3Daily Winners

With two rounds in the books for the NCAA Tournament, it is time to understand what we have witnessed thus far as bettors. While the excitement of close games and underdogs has grabbed our attention, favorites have ruled this tournament with 32-17, 65.3 percent record. The Under on the totals side has been the play in this event for a number of years, not this time, as oddsmakers adjustments and coaches taking more aggressive approaches has the Over 28-19-2.

College basketball this season had two conferences that stood out, the Pac-10 and the Big East. These two leagues have the most representatives in the Sweet 16, providing credence to how they performed all year. At the same time, the rest of the college basketball landscape had a great deal of balance, which was also shown in the fact that eight other conferences have at least one entry still alive. In what was widely regarded as the year of the freshman, only two that gained tremendous notoriety are still playing, Memphis’ Derrick Rose and UCLA’s Kevin Love.

The four top seeds all advanced, with Kansas and North Carolina both covering their two contests, UCLA splitting at 1-1 and Memphis looking shaky, not unexpectedly at the free throw line with 0-2 ATS mark. Kansas beat handled what many believed was an underrated UNLV team. The Tar Heels looked Final Four ready in two appearances, destroying two unworthy opponents. UCLA was fortunate to beat a game Texas A&M squad and if anyone wonders if Aggies Donald Sloan’s shot attempt was altered, note picture of Slaon's shooting hand. While on the Bruins, has Josh Shipp’s ship sailed? If John Calipari’s club were to win the national championship, they might have to go down as one of the all-time great teams, having only one defeat and shooting free throws like they had to do so while balancing Nike ball on there heads while attempting shots.

West Virginia and Davidson were thoroughly impressive in knocking out #2’s Duke and Georgetown respectively. The Coach K’s losing was just a matter of time. It is official; the Blue Devils no longer have the elite players to be a Final Four contender every year. Oh sure, they play hard, give it there all, they just aren’t next level players. Maybe a Stephen Curry would have helped Duke, because he was the singular player of the weekend. Offensively, he was unstoppable and unflappable in the second half of both games. What was a treat was to see how diverse his offensive skill set actually is, with cross-over drives to the basket that were ankle breakers, which could have left laundry behind.

Pittsburgh and San Diego finally wore out, while Michigan State has gotten a new lease on life and Western Kentucky’s three guard trio of seniors rival any team still playing. What tenacity the Hilltoppers also play with.

Defensive demons Wisconsin and Washington State sent offensive-minded teams Kansas State and Notre Dame packing. In watching those games, if those teams had played each other 50 times, the Wildcats and Irish MIGHT have won on 50th attempt.

Stanford and Tennessee persevered, for the most part making one more shot than their opponents, each looking vulnerable moving ahead. A dunce cap and a pat on the back for Stanford’s coach Trent Johnson. You have to be a complete idiot to get tossed out of a NCAA Tournament game, as the officials give coaches plenty of leeway. However, in post-game interview with Jay Bilas, he was humble and contrite in understanding what he had done, fully understanding if Brook Lopez doesn’t make spectacular hook shot, he will be buried in blogs and articles everywhere.

On to Thursday, for more wagering opportunities, as linemakers have shaded underdogs in opening lines based on history.