Sports Betting Blog

Northern Iowa has just diminished the little chances anyone had of setting up a perfect NCAA Tournament Bracket. I really hope you didn’t miss this game. No. 1 seed, the favorite among every major Sportsbook to win it all, the Kansas Jayhawks, just lost its second round game to a powerful and dominant Northern Iowa team. Just have to love the way Northern Iowa risked it all with that 3 pointer with little over 20 seconds left on the board.

So say goodbye to the favorite team. I don’t know, I have to confess a thing for Cinderella stories, and this was just an amazing game. The Jayhawks were a -11.5 point favorite, but little could they do once the game started. The Panthers were the strongest team from the start. They were up by 8 points by halftime. And sure enough, Kansas came in baffling in the second half, trying to make up for the difference. But it was not the best night for either, Bill Self, or Sherron Williams or any of the top-notch players which gave Kansas the best record of the season.

You just have to absolutely this Tournament. It’s never over hyped. It’s never dull. Theirs is always a chance for the big upset, for the unexpected. That’s why we take our chances on these games and make our picks. It’s been quite a mad march. And it seems it can only get better.

At +600 on the ML for Norther Iowa, this is one of those moments when most of us wonder why we don’t play the underdog more often. What an intense game this was. Can’t help feel a bit sad for the many Jayhawks fans out there. But this is why we just love this tournament. Anything can happen.

It’s been a good season for the Jayhawks. They are one of the favorite teams to make it to Indianapolis and it just seems that they shouldn’t get into much trouble on their way up the NCAA Tournament Bracket. At least not until they hit the Final Four, that’s what some of the specialist are stating, and if you take a look at the Odds to Win the NCAA Tournament you would see most handicappers are expecting the Championship Trophy to make it to Lawrence, KS.

This is a very strong team, with a highly effective offense and a solid defense that ranks among the top 5 teams in the Nation in the statistical categories that matter most.

Sherron Collins has been a key player in setting up a good tempo for the Jayhawks offensive. He is also Coach Bill Self’s weapon of choice for those hard to make and decisive shots. But interesting enough, the Jayhawks don’t rely completely on their distributor. Every major rotation player uses between 20 and 23% of the teams possessions while on the floor.

In terms of wagering the Jayhawks are not as strong as their Straight Up record might suggest. For instance, Kansas State is 19-9 ATS, while Kansas is only 14-16 when it comes to covering their spread. But there is more here to consider. Once the postseason kicked in, the Jayhawks just got stronger in terms of wagering. They have covered their spread in 4 of their last 5 games, which is quite an improvement from the 46.7 overall ATS percentage.

There is always a chance for an upset. And the players must also realize that this particular region is packed with very strong and demanding teams. KU could see either UNLV or Northern Iowa in the second round. The Jayhawks could find either Michigan State or Maryland in the Sweet Sixteen round. All though a bit inconsistent, the Spartans could easily get KU into trouble. As if that was not enough, if we keep speculating down the road, they might have to muscle past Ohio State or Georgetown for the regional final. What I’m saying here is that KU might have to push harder then some other reporters have tried to make it seem in order to get to the Final Four.

Now keep an eye out for a Tennessee vs San Diego State match in the first round. As of press time, the Tennessee Volunteers are a -3½ point favorite in BetIAS NCAA Basketball Wagering Lines.  But this promises to be one of the best games of the region. They are expected to put out a great show. This is one of the factors that make this such an interesting region: Talented players all over the bracket. Consider Maryland’s Greivis Vasquez, Northern Iowa’s Adam Koch and Oklahoma State’s James Anderson. As if that was not enough you also have KU’s Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich, Georgia Tech’s Derrick Favors and UNLV’s Tre’von Willis, so keep an eye out for all those players and make some money out of their talent playing on the extensive list of Props and Matchups that BetIAS has to offer in their selection of March Madness Props.

The bottom left of your bracket has Syracuse as the number one seed. And they deserved their spot. The Orange had an amazing regular season. They are currently 28-4 SU for the season and as if that was not enough, has had an 11-2 mark on the road, including the latest games in the Big East Tourney. In terms of wagering, Syracuse is one of the best teams this season when it comes to covering the spread.

