Higher seeds intent on moving to Sweet 16

The final three contests of Round 2 of the NCAA Tournament have variety. A top seed takes on a hot team from a poor-mouthed conference, a three-seed is expected to be tested by a squad with ample tourney experience and fourth seed is listed underdog, not playing with all its weaponry. This trio of wagering options will fill the Sweet 16 dance card.

ACC power on parade

Duke tied for the ACC regular season title and walked away with conference tournament and faces California of the much maligned Pac-10. Funny thing about the left-coasters, both teams that made it to the NCAA’s moved on to second round, proving at least at the top, this league was not too bad. The Blue Devils cover the six-point spread at DiamondSportsbook.com if they establish inside presence against the Bears with Kyle Singler, Brian Zoubek and Lance Thomas doing the dirty work, freeing up the perimeter shooters to score. Expect the Blue Devils to work inside out and they are 6-0 ATS after two straight games attempting 10 or more free throws than opponent.

California’s best shot to pull the upset is staying glued to outside shooters from Duke and beat them down the floor in transition. If Jerome Randle can keep the Bears at high octane level to wear down the bigger Duke players, they’ll be able to take best shot since they are 10-2 ATS when the total is 140 to 149.5 this season. (Posted total is 143.5)

Pittsburgh against the X-Men

The Panthers and Xavier matchup opened with the Musketeers as a one-point favorite, moved to a Pick and now is a single digit underdog. Pittsburgh moves Salt Lake City if they can remain consistent. All season the Panthers have had players running hot and cold. That means Ashton Gibbs, Gilbert Brown, Gary McGhee, Travon Woodall and Dante Taylor all have to play within themselves and not try and be heroes. Pitt is 10-3 ATS versus very good teams outscoring their opponents by eight or points game this season.

The oddsmakers are telling us Xavier is very close to playing the way they want with total of 135.5. The Musketeers are 22-3 and 18-6 ATS, when they score 70 or more points and are very potent offensively averaging 79.6 points per contest.

Xavier will have to shoot better than 34.3 percent from the field like they did against Minnesota or they will be in real trouble, as three seeds are 8-1 SU against six seeds in this round.

Purdue could be predicament

The Boilermakers clearly haven't been the same without Robbie Hummel and will have to depend on defense to hold off Texas A&M. The Boilermakers will have to play sensational defense like they did against Siena (32.9 percent) and try and avoid long periods of not scoring. Junior guard E'Twaun Moore and center JaJuan Johnson will probably have to total 40 or more points and have at least two others score around 10 points each. Purdue is 15-26 ATS after playing three straight games as favorite over the last two seasons.

Texas A&M can defend as they proved against Utah State, holding the Aggies to 53 points, compared to average of 73 PPG. Donald Sloan is the inspirational leader and facilitator of the offense and center Bryan Davis is a rugged inside player. Coach Mark Turgeon has done a masterful job in blending the veterans with his youngsters, especially with the loss of Derrick Roland back in December to compound fracture. The Aggies are two-point favorites and 14-2 ATS when the line is +3 to -3.

Saturday Hoops Action

Just missed a winning day on Thursday as the ol’ half point hook clipped Ron on UCLA selection. With so many CBB games you would think there would be a ton of systems but the best I could find was a money line one on the hardwood. However, it is incredible 47-3 and the baggage is not that heavy, thus deserves a look. The Top Trend comes from the Big 12, while the Free play is from Sal on one of his heaviest wagers of the college basketball season. Good Luck

What I thought today- I watched the John Stewart and Bill O’Reilly interview uncut and complete. Besides the fact it was very entertaining, I came away thinking that all of us have become so conditioned to look at everything in black and white, that a few shades of gray really adds balance to our viewpoints.

On Twitter at: www.twitter.com/3Dailywinners

Free Basketball System -1) Play On favorites of -165 to -500 vs. the money line like California, revenging a close loss vs opponent of three points or less, off a close loss by three points or less to a conference rival. Because the money line isn’t that heavy at -165, you have to consider a system that is 47-3, 94 percent.

Free Basketball Trend - 2) Iowa State is 1-16 ATS after two straight games forcing opponent to commit 11 or less turnovers over the last two seasons.

Free Basketball Pick -3) Sal of the LCC is 9-3 in college hoops this week and is pounding Georgetown.

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Another Pac-10 team to fall?

Good luck in trying to figure out the California Bears this season. Preseason publications were correct is saying USC was vulnerable and Cal and Oregon were the two teams thought to be most capable of being Pac-10 champions. After a 3-0 start, the Bears were declawed by Oregon and USC by combined scores of 72-6 and were shown to be overrated. California (8-4, 6-6 ATS) regrouped and won five of next six, including an incredibly impressive 34-28 victory over rival Stanford at their place. With a chance to finish the season at least feeling good about themselves and earn Sun Bowl bid, what does Cal do, get whacked by Washington 42-10, dropping them to this pre-Christmas bowl in San Diego. California is 3-13 ATS after a game where they forced no turnovers.

Everyone following the Utah football program agrees this year’s 9-3 record is a long way away from last season’s 13-0 and final No.2 ranking. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t a successful campaign in Salt Lake City, since it was only Utah’s eighth nine-win season all-time. This has become a very stable football program under coach Kyle Whittingham, being able to possibly win 10 games after undefeated year, despite only four retuning offensive starters. Word out of Utah campus is the Utes (5-7 ATS) have quickly moved beyond overtime loss to astringent rival BYU and looks forward to the challenge of taking on a Pac-10 club, always a point of emphasis for Mountain West schools. Give Utah time to prepare and they are rugged opponent, with 24-10 ATS record when playing with two weeks or more of rest over the last 17 years.

Because of the matchup, this bowl shows up as a respectable 14th in our rankings. California was 3-3 SU and ATS against teams participating in bowls. Utah is 2-3 with only one cover vs. competition also playing in the postseason. The Bears are 10-8-1 as bowlers with 5-6 ATS record and this marks the sixth straight time they are favorites (2-3 ATS). The Utes are uber-bowlers with 11-3 record (9-3 ATS), which includes eight straight triumphs (6-2 ATS). They are sparkling 6-1 ATS as underdogs. The favorite has won all four Poinsettia Bowls, with a .500 spread record.

Both teams will be intent on stopping the other team’s running game, led by backup pigskin-totters. Cal has Shane Vareen in for Jahvid Best, who’s been unable to overcome concussion issues. Utah wants to force QB Kevin Riley to beat them and their defense is capable, since they are 11-2 ATS after allowing 275 or less total yards in consecutive games.

The Utes lost stud ball-carrier in Matt Aiata, however his replacement Eddie Wide ran for over 1,000 yards and scored 12 touchdowns, starting the last seven games of the season. California wants to see if true freshman quarterback Jordan Wynn handles a little Pac-10 pressure. Utah coaches might go max protection in obvious passing situations since the Bears were 108th in the nation in pass defense, allowing 260.9 yards per game, with 17 TD passes.

DiamondSportsbook.com has California as three-point favorites, with total of 51.5. The Bears have shown their trustworthiness in this exact situation under coach Jeff Tedford with 4-13 ATS record when the line is +3 to -3, losing by 4.1 points a game. Cal is 10-2 UNDER after a game with a turnover margin of -2 or worse. Besides their dumbfounding bowl streak, Utah is 15-2 UNDER away from home after two or more consecutive wins against the spread, winning by six points per game.

ESPN will televise this confrontation from San Diego starting at 8 Eastern.


3DW Line – Cal by 2