Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Day 2 Picking The Lines

Last night we didn't exactly kick off with the two most exciting games in the history of the sport, though the Wichita State/Vanderbilt game was (unsurprisingly) high quality. It was a shame that a team as good as Vanderbilt was forced to play a buzzsaw like Wichita State in a play-in game, rather than a more First Four-quality team.

Remember, my full NCAA Tournament previews game by game are all posted here. Use that to guide your bracket picking.

Let's get to the games:

Yesterday ATS: 2-0-0
2015 Tournament ATS: 39-28-0 (58%)
2010-14 ATS: 181-139-11 (57%)

Holy Cross (+2) over Southern: Once again, I beg you not to gamble actually American currency on a 16/16 play-in game. That said, I picked Holy Cross in my bracket. They have played significantly better over the past few weeks, and certainly have the coaching advantage. I also think that Holy Cross is a team that doesn't beat themselves with turnovers or fouls or lazy rebounding. They'll force a mediocre Southern team to go out and out-execute them, and I don't think that they will.

Tulsa (+4) over Michigan: I took Tulsa to win this game in my bracket. With no Caris LeVert, Michigan has faded pretty badly down the stretch. They take a ton of threes because they can't get to the basket, but don't hit them at a high rate. And defensively they struggle with dribble drivers who can get into the lane, which Tulsa has.

Just remember that no matter how many games Tulsa wins in the NCAA Tournament, even if they win the national title, it will not in any way change the fact that they should be playing in the NIT. Their resume was way too soft to get in.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

With Tulsa out, do you think Michigan has a shot against Notre Dame?