What an unbelievable day of college hoops yesterday was. That first Thursday of the tourney never lets us down. It’s my favorite day of the year for a reason. Granted I got hosed in three out of my four picks but that’s okay we will get back on the right side of the drama today.

#10 Georgia +220 over #7 Michigan State

Sparty made a run late in the year to earn a spot in the Big 10 Championship game but for the majority of this season Michigan State SUCKED. I love Tom Izzo and it does seem that he has his team peaking at the right time but I can’t possibly forget about how bad they were throughout the season. For a large chunk of this season it were believed that MSU wouldn’t have a prayer of getting into the dance. They got here and they have a shot to make some noise but to me they feel more like that big name that everyone just jots down without thinking about it. I’m sure there are a number of brackets with MSU in the sweet 16 and elite 8 just because they are Michigan State. This year it’s going to backfire on the Sparty backers as they are going to get shocked by the Bulldogs of Georgia.

#9 St Johns +165 over #8 San Diego State

Purdue really blew that game against Cincy last night and I only bring that up because SD St is essentially the same team as Cincy. Every year they get bounced from the tourney earlier than they should have because they simply can’t score with any regularity. They will not get any easy buckets and while they play great on the defensive end they just don’t have enough offense to compete in these games. Cincy somehow bucked that trend thanks to Purdue tightening up and a miracle around the world buzzer beater to force OT. There’s no way that Cincinnati West can pull off the shocker that Cincy East did yesterday. The world can’t have both of those teams playing on the weekend, it’s just not allowed.

#14 Albany +800 over #3 Oklahoma

What a gift this is. Thanks vegas for the 8-1 odds. Albany can score the rock and they can get to the line and make free throws. Oklahoma is a perennial loser in March and has absolutely no depth. Once Albany gets OU in foul trouble, which will happen eventually, you very well may see the live line flip to OU +800.

#11 Dayton +120 over #6 Providence

Unfortunately for Providence they just simply aren’t good enough to win an NCAA tournament game on the road against a team that has already won a home game in this years tournament. The Dayton Flyers are already off and running and they know how to take care of business at home in these tourney games.

#4 Maryland -4.5 over +13 Valpo

While Maryland may be used to playing teams with a bit more of a pedigree, they are certainly used to playing this type of big physical rebounding team. Valpo in fact has only been outrebounded twice all season. Maryland can handle that, if Valpo was playing small ball and had quick guards maybe this would have some upset potential. Instead Maryland is going to ride Dez Wells and they are going to open this game up. Look for Dez Wells to really shine this first weekend and boost his draft stock heading into a matchup with Kentucky next week.

mlz

Friday, March 20, 2015