, but nothing, really.  The fact of the matter is that we are providing tips, and they are by no means perfect.  Could they help?  Sure!  Could they ruin your bracket?  We hope not!  Basically, what we’ve done is gone out and collected as many good tips as we could.  Because there are so many to pick from out there, we were hoping to compile a list that sorted through all the BS and gave you the tips that really matter and I think we’ve accomplished that.  Now, I certainly don’t want to discourage you, but the last thing I want to say before getting into the list is that you aren’t going to fill out a perfect bracket this year.  You probably won’t ever fill out a perfect bracket in your lifetime.  I know that’s discouraging, but keep in mind that you won’t need to go undefeated to win your pool and have fun during March Madness cheering your teams on.  You know how you always hear about the odds to win the lottery?  How it’s more likely to get struck by lightning, or freeze to death, or whatever ridiculous scenario they can come up with, than it is to win the lottery?  Ha!  Whoever said that must not be a very big basketball fan.  The odds to win the Powerball Lottery are just over 146 million to 1.  Compare that to the odds to fill out a perfect NCAA Tournament bracket, which comes in at well over 9 quintillion to 1 (9 quintillion is a 9 with 18 zeroes behind it), and you can clearly see how difficult it would be to pull off the perfect picks through every round of the tournament.  Now that I’ve said all of that and given you some fun facts, let’s get to our NCAA Tournament Tips list already!

(Almost) Anything Goes In The First Round
This is pretty basic, but an important tip to remember.  Don’t give your bracket the kiss-of-death and pick any 16 seeds to beat 1 seeds (and normally not any 15 seeds to beat 2 seeds), but just about everything else goes!  You have to ignore the favorites in these match ups and pick some low seeds.  It might go against logic, but face it, the better-seeded team does not always win.  Also keep in mind that since 1989 there has been only one NCAA Tournament in which a 12th seeded team did not beat a 5th seeded team, so you should pick one or more 12 seeds to win in the first round, but be selective!

Seed Difference Matters
This conflicts a little with our first tip, but remember not to put all of your eggs in one basket, you’ll need a balanced approach to win your pool!  Throughout the history of the NCAA Tournament you’ll find that a seed difference of 4 or more leads to an 80% chance of victory.  So, if a 3 seed is playing 9 seed (a seed difference of 6), 80% of the time the 3 seed will win.  That means that the majority of your picks in the first round should be favorites, but you do need to pick and choose some upsets if you are going to beat your competition.

A #1 Seed Is Pretty Sweet
Another great stat that will help you on your way to winning your NCAA Tournament pool is that historically #1 seeds have an 84% chance of making it to at least the Sweet 16.  That means that at least three, and probably all four, of the #1 seeds in your bracket should advance to the Sweet 16.  I do realize there are always upset opportunities, and my advice is to pick them when you truly feel it’s the right pick, just be aware of the odds that are against you!

They Call It The “Elite 8″ For A Reason
Once you get to the Elite 8 portion of your bracket, try to clear your mind and start over.  Once we hit that point in the tournament, the best teams are the best teams.  If a “Cinderella” team slips into your Elite 8, that’s great, just don’t go sending them to the Final Four.  Use your head once you get to that point.  Normally, the better seed is going to win, or the team that is favored according to the Vegas odds.  Imagine which of your teams will be favored, not who you want to win, and advance them to the Final Four.  The really good teams are there for a reason, the lower seeds are just happy to be there at that point and they are likely running on fumes. 

Hopefully all, or at least a few, of these tips were helpful, or at least gave you some information you might not have known.  Good luck with your brackets and enjoy March Madness!!!

Popularity: 60% [?]

Thursday, March 13th we’ll get a chance to see the Big 12 in action as its men’s conference championship starts up.  Perhaps more than any other conference, the Big 12 is a top-heavy conference.  There are two elite teams in this race, Kansas and Texas, then four teams we’d consider “near the front of the pack” in Kansas State, Baylor, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma, followed by a big gap with Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Nebraska, and Missouri, and an even bigger gap with Iowa State and Colorado finishing way behind the rest.  The point being, if Kansas or Texas isn’t hoisting up the Big 12 Conference Tournament Championship trophy this Sunday, you better stay home on Monday because something in the universe isn’t right.  That being said, I do like Kansas State and Michael Beasley, who is unquestionably the best player in college basketball this season (side note:  if you haven’t seen the kid play, you owe it to yourself as a basketball fan to check out one of K-State’s games ASAP!).  Baylor has been great surprise in the conference this season, but I don’t see them getting past Oklahoma in the second round of the tournament, assuming they throttle Colorado like they should.  Oklahoma and Texas A&M are teams that should be labeled “dangerous” as they could knock off one of the top teams in this tourney.  The remaining teams in the conference will be in the tournament, but I don’t expect they’ll be there very long.  For a full listing of the odds to win the Big 12 Conference Championship as posted at BetUs.com, see below:

Odds to Win the NCAA Men’s Big 12 Conference Tournament

Kansas  5/6  

Texas  3/1  

Kansas State 15/2  

Baylor  10/1  

Oklahoma 15/2  

Texas A&M 12/1  

Texas Tech 20/1  

Oklahoma State 20/1  

Nebraska 25/1  

Missouri 30/1  

IowaState 75/1  

Colorado 100/1  

Popularity: 12% [?]

