Alright, the chaff has been removed from the wheat and we’re into the wagering on Sweet Sixteen. The teams who made it through have had a few days off and now action resumes this Thursday with four games.
Part of the intrigue of March Madness wagering is the upsets that take place but even though some of the higher seeded teams have met untimely exits—we hardly knew ye Wake Forest—a lot of the favorites are still around.
History was made last year when all four of the top seeds faced off in the Final Four and history was made again this year when the top three seeds from each region made it to the Sweet 16. Going into Thursday, a pair of second and a pair of third seeds will do battle in two of the day’s games.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
West Region: (3) Missouri Tigers vs. (2) Memphis Tigers
Mizzou +5 Over 141 Memphis -5 Under 141
Oh the power of trash talk! Going into its second round matchup against Memphis of Conference USA, Maryland Terrapins guard Greivis Vasquez insulted his opponents saying that Memphis wouldn’t be nearly as good if they played in his conference, the ACC.
Maybe not Greivis, but they were a helluva lot better than you last weekend, as the Tigers punched Maryland in the mouth, covering as a 10-point favorite in an 89-70 victory and booking a ticket to the Sweet 16. There was a nice touch at the end of that game as Memphis fans taunted Vasquez with sarcastic chants of “ACC.”
It’s easy to feel a little insecure when playing Memphis as they were the runner-up at last year’s tournament and go into this game against Mizzou with a record of 33-3 and an ATS record of 21-12-2 this season. The Tigers are in the midst of a 27-game win streak and are 17-7-2 ATS during that time; they are 1-1 ATS in this year’s tournament.
Like many other teams at March Madness, Missouri and Memphis don’t have a colorful past, in fact the two teams have only met twice since 2002 splitting the series 1-1 ATS.
Missouri won’t be a pushover however as it has been quite profitable during the tournament (2-0 ATS in March Madness 2009) and since the middle of January as well with a record of 15-5 ATS in its last 20 games. In their last 12 games, Mizzou has trended towards low scoring games with 4 overs and 8 unders in their last 12 starts.
While Memphis has grabbed back to back Overs in March Madness so far, they did head into the tournament with a run of 11 unders and only one over in their 12 games prior to March Madness.
Players at SPORTSBETTING.com like the favorite in this one, as Memphis is seeing 74% of the action, with a small lean to the “Under” (not surprising in a Memphis game).
East Region: (3) Villanova Wildcats vs. (2) Duke Blue Devils
Wildcats +2 Over 148 Blue Devils -2 Under 148
You have to figure that Coach K and the boys are a little angry that North Carolina is a top seed while Duke is a two, after all, the Blue Devils won the ACC championship tournament.
Duke is even Stephen in this year’s March Madness sitting at 1-1 ATS but has gone Over in both games. After covering a lofty 23.5-point spread in an 86-62 opening round victory over Binghamton, the Blue Devils proceeded to drop a game against Texas as a 7.5-point fave in a 74-69 win over Texas.
Coming out of the ultra-competitive Big East, Villanova has slumped somewhat after an 8-0 ATS run in late-January. Since then however, the Wildcats have gone 4-7 ATS and 1-1 ATS in this year’s tourney; ‘Nova has gone Over in both of its March Madness games.
Worth noting is that when favored by 2-points or less, Duke has a record of 1 over and 5 unders in their last six in that situation. As underdogs of +2 or less, Villanova is 5-2 ATS in their last seven in that situation.
The favorite is again getting the attention from the sports bettors, as SPORTSBETTING.com reports 68% of the early volume coming in on the big brand – Duke. It has been a great run for the top seeds so far in the 2009 tournament….can it continue? We’ll see starting tonight.
