Monday, March 12, 2007

We Made It- NCAA Day 1

B. Anthony is here to help you through the tournament. If you read Sunday's post, you will see that Nostradamus has nothing on B. Anthony. I will post Thursday's games today, and Friday's games tomorrow.

Thursday: Winners ATS in bold and Outright winner, if underdog is picked, will be in italics. (All times PST)

My four best plays are listed at the bottom of this article.

Morning Fix:

9:00AM- Davidson +8 vs Maryland. Maryland has a history of playing close games in the tournament. Five in a row with the margin of victory less than 5. Take the dog, but Maryland Advances.

9:25AM-Texas Tech +3 vs Boston College. I don't like either one of these teams, and Bobby Knight has not had a great showing in the tournament lately. That being said, I think the Big 12 is a little underrated, and Tech has very good guards. Take Texas Tech to advance and cover.

9:40AM- Louisville -5.5 vs Stanford. The big twins will disrupt things for a while, but Stanford has shown they are terrible versus pressure. Take Louisville to win by 8 or more points, they cover and advance.

Mid-Day Money

11:40AM-Old Dominion +2 vs Butler. The Colonial league deserves the credit they are getting and more. Butler has been folding fast. The reason this line is so low is because this is an even game. ODU advances.

11:40AM-Washington State -7 vs Oral Roberts. This team is not getting the credit it deserves. The #3 seed is nice, and Oral Roberts is a worthy opponent. But Washington State knows how to execute, and they will win this game by 10 points. This is a close call as Caleb Green is a great player, and he will do his best to keep this game close, but Tony Bennett knows how to game plan for him.

11:45AM-Georgetown -15 vs Belmont. This is just a mismatch. Georgetown is the 5th # 1 seed and shold be a 20 point favorite. They roll and cover.

12:00AM-Pennsylvania +13.5 vs Texas A&M. The Ivy league will continue their tradition of keeping games close. Texas A&M is a very good, but they don't feel the need to embarass anyone. When they get up 15, the game is over, but they won't pour it on. They are so good defensively and with the ball that they know 10 points is enough to advance. Texas A&M advances.

Lone Soldier:

2:00PM-George Washington +4 vs Vanderbilt. GW will pull the upset outright. I like this team, and they have consistently been good against the spread for me. GW moves on.

Afternoon Delight:

4:10PM VCU+7 vs Duke. VCU will battle to the bitter end. I will take them to win outright in at least one pool. This team has more winning experience than this years version of Duke. I know Coach K will somehow pull out a victory in this game, but not by much. Duke advances, just barely.

4:10PM Central Connecticut State+22 vs Ohio State. Intimidation, blocked shots, hard and angry dunks will be the theme in this game. However, Ohio State will slow this game down, and it will be difficult to maintain the 25 point lead. Buckeyes win and advance, but they do not cover. 77-59. (This game has changed from original post. Tuesday 10:02pst)

4:20PM Marquette +1.5 vs Michigan State. I just like the battle tested team from the Big East. Dominic James is due to break out of his slump, and McNeal will be back. This will be a close game throughout as MSU is also battle tested, but I think they can deny Neitzel the big 3's he needs for them to win. Marquette advances.

4:25pm- Weber State +20 vs UCLA. This line is just wrong! Weber State and UCLA are both comfortable playing a possession game. When UCLA gets up by 10, they will begin taking 25-30 seconds every possession. The big man for Weber State, David Patten, will get to the line and make some smooth old school hook shots. Weber State covers in a low scoring game, but UCLA advances 66-54.

Prime time Plays:

6:30PM Wright State +10 vs Pittsburgh. Wright State will be the darling of the tournament when they push the Big East bullies to the limit. Pitt Advances because Aaron Gray is too big, and he will make his free throws down the stretch.

6:30PM Xavier -2 vs BYU. I just like Xavier. They rested a little by not winning their tournament, but the A-10 is a team full of solid teams that execute. They are in the habit of winning.

6:40PM UNC - 26 vs Eastern Kentucky. This UNC team is just not very nice to teams that they are better than. They like to blow teams out and will make three's in the last few minutes to push their lead into the 30's.

6:45PM Gonzaga +2 vs Indiana. Gonzaga is back in its roll as an underdog. Indiana is overrated like most of the Big Ten. The plucky Bulldogs advance.

Best Four

Dogs:
Weber State +20
Wright State +10

Favorites:
UNC -26
Georgetown -15

Out and Good Luck,

B. Anthony (99-74-3 ytd)

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Susan...one thing you failed to mention is geography, which plays a HUGE role in these games. As does game time. Stanford is playing Louisville in Lexington at 9:40am. It's very hard for West coast teams to travel east and play early games. And you think Louisville will have a slight home court advantage playing 45 minutes from campus? Ouch! Tough break for the Tree.

And you think Gonzaga might have a few fans fly out to Sato? The Zag fans are like a cult...they travel everywhere. They made road games at Santa Clara and USF seem like neutral courts. Arco will be flooded with Zag fans, and that will be the difference.

4:53 PM  
Blogger Money said...

B,
Great information and humor along the way. You set the bar extremely high for Money.

I will share my thoughts soon.

9:58 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hey B. & Money, any chance you can do a live feed from vegas. i will be stuck in my techie "cage" and won't be able to get the feeling for any halftime opportunities. have some wingies for me!

1:25 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

We will do our best to keep you updated. Thanks for reading all-american fan!

1:38 PM  

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