Louisville Cardinals Odds to Win 2014 NCAA Tournament with Picks and Predictions
by George Monroy - 3/14/2014

The No. 5 Louisville Cardinals are set to defend last season’s national title and will look to become the first team to win consecutive championships since Billy Donovan’s 2006 and 2007 Florida squads completed the feat nearly seven years ago. Louisville ended the regular season by beating three of the four AP Top 25 teams it faced during the final two weeks of the year and clinched a share of the AAC title with the No. 13 Cincinnati Bearcats.

Michigan State Spartans Odds to Win 2014 NCAA Tournament with Picks and Predictions
by George Monroy - 3/12/2014

Early in the year the Michigan State Spartans were on the short list of contenders with a legitimate shot at winning this year’s NCAA Tournament. Multiple injures to Michigan State’s best players, however, kept the team from reaching its full potential during the regular season and pushed it from the top of the AP Top 25 poll to the bottom by the year’s end.

2014 Big Ten Tournament Picks and College Basketball Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 3/12/2014

This league has cannibalized itself for the past two months, and no true powerhouse has yet to emerge from the Midwest. However, one way or another someone is about to catch fire and cut down the nets in Indianapolis this weekend. And you can bet that whichever school emerges will be vaulted into the national spotlight heading into next week’s NCAA Tournament.

2014 ACC Tournament Picks and College Basketball Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 3/12/2014

Perhaps no conference in the country, save the American Athletic, is as fundamentally disparate as the ACC this year. This conference is a clear case of the basketball haves and have nots, and it has made for some ugly hoops this year in one of the nation’s most prestigious conferences.

Sports Betting Insights: Betting on College Basketball Conference Tournaments Part 2
by Dave Schwab - 3/12/2014

Championship Week in men’s college basketball really starts to heat up this weekend with the later rounds of all the major conference tournaments. Last week I went with BYU in the West Coast Conference and Murray State, out of the Ohio Valley as my top two picks based on BetOnline’s futures odds to win their respective tournament. The Cougars came up short in an 11-point loss to Gonzaga in the WCC Finals, and the Racers never made it past the semifinals as the No. 2 seed in their tournament.

2014 AAC Tournament Picks and College Basketball Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 3/11/2014

There wasn’t a more lopsided league in the country than the American Athletic Conference this season. The top five teams in the league went 66-24 in conference play, and the bottom five teams combined for just four wins against the top-tier teams in the AAC this year.

2014 Big East Tournament Picks and College Basketball Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 3/11/2014

This isn’t the Big East Tournament. They can call it the Big East Tournament. They can pretend that this week’s bracket is building on the hallowed past of college basketball’s best conference. And They can act as if there is nothing pathetic and unjust about watching the powerhouse teams from the old Big East plying their trade in other league tournaments this week. But I know the truth.

2014 Mountain West Tournament Picks and College Basketball Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 3/11/2014

The Mountain West always holds one of the most entertaining and intriguing conference tournaments in the country. Even though this has been a relatively down season for the MWC, there is still no shortage of storylines for this league as it prepares to crown a champion.

Wichita State Shockers Odds to Win the 2014 NCAA Tournament with Picks and Predictions
by George Monroy - 3/11/2014

The Wichita State Shockers ended the season with a perfect 34-0 record and became the first team in 23 years to enter the NCAA Tournament undefeated. The UNLV Runnin’ Rebels completed the feat in 1991, but they did not win the national title as they were eventually eliminated from the tournament by the Duke Blue Devils. The Shockers, however, will have a chance to become the first undefeated National Champion since coach Bob Knight’s Indiana Hoosier ran the table in 1976.

Arizona Wildcats Odds to Win the 2014 NCAA Tournament with Picks and Predictions
by George Monroy - 3/11/2014

The Arizona Wildcats started the year on a tear by winning their first 21 games and being ranked No. 1 in the nation for most of that stretch. However, a broken leg and three losses during the final month of the season may have halted the team’s momentum and stuck a dagger through the heart of its national title hopes. Arizona’s Brandon Ashley suffered a broken leg early in the team’s first loss of the year against Pac-12 rival California back in February, and the team has not looked quite the same since.