Before the first round of the NCAA Tournament begins, the Syracuse Orange is 19-9 ATS. So they have covered their spread in 67.9% of their games. That’s 25% better then Kansas and almost 12% improvement over Kentucky’s ATS performance.

But Syracuse is not as strong as one would like before the First Round. They have lost their two previous games against Louisville and Georgetown by at least 7 points. Sure they had already won the Big East Conference title outright, but things didn’t go well in the conference tourney. Add the recent injury of power-forward Arinze Onaku’s quadriceps and suddenly the team seams to be hurting in both defense and offense.

Two years ago, the Vermont Catamounts stun them and send the Orange back home before in the first round in 2005. The team is not going to miss Onaku too much in their first game against the Catamounts, they are a -17.5 point favorite here. But they must be wishing for a quick healing in Onaku’s quads, because they probably won’t make it pass the Elite Eight or the Final Four if the 6-foot-9 forward is not battling over the paint. They are sure going to need him if they make it down the NCAA Tournament Bracket and into the Elite Eight and meet Kansas State, which is a formidable team in the interior.

Watch out for UTEP and Butler. These two powerful teams are sure enough going to make up for one exciting game. The Bulldogs go into the opening round with a 20 game win streak. UTEP on the other hand has two very big players in the front, at 6-9 and 6-11 respectively, both Derrick Caracter and Arnet Moultrie are the kind of players that could get Butler’s star player, Matt Howard, into trouble. As of press time, Butler is a -2½ point favorite. But chances are that UTEP could very well take this game and make it into the second round, probably against (-3 point favorite over Murray State) Vanderbilt, a strong team that really needs to improve its performance on defense.

While you are at it, keep an eye out for BYU’s Jimmer Fredette. He has averaged 37.5 points per game in his last to appearances with the team. He has a 44.8% in the 3-point range and is quite a safe choice on free throws. Look around for Props and Matchups for this and other players in the NCAA Tournament at BetIAS.com

If we look at the odds, and take some chances, it is quite possible that both Syracuse and Kansas State are going to meet again in the Elite Eight Round. And if this happens, then the orange are really going to need Onaku at his best. And it’s not quite certain the nature of the injury or if he is going to be back in the field anytime soon. The Wildcats, on the other hand, have been extremely good picking up balls from the boards. They’ve grabbed 40.6% of available rebounds this season.

In case you are into Cinderella stories check this out: the Cornhuskers were a +10.5 point underdog against the Mizzou Tigers. As if that was not enough, Nebraska had only won two Conference Games in the regular season. The Cornhuskers held a 2-14 record in conference play and 15-17 overall mark this season, and finished last in the Big 12 Conference standings. But, boy-oh-boy, did they play with all their might this afternoon to win over Missouri 75-60.

Mizzou had a good regular season, finishing 5th in the Big 12 with a 10-6 conference record, and holding a 22-10 overall mark, so chances for an opening round upset at Kansas City, Mo., were quite unexpected. But the Cornhuskers dominated every aspect of their game. They outrebounded, outshot, and outperformed the Tigers with ease. It might be a long shot, but there’s still a chance to see this guys in March Madness.

The Cornhuskers made it quite clear with a 16-1 run from the beginning that the Tigers where in for more than they could chew. Yet the Tigers fans were still quite enthusiastic for a while. Mizzou had easily defeated the Tigers in their previous two matches this season. Until the talented Brandon Richardson brought his A-game and came in with 19 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists.

The Tigers were a -13 point favorite over Nebraska in their first game of the season and a -4.5 point favorite on their second game against the Cornhuskers. In neither game were the Cornhuskers able to cover their spread. Matter of fact, Nebraska was 7-14 ATS for the regular season, while Missouri was 14-11.

Kim English pulled the tigers to a 61-51 with 4:01 to play.  Yet Richardson came along with a 3 pointer taking a foul from Zaire Taylor for a nice 4 point play that sealed that game. Ryan Anderson had 16 points while Jorge Diaz had 10 of his own to help tip off the game on Nebraska’s side. It sure was not a good game for the Big 12 Tournament defending Champions.