The Gaels aren’t a great team, but they’re on a bit of a run, having won 10 in a row to get to this point. Iona has found its way to the Dance for the fourth straight year. But do they have what it takes to improve on last year’s result where they lost by 22 to Duke? DJ has your Iona vs UNC prediction!
Big favorites versus teams that will make the most of every minute including garbage time are tough to bet on. For the casual bettor it can be the stuff of ulcers. Your team is up by 35 early and you still have to sweat the second unit! Against a NDSU like this that can shoot it and shoot it well, you run the risk of allowing them to hang around and keep the game within a reasonable deficit. That’s doubly true against a North Dakota State. The Bison are excellent from the charity stripe and would easily be able to keep the game’s margin under 25 points if they can create enough opportunities. In a game where a team like Duke is up 25, there’s a tendency for reserves to get lazy on defense and give up open looks in the dying seconds. Dan Jamison predicts if that will be the case for Duke and gives his free pick!
Baylor gonna Baylor. Actually, the Bears’ tendency to choke on the biggest stage wasn’t even given a chance to rear its head this time, as the Bears went into a four-game skid at the end of the season, losing convincingly in the Big 12 tournament to Iowa State to cap their regular season. Can the Bears rebound from its nasty Iowa State loss and beat Syracuse straight up? DJ has the basketball pick!
Tuesday was a very uncharacteristic performance for Fairleigh Dickinson, as the Knights got outshot from behind the arc by Prairie View. That doesn’t happen often as the Knights are one of the most accurate shooting teams from 3-point range in the nation. Can Gonzaga defend the arc well enough to win by 28 and help bettors beat their bookie?
With 48 teams having an unprotected seed in terms of travel, the first round often features a matchup where one team has to travel a long distance and the other does not. That’s the case here, as Villanova only has to cover 200 miles while Saint Mary’s must cross three time zones. So it’s time to jump on Villanova, right? Not necessarily. DJ breaks down this first round pick!
Kentucky has been in this situation many times before and is expected to put the game away very quickly. The longer Abilene Christian hangs around — which might be longer than people think — the more difficult it will be for Kentucky to get separation and score the comfortable victory that’s expected here. Translation, Kentucky scoring early takes their soul and gets Kentucky bettors the -22 point cover.
Dan Jamison tells us why this game between the Arizona State Sun Devils and the St. John’s Red Storm will come down to bench production. DJ takes a look at Mullin’s rotation for St. Johns and and ASU’s depth and considers it a major factor when making his NCAA selection. Read the breakdown and get DJ’s pick against the spead!
Experience matters. The Eagles’ seven seniors have been to Dayton twice before, and they know what it’s like to try to learn about an opponent and get ready for them in less than 72 hours. Nobody from North Dakota State has ever played in the NCAA tournament before. But DJ doesn’t think that is enough to bet on and tells us why he is putting his money behind North Dakota State and laying the points. See DJ’s first four pick!
For all of their trips to the NCAA tournament between them, Rick Byrd and Fran Dunphy haven’t exactly found their way to success in March. Byrd is 0-7 at Belmont and Dunphy sports a mark of 3-16 at Pennsylvania and Temple. Granted, that’s in large part because neither has ever had a very high seed. This year sportsbooks have these two teams separated by 3.5 points meaning its an opportunity to get the rare win! DJ breaks down the match up and offers his free pick.
Prairie View gets most of its contributions from juniors and is a year ahead of schedule, but the one key senior for the Panthers is a big one: Gary Blackston, who leads the Panthers with 15.2 points and seven rebounds per game. Blackston is one of just a few players in purple who was actually alive the last time Prairie View made the tournament in 1998, when the Panthers lost by 58 to Kansas. Can old man Blackston help get the Panthers into the field of 64? DJ breaks down the sportsbook opener and offers his college hoops pick.