15-10-1 on NCAAB in 2017 up 5.25 units
63-57-2 on NCAAB in 2018 up 7.32 units
27-22-2 on NCAA Tournament up 6.74 units
Sweet Sixteen time. Purdue overcame the injury to Isaac Haas and the scoring display of Butler’s Kelan Martin. Michigan State and Miles Bridges could not figure out the Syracuse zone. Texas A&M dominated UNC to the tune of 14 more rebounds, 8 more blocks, and 21 more points. Nevada was down 12 at half to Cincinnati and came back to win. Clemson dominated Auburn. UMBC kept it close, but their cinderella story ended. Florida State and their balanced attack beat Xavier. Finally, old man Jevon Carter lead West Virginia to 94 points and a win against in-state “rival” Marshall.
Nevada -1 for 2 units. Even sister Jean (the Loyola team chaplain) has Chicago losing in the sweet sixteen. Loyola had two buzzer beater wins while holding their opponent to 62 points in what has been a great run so far. Nevada looked good on offense against a stingy Cincy defense in the second half of that game. Nevada has been down double digits in both their wins in this tournament and I just feel if they get up in this one, they will stay up. Nevada is the better team.. sorry sister Jean.
Texas A&M +3 for 4 units. The transitive property does not work in sports so it may not matter that UNC dominated Michigan early in the year and then Texas A&M dominated UNC. I think it does matter though because of the matchups. Moritz Wagner will get dominated down low and could even find himself in foul trouble. I am going to bet on the better rebounding team in this one. I know Michigan is hot, but after a few days off and a trip to L.A. they can cool down. If both teams cool down, I want to bet on the team that can get easy buckets in the paint.
Kentucky -5 for 1 unit. The public is on this heavy too, which worries me. Kentucky has an advantage in the paint and at guarding the 3 point shot. Dean Wade would help KSU, but I do not think it matters too much if he plays. I like Kentucky in this one, but the weird line and the public being on them makes this a low unit play. Also, I have a 3 unit bet on Kentucky making the final four at -140 so do not want to overplay Kentucky like I did in 2015.
Florida State +6 for 2 units. FSU already beat the 1 seed in this region and has an incredibly balanced team after losing NBA caliber players to the draft last season. Gonzaga is also well-balanced so this should be an exciting game. I just think 6 points is too much in what should be a close game. Gonzaga has not won by more than 6 and is shooting 57% from the line in this tournament. Gonzaga can’t play much better on offense than they did against OSU and they still only won by 6. I am taking the ACC team in this one.