College Basketball Handicapping: Teams Motivated for Conference Tournaments
by Trevor Whenham - 3/11/2014

As we enter major conference tournament time in college basketball there are inevitably some teams that are going to be more motivated to succeed than others. Here’s a look at one team poised for a big performance in each of the seven most important conferences (odds to win their conference tournaments are from Bovada):

2013 NCAA Championship Game Predictions: Michigan vs. Louisville
by Trevor Whenham - 4/7/2013

I was assigned an article to make 2013 NCAA Championship Game predictions. For a while I flirted with being objective — I really did. If you have read anything I have written over the last several years, though, you will know how obsessed I am with Michigan, and therefore how I couldn’t be even remotely objective if I tried. I mean, I have watched every game this team has played for years, and mostly it has been painful.

2013 Final Four Betting: Props Odds and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 4/4/2013

Louisville? Yep, it was expected to be in the Final Four. The Cardinals were pre-tournament favorites with Indiana and now are overwhelming -140 favorites at Bovada to win the school's first National Championship since 1986. U of L has won 14 straight games and is pretty much kicking everyone's butt in that stretch. Only two wins have been by single digits. The closest? To fellow Final Four team Syracuse at the Carrier Dome on March 2.

Final Four Odds: How the Betting Public is Wagering
by Trevor Whenham - 4/4/2013

As a fan I couldn’t be happier with this Final Four. As a bettor, though, it’s also a very interesting couple of puzzles. On one hand, you have a game that is essentially a coin flip — either team could easily win depending upon whether they can exert their advantages. The other game isn’t quite as close, but it’s just as much of a coin flip because of the significant spread. You don’t have to work very hard to make a case for all four teams to cover the spread on Saturday. That’s what makes things interesting when it comes to handicapping.

Final Four Picks: Betting Odds and Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 4/1/2013

I’ll start with the important stuff. My 2013 Final Four picks are simple — Louisville will meet Michigan on Monday night for all of the marbles. Louisville is too talented to make the mistakes that cost Ohio State and Gonzaga against this very good Wichita State team. Michigan’s offense is dialed in and ridiculously efficient, and they will find a way to score more on the Syracuse zone than the Orange can respond with.

2013 Final Four Handicapping: the Coaches
by Trevor Whenham - 4/1/2013

One constant in the Final Four seems to be that the coaches are always very impressive. You can’t fluke your way into a Final Four berth. It takes skill and preparation that most guys just aren’t capable of. It’s why guys like Coach K, Roy Williams, Boeheim, Pitino, Self, Calipari and others can get here far more than their share while other guys can have all sorts of talent but never make it. This year’s collection of Final Four coaches is as interesting and impressive as always. Let’s examine each of these guys to see if we can gain any insights for 2013 Final Four handicapping:

2013 Final Four Betting Trends
by Trevor Whenham - 4/1/2013

From a betting perspective, these are four pretty solid teams assembled for this year’s Final Four. All four teams delivered at least a small profit to bettors who backed them all season. That’s not the most common situation at this stage of the tournament.

NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 Handicapping: How Large Dogs have Fared
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 3/27/2013

Cinderella stories are usually the highlight of the NCAA Tournament. Unfortunately, looking at recent history, the Sweet 16 is usually when the clock strikes midnight and these mid-major “Cinderfellas” turn into pumpkins rather than Elite 8 contenders.

NCAA Tournament: Starting a New Bracket from Sweet 16
by Trevor Whenham - 3/26/2013

I don’t know about you, but my bracket is in rough shape. I still have my final game intact, but thanks to Georgetown, and especially New Mexico, I was done almost before the whole thing started. When things go badly there is only one thing you can do — change the rules and start again. With that in mind, here’s how I would break down the bracket starting from now:

Big Ten in the Sweet 16: Handicapping the Remaining Teams
by Trevor Whenham - 3/26/2013

The Big Ten badly needs to win the NCAA Tournament this year. They haven’t won it since 2000 when Michigan State cut down the nets, and even though — or perhaps because — they have lost in the Championship Game four times since, they really need to show that they are good enough to take it all down again. Since the last Big Ten win we’ve seen four different teams — Duke, North Carolina, UConn and Florida — win the title twice each. It’s getting downright embarrassing for the conference.