The tournament is still more than two weeks away, but it is an incredibly overwhelming event as a sports bettor. There are so many games, and so many ‘experts’ with opinions and insights to offer, that at a bettor can make bade decisions if they haven’t done their work to get ready well in advance. If you wait until the Wednesday before the first games are played you won’t have the time to do the handicapping required, and you won’t do as well as you should. Like the teams that are heading to the tournament, you need to go into tournament training if you want to be at your best for the big event. Here are eight things you can do to get ready to cash in on March Madness:

Continue reading “Eight Ways to Get Ready for March Madness” →

Cornell is the first team to guarantee themselves a trip to the tournament, so they deserve a profile. The Big Red make it into the field as Ivy League champions because that elite conference is apparently too good for a conference tournament. This is the first time since 1988 that Cornell has won the league, and only the seventh time since 1955 that Penn or Princeton hasn’t won at least a piece of the championship.

Continue reading “Know Your Tournament Field – Cornell” →

The latest AP poll came out this morning, and it couldn’t have been more interesting. I wasn’t expecting North Carolina to jump over Memphis. I was thrilled to see Davidson hit the poll at 25. I still think that the poll is too flattering to my beloved Big Ten – they have four ranked teams, but that makes the conference seem stronger than it will prove to be in the tournament.

Continue reading “A Glance at the Poll” →

In most sports, there is a difference between the teams I like and the teams that are ultimately going to win it all. That’s occasionally frustrating, but I am used to it by now. This is definitely the case in college basketball. The difference with that sport, though, is that teams can have an excellent tournament run without winning it all. For some teams a single win is more than they could hope for. For others, the Sweet Sixteen would be an amazing accomplishment. Because of the different expectations, I spend far more time at this time of year worrying about teams that are going to have good tournament runs for them than I do worrying about who is ultimately going to cut down the nets. Here are five teams that I expect big things from when the Madness gets going:

Continue reading “College Teams That Will Meet Expectations” →

It’s number one playing number two in college basketball this Saturday and the # 2 Tennessee Volunteers travel from Knoxville to battle the #1 and undefeated Memphis Tigers at their home court. Memphis (12-0, 26- 1) sits atop Conference-USA, while Tennessee (11- 1, 24- 2) is first in the SEC.

Continue reading “Tennessee and Memphis Match Up this Saturday” →

This past week the Duke Blue Devils, then ranked second in the nation, were shocked by the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. In a hellacious battle, the Demons beat the Devils 86- 73, and with that Duke fell to number five in the country with a 22-2 record overall and a 10- 1 mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
Continue reading “Latest Loss by Duke is a Wake Up Call” →

The Big 12’s top four teams are ranked nationally anywhere from third to twenty-second. Here’s the way it looks.

Continue reading “NCAA Basketball’s Big 12 has Four Top 25 Teams” →

“I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore, Dorthy!� At least, that must be what the Kansas Jayhawks and the Kansas State Wildcats are thinking. Nationally ranked number two Kansas lost tonight to number 24 Kansas State. That moved the Wildcats (5-0 Big 12) into first-place in the Big 12 and put the Jayhawks (5- 1 Big 12) in second by one-half game.

Continue reading “NCAA Basketball Jayhawks Upset by Wildcats” →

The Memphis Tigers (19- 0) and the Kansas Jayhawks (20- 0) continue to win, leaving everyone to wonder if both these clubs will run the table and go undefeated. The Tigers most recent contest was against the Gonzaga Bulldogs and Memphis had no problem, winning 81- 73. In their latest game, the second-rated Jayhawks retired the Nebraska Cornhuskers 84- 79.

Continue reading “College Basketball and the Top Two Teams” →

The Maryland Terrapins proved that the unrated can take down anyone, including the number one college basketball team in the country, the North Carolina Tar Heels. The first half ended with Maryland on top 41- 35. The visiting Terps scored another 41 in the second half, while UNC managed 45, falling two points short. The final score was 82- 80.

Continue reading “NCAA Basketball Maryland Surprises UNC” →