Many here have likely known all this for years. But some may not have thought this thru, and for all of us it can serve as a reminder. I am merely trying to offer a little help and hope it is ok to give credit where credit is due. This was from a link that was freely available.
March 1, 2019 05:35 PM
Call it a national ?look ahead? situation. Time to look for motivated underdogs in college hoops
Jeff Fogle
VSiN.com
The arrival of March has college basketball players across the country thinking ahead to the NCAA Tournament. Selection Sunday is now just two weeks and a day away. Teams that have already locked in invitations could trouble maintaining peak intensity during the relatively meaningless prelude.
This is an important for bettors to understand because market prices for ranked teams generally reflect peak performance. Duke is never priced to struggle. If big nameteams aren?t able to give their best, bettors will get the best of it by fading them.
From Monday through Thursday of this past week, teams ranked in the AP top 25 went 4-13 against the spread (throwing out Kansas State/Kansas, where two ranked teams played each other). A couple barely showed up.
A couple more were upset. And, a slew of favorites won, but couldn?t quite reach their high hurdles.
? No-shows: #17 Maryland fell way behind early in a 78-61 loss to Penn State at pick-em. Also, #18 Iowa was routed by Ohio State 90-70 as 3-point underdogs.
? Upsets: #2 Duke (-3) lost at Virginia Tech 77-72, #19 Wisconsin (-2.5) lost at Indiana 75-73 in double overtime.
? Dodging bullets: Kentucky (-15) barely held off Arkansas 70-66 after falling way behind early, #7 Tennessee (-5) needed a very favorable late call to sneak past Ole Miss 73-71, #11 Texas Tech (-14.5) had to go overtime to beat lowly Oklahoma State 84-80, and #23 Cincinnati (-4.5) won ugly at SMU 52-49.
? Not quite enough: #5 North Carolina (-11) only beat Syracuse 93-85, #8 Florida State (-11.5) only beat Notre Dame 68-61, #12 Nevada (-17) only beat UNLV 89-73, and #21 Buffalo (-15) only beat Akron 77-64.
One other point spread loser, #17 Marquette was in its own category, falling at Villanova 67-61 as a 5-point underdog.
Some favorites proved immune, as #2 Virginia, #8 Houston, #13 LSU, and #14 Purdue all coasted to easy wins. But, those were the heavily outnumbered exceptions.
If you?re a recreational bettor, you?re probably thinking about which favorites you want to back this weekend. As you make your decisions, think long and hard about whether your choices are going to be motivated to win BIG. Their most important games are later this month, not this weekend. Larger favorites will be satisfied just to win?they don?t need to win by 15-20 points. If anything, coaches with big leads will rest their key players for more important battles ahead.
Flat favorites may not even get to their number. Focused favorites can temporarily reach their targets before the bench leaves the backdoor open.
Sports betting is a percentage game. Trying to make money with college basketball favorites can be tough anyway because sports books guard against public tendencies. When those favorites aren?t focused, hurdles are even harder to clear. Put the percentages more in your favor by thinking about motivated underdogs instead. Or, if you?re just not comfortable betting dogs, bide your time until the Dance when your favorites have a better chance to fly.
March 1, 2019 05:35 PM
Call it a national ?look ahead? situation. Time to look for motivated underdogs in college hoops
Jeff Fogle
VSiN.com
The arrival of March has college basketball players across the country thinking ahead to the NCAA Tournament. Selection Sunday is now just two weeks and a day away. Teams that have already locked in invitations could trouble maintaining peak intensity during the relatively meaningless prelude.
This is an important for bettors to understand because market prices for ranked teams generally reflect peak performance. Duke is never priced to struggle. If big nameteams aren?t able to give their best, bettors will get the best of it by fading them.
From Monday through Thursday of this past week, teams ranked in the AP top 25 went 4-13 against the spread (throwing out Kansas State/Kansas, where two ranked teams played each other). A couple barely showed up.
A couple more were upset. And, a slew of favorites won, but couldn?t quite reach their high hurdles.
? No-shows: #17 Maryland fell way behind early in a 78-61 loss to Penn State at pick-em. Also, #18 Iowa was routed by Ohio State 90-70 as 3-point underdogs.
? Upsets: #2 Duke (-3) lost at Virginia Tech 77-72, #19 Wisconsin (-2.5) lost at Indiana 75-73 in double overtime.
? Dodging bullets: Kentucky (-15) barely held off Arkansas 70-66 after falling way behind early, #7 Tennessee (-5) needed a very favorable late call to sneak past Ole Miss 73-71, #11 Texas Tech (-14.5) had to go overtime to beat lowly Oklahoma State 84-80, and #23 Cincinnati (-4.5) won ugly at SMU 52-49.
? Not quite enough: #5 North Carolina (-11) only beat Syracuse 93-85, #8 Florida State (-11.5) only beat Notre Dame 68-61, #12 Nevada (-17) only beat UNLV 89-73, and #21 Buffalo (-15) only beat Akron 77-64.
One other point spread loser, #17 Marquette was in its own category, falling at Villanova 67-61 as a 5-point underdog.
Some favorites proved immune, as #2 Virginia, #8 Houston, #13 LSU, and #14 Purdue all coasted to easy wins. But, those were the heavily outnumbered exceptions.
If you?re a recreational bettor, you?re probably thinking about which favorites you want to back this weekend. As you make your decisions, think long and hard about whether your choices are going to be motivated to win BIG. Their most important games are later this month, not this weekend. Larger favorites will be satisfied just to win?they don?t need to win by 15-20 points. If anything, coaches with big leads will rest their key players for more important battles ahead.
Flat favorites may not even get to their number. Focused favorites can temporarily reach their targets before the bench leaves the backdoor open.
Sports betting is a percentage game. Trying to make money with college basketball favorites can be tough anyway because sports books guard against public tendencies. When those favorites aren?t focused, hurdles are even harder to clear. Put the percentages more in your favor by thinking about motivated underdogs instead. Or, if you?re just not comfortable betting dogs, bide your time until the Dance when your favorites have a better chance to fly.