The Big East Conference Championship Tournament tips off Wednesday with Villanova playing Syracuse at Noon EST, running straight through until the final whistle of the Marquette/Seton Hall game which doesn’t tip off until 9:00 PM EST.  There are about 8 teams in this field of 12 that could legitimately make a run for the Big East title.  The four teams with a first round bye, Georgetown, UConn, Louisville, and Notre Dame obviously have a leg up on the competition, but nothing is promised in a conference this good.  West Virginia, Marquette, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and Villanova are teams that might make a run with a little bit of luck on their side as they are all excellent basketball teams. 

The favorite in this field has to be Georgetown.  They are ranked #9 in the nation and have the best conference and overall record in the Big East.  During the regular season, however, the Hoyas did lose to Syracuse, Louisville, and Pittsburgh so they are by no means invincible.  In fact, the Hoyas will face either Villanova or Syracuse in Georgetown’s first tournament game, so they may have to play the Orange for a third time after losing to them early in the season and barely pulling out a 64-62 victory the second time they met.  With all of that being said, Georgetown is the clear pick to win this thing, though Louisville is not far behind. 

The beauty of this tournament is the tremendous talent from top to bottom.  I can’t think of another conference tournament where there are 8 legitimate contenders.  UConn and Marquette are my dark horse picks to grab the title, but, in the Big East, there really isn’t a dark horse to pick from.

Here are the odds to win the Big East Conference Tournament as Posted at BetUS.com:

Georgetown 2/1
Louisville 5/2
Notre Dame 11/2
Connecticut 11/2
West Virginia 8/1
Marquette 8/1
Pittsburgh 10/1
Syracuse 15/1
Villanova 20/1
Providence 40/1
Seton Hall 45/1
Cincinnati 50/1

Popularity: 10% [?]

#1 North Carolina (28-2) @ #5 Duke (26-3)
This is the second installment this season of one of the best rivalries in any sport at any level.  The first showdown was a decisive Duke victory at North Carolina as the Blue Devils beat the Tar Heels 89-78 just over a month ago.  As you’re already aware, a lot can change in a month, particularly in college basketball.  Since the Duke loss, UNC has won 7 in a row and has earned the #1 ranking in the nation.  After beating their talent rivals Duke has managed a 6-2 record, but losses at Wake Forest and Miami were games that the Devils were expected to win.  The best angle to look at in this situation is revenge.  North Carolina was out-played by Duke in the first meeting, but I’m still of the opinion that they are the more talented squad.  Now that North Carolina is the #1 team in the nation I think they have the confidence and swagger it’s going to take to go into Duke and beat them on their home court.  Surprisingly, 4 out of the last 5 match ups in this series has been won by the visiting team, a stat that shows the intensity of this rivalry and a stat that gives me all the more confidence in picking North Carolina.  One paper the teams match up well, UNC is the more offensive-oriented team with Duke having slightly better defensive stats.  The fact is that you can throw all of that out the window tonight because in one of the biggest games of the year in college basketball between the most storied rivalry in the sport, you have to go with momentum and you have to go with motivation.  North Carolina Has both tonight.

College Hoops Pick:  North Carolina Tar Heels +1

Popularity: 10% [?]

College basketball fans all over the nation will come together two weeks from today (Thursday, March 20th) for the tip-off of the NCAA Hoops Championship Tournament.  There’s no doubt that there will be thousands of ways to wager games throughout the tournament, not to mention the countless number of brackets that you’re probably going to fill out.  Today I want to take a look at a slightly different betting angle and examine the odds on each conference to win the NCAA Tournament.  Initially I was thinking that wagering on the conference you think will win was kind of pointless.  If you have a team that you favor to win, why not just bet on them?  You get much better odds.  But, what’s great about betting the conference, particularly conferences with more teams in the tournament, you really do increase your odds to win your wager.  I’m all about increasing my odds to win during March Madness, so, needless to say, I am fairly intrigued by this futures bet.  We’ll take a quick look at the favorite conferences, the ones in the middle, and those conferences that might be flying under the radar, plus give you a rundown of which teams might make a splash in the tournament.

Odds On Which Conference Will Win The 2007-2008 NCAA Basketball Tournament - Odds by BetUs.com

Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) -  5/2
With both Duke and North Carolina it’s pretty hard not make the ACC  the favorite conference to win the tournament. 

