Elite 8 Saturday

Four blowouts last night, all equally impressive. Stephen Curry is such a good shooter and scorer for Davidson, yet the defense was the got my attention. For anyone that is a Wisconsin fan, you have to wonder why Bo Ryan was letting Brian Butch at 7'0, chuck up bricks from the top of the three point line. Sure he can make them from time to time, but his with size and strength advantage, do you really want him out there?

Today, really like Louisville with the points, thus I'll make them 3* with a chance to win outright. In the other game, would like to take Xavier; however off overtime game and against UCLA experience, will pass on star rated play and just suggest play on Musketeers.

For the tournament now 11-8-1.

The Left Coast Connection is 12-9-1 for the tourney and has the Cardinals today and split evenly on UCLA and Xavier.
In the NBA they are all over Denver.

Good Luck today.

Outsourcing Baseball

Neglected to mention I thought it was a sad commentary on major league baseball to play opening games of the season in Japan. It's no secret the reason why, purely profit and getting product into more places, at whatever the cost. It was even more ridiculous the current World Series champion Boston Red Sox had to go. If you are a fan of the Red Sox, the game started at just after 6:00 AM, meaning for most, they had to choose between work or watching their beloved team. Stupid is the only word that works.

Can you imagine the opening of the NFL season being in some foreign land with an weekday AM start time for the Giants this upcoming fall.

NCAA Basketball Plays

Finally a solid winning day from yours truly with Louisville, Xavier and North Carolina- UNDER all coming thru Thursday. That raises NCAA record to 10-8-1 against the spread. Not great, however beats the alternative. Today just one play stands out, with Texas a 3* selection. The quickness matchup really favors the Longhorns and their defense has been impressive for a large number of games.

For many people, this might not be a big deal, yet I thought it was important. In common opponents, Texas is 3-1 outscoring foes by 6.8 PPG. Stanford on the other hand was 2-3, outscoring same opponents by less then a point per game.

The Left Coast Connection also rebounded and is 11-8-1 in the tournament. Tonight they have Memphis and Wisconsin as there plays.

Good Luck tonight!

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.

Sunday Tournament Action

Just can't get started in this year's tournament, still looking to close strong. Really could kick myself for taking Duke yesterday, since when I was watching the Blue Devils struggle to beat Belmont, I turned to the guy I was with and said this team is finished. Unfortunately, it was one of those instances of outsmarting myself, thinking this was a Duke team of old, it certainly was not.

Anyway, here are today's winning plays.

2* San Diego - Mississippi State- Butler - Okla/Louisv. UNDER

The Left Coast Connection is still showing a profit at 7-5 and has these plays today.

Top - (tie) Georgetown - Texas

The Rest - North Carolina - Memphis - Okla/Louisv. UNDER

Happy Easter and Good Luck