Sweet 16 plays

[203Hoosier]

3 units
Michigan -143
Tons of money pouring in on Texas A&M in this one, and I can't fault these bettors. Aggies' victory over UNC was one of the best team performances of this year's opening weekend. A&M was the preseason favorite to win the SEC, but they looked lost on the court for long stretches this season. There is no doubt that the Aggies have more individual talent than the Wolverines (especially in the frontcourt), but Michigan is just so well-coached under John Beilein. His teams don't turn the ball over, don't foul, and they shoot the 3-ball very well. I like his recipe for success. And his big guy from Germany, Wagner, hasn't even played well in this Tourney so far. I always favor senior guards in the NCAA Tournament, and Michigan has two good ones in Robinson and Abdur-Rahkman; both of whom did not even play well vs. Houston. When these three start playing as expected, Michigan can beat any team left in this field.
I'll take the more consistent team in this one; a team that hasn't lost since February 6. It isn't always pretty, but Michigan seems to make the crucial plays down the stretch and just finds ways to win.

Kentucky -5.5 (-102)
Another extremely hot team coming into this game. UK won the SEC Tournament in impressive fashion and then really impressed me those last few minutes against Davidson. UK dismantled Buffalo and the South Region is now theirs to lose. Kentucky will be playing in its "home away from home" in 'CATlanta, and no college program travels better than Big Blue Nation.
Kansas State's forward Wade should play, but we don't know the seriousness of his foot injury. He will defintely see limited minutes. Really like the way KSU's defense played against UMBC (they were so active!), but this is not UMBC, as we all know. This is Kentucky. A Kentucky team no longer playing like a bunch of heralded freshmen. These kids have grown up, and it's showing.
KSU went winless against the top three teams in the Big 12 and their non-conference wins were nothing to write home about.
And then there's Coach Bruce Weber. That further helps seal the deal on a Kentucky play for me.

I'll update this page with more plays, if any....

 

[JOHNNYWAD119]

Thank you good luck :0074

 

[203Hoosier]

Johnny, taking a long look at Texas Tech to beat Purdue on Friday. Maybe Clemson, too.

 

[203Hoosier]

Wednesday
2-1
+4.05 units

Season
250-266-3
+256.1 units (season high-water mark)


The rest of the Sweet 16 plays:

2 units
Texas Tech +117
Just think wrong team favored here, imo.
How effective can Haas be with a broken elbow....if he even plays? With the healthy big guy, the current line would look good. But at the present time, I'd give the edge to the Red Raiders. The Big 12 was a much better conference than the Big 10 in terms of depth this season.
I know you can throw defensive metrics out the window when you get into specific matchups in the NCAA Tourney (I'm looking at you Virginia and Cincinnati! :mj07....but TT's defense ranks only behind Michigan out of the 16 teams still left.
Purdue is just absolutely snake-bitten in the NCAA Tournament. I thought for sure that Robbie Hummel-led team was the most cohesive team in college basketball that year before he got hurt. Big game for Matt Painter here. He takes a lot of grief; some deserved, some not. Things just seem to go wrong in games like these for Purdue.
There's a big dropoff (not in height!) between Haas and his backup, Haarms. And I don't like the way Purdue played against defensive-minded opponents in the last month of the season. Boilers seemed to struggle vs. the teams who like to grind it out.
TT doesn't shoot the 3-ball much, which is a rarity in basketball these days. But Tech has guards (Smith and Evans) that can slash to the hoop and also rebound. (Culver)
Purdue is also good defensively, but Tech played in a much more up-tempo conference.
I ALMOST want to make a play on the under, but I think that number is tight.
Love the way the two Edwards' play for the Boilers (especially Carsen), but I think I've seen how this story ends too many times before.
NOTE: I might be the only Indiana University alum who likes Purdue. I respect the hell out of that school (great academics) and that hard-nosed basketball program. It's probably because I grew up in Connecticut and moved back here to Connecticut after spending five years (LOL) of my life in Bloomington. I was not ensconced in the tradition/hatred of that rivalry like the people of the great Hoosier State were/are.

Still looking at a few more games....I'll add here, if any.

 

[203Hoosier]

Add 1 unit

1st half play
FSU-Gonzaga UNDER 72 (-115)

My first 1st half play of the year.

 

[203Hoosier]

Thursday
1-2
-1.21 units

YTD
251-268-3
+254.89 units

Lost the first half total on a buzzer beater. :facepalm:

Still pending:
Michigan to win the NCAA Tournament: 1 unit to win 28 units.

ADDING for Friday:

2 units
Clemson +5 (-103)
1st half: Syracuse-Duke UNDER 61.5 (-105)

Best of luck!