Pacific-10 Conference (PAC-10) - 3/1
The PAC-10 has three teams that are currently in the top 25:  #3 UCLA, #7 Stanford, #23 Washington State.  There are a few 2nd-Tier teams that may sneak in the tournament from the PAC-10, but it’s doubtful they will make it very deep into the tournament. 

Big 12 Conference - 13/4
The Big 12 has some ridiculous talent.  It also looks like they will get around 6 teams in the NCAA bracket, which is impressive in itself.  Kansas is certainly one of the favorites to make a run at the Championship, though Texas is built for tournament play and could also make their mark.  Kansas State, Texas A&M, Baylor, and Oklahoma are all very likely candidates to make it to the big dance.  With all of these talented teams you have to like the odds that any one of them will be holding the championship title when it’s all said and done.

Conference USA - 5/1
Frankly, I’m a little surprised by this number.  Sure, Conference USA might get 3 teams in (Memphis, UAB, and Houston), but to think that any team from this conference other than the Memphis Tigers will have a chance to run the table is unwise!  Trust me, you’re better off betting on Memphis straight-up at 8/1 odds if you are thinking they are the team that’s going to win it all.

Big East Conference - 13/2
The Big East is tough to read for the tournament because they have the most teams of any other conference currently in the Top 25 with five teams, but they also have no team ranked in the top 10 in the nation.  There are going to be a ton of teams from this conference from the tournament for sure.  Georgetown, Louisville, Notre Dame, UConn, and Marquette are all but guaranteed a bid, and you could make a case for West Virginia and Pittsburgh to make the trip as well.  The Big East might end up giving you the most teams for your buck, but, apart from Georgetown, I don’t think any of them are true contenders for the title.

Big 10 Conference - 12/1
The Big 10 is another conference that could get in between 4 and 6 teams, but only one or two of them can be considered a real threat to win it all.  Wisconsin and Indiana could conceivably make a run while teams like Purdue, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Minnesota have a chance to get to the big dance, but little chance of making an impact.

Southeastern Confernce (SEC) - 15/1
Tennessee and Vanderbilt get top billing in the SEC, and with good reason.  The SEC will probably get a few more teams in the tournament and the race is between Kentucky, Florida, Mississippi State, Arkansas, and Ole Miss.  Unless you are hanging your hopes on Tennessee, you’ll probably want to stay out of the SEC.

The Field (All other Conferences) - 15/1
Don’t count “The Field” out of your consideration.  There are plenty of teams in the mid-major conferences that could give the big dogs a run for their money (think about George Mason a few years ago making it to the Final Four).  So, here’s our run-down of mid-major teams that have a chance to go deep in the tournament:  Xavier, Butler, Drake, Illinois State, Davidson, Gonzaga, and St. Mary’s.

Popularity: 74% [?]

The regular NCAA season is winding down and today we take a look at the three games on the board tonight featuring teams in the top 25.  None of these games appear to have any huge impact on teams making the NCAA tournament, but Ohio State/Purdue and Florida State/North Carolina are two games that feature interesting match ups.  #20 Marquette is playing tonight as well, but it’s doubtful there will be odds on their game against Florida Gulf Coast. Let’s jump right into today’s top 25 odds and our picks for each game:

Odds by BodogLife.com

#15 Purdue @ Ohio State -1.5
Pick:  Ohio State -1.5

Florida State @ #1 North Carolina -17.5
Pick:  Florida State +17.5

Nebraska @ #9 Texas -13.5
Pick:  Texas -13.5

That will do it for today’s odds and picks.  Be sure to check back soon for our Final Four picks and much more March Madness content!

Popularity: 11% [?]

Thursday night’s College Basketball card has some very intriguing match-ups.  There’s a huge showdown in the Big 10 tonight between #9 Wisconsin and #15 Michigan State.  Notre Dame is still flying under a lot of people’s radar at #17 and they have a very important game against a #18 Louisville team tonight.  Another contest that has caught my attention is #14 Butler playing the number two team in their Horizon League, Wright State.  Butler was cruising along and looking like the Mid-Major team to beat until Drake came to their home court and knocked them off.  It will be interesting to see how they react in their first big game since that loss playing a very talented 20-7 Wright State squad.  Here’s a quick rundown of the odds and our picks for Top 25 college basketball teams that are playing tonight:

Odds By SportsBook.com

#17 Notre Dame @ #18 Louisville -8
Pick:  Notre Dame +8

#15 Michigan State @ #9 Wisconsin -5.5
Pick:  Wisconsin -5.5

#4 UCLA @ Arizona State +7
Pick:  UCLA -7

Wright State @ #13 Butler -13
Pick:  Wright State +13

Washington @ #8 Stanford -11
Pick:  Washington +11

#22 Washington State @ Cal +3
Pick:  Washington State -3

That will do it for today.  Good luck and we’ll see you soon with more tips, odds, and sports betting articles.

Popularity: 11% [?]