Final Four Picks: Butler vs. VCU Odds and Predictions
by Darin Zank - 4/1/2011

In one of the most unlikely national semifinal matchups in NCAA Tournament history, the amazing Butler Bulldogs are in the unusual position of taking on an even bigger Cinderella when they play the VCU Rams Saturday evening at Reliant Stadium in Houston (6:09 p.m. EST, CBS).

Final Four Picks: Kentucky vs. UConn Odds and Predictions
by Aaron Smith - 3/31/2011

While not many people expected this matchup in the Final Four, this is clearly the side of the bracket that isn’t a complete shock to basketball fans around the country. The winner of this game will square off against either VCU or Butler in the title game on Monday night. Both Kentucky and UConn have young teams, but their coaches have plenty of experience in the Final Four.

Final Four Predictions: Brandon Knight vs. Kemba Walker Props
by Alan Matthews - 3/31/2011

It feels rather fitting that we do a combined props story for the Final Four on Kentucky’s Brandon Knight and Kemba Walker, his Connecticut counterpart, because neither team would be in Houston if not for their star point guard.

Final Four Betting Trends for the NCAA Tournament
by T.O. Whenham - 3/30/2011

We may be about to witness the strangest Final Fours of all time. Two mid-majors that only barely made the field are in this year and one has played an extra game to get where they are. Two iconic major conference programs that overcame midseason struggles to get hot in time for their conference tournaments, and have managed to carry that momentum forward this far will face off in the other side of the bracket.

Final Four Odds and NCAA Tournament Predictions
by T.O. Whenham - 3/28/2011

This is, of course, exactly the Final Four I knew it was going to be. I mean, how could you not see this one coming? Clearly this was going to be just the second year that a No. 1 didn’t advance to the Final Four. And clearly two coaches under the age of 35 were going to make the last weekend while legends were going to be cast aside.

Sweet 16 Picks: Kentucky vs. Ohio State Odds and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 3/25/2011

With all due respect to the other seven games, if you don’t think Kentucky vs. Ohio State is the glamour matchup of the Sweet 16 then you simply don’t know college basketball. This East Region game on Friday night in Newark, N.J., is the highlight of the Sweet 16, with the winner to face the Marquette-North Carolina victor on Sunday.

Sweet 16 Picks: UConn vs. San Diego State Odds and Predictions
by Darin Zank - 3/24/2011

The Connecticut Huskies might be the hottest team in college basketball. The San Diego State Aztecs have lost twice all season. So it will be two pretty good teams going at it when San Diego State, the two seed in the East region, meets third-seeded UConn in an NCAA tournament regional semifinal game Thursday night at the Honda Center in Anaheim (7:15 p.m. Eastern, CBS).

NCAA Tournament Predictions and Sweet 16 Futures Odds
by David Schwab - 3/23/2011

The original 68-team field for this year’s NCAA Tournament has been pared down to the Sweet 16. There are three No.1 seeds left as well as four double-digit seeded teams, and no region has followed suit will all top four seeds advancing on. The following is a look at my NCAA Tournament predictions for the remaining teams that have a legitimate shot at winning a national title along with the value their current futures odds provide. All odds quoted are courtesy of Sports Interaction.

Sweet 16 Predictions: Double-Digit Seeds
by T.O. Whenham - 3/23/2011

There are four double-digit seeds remaining in the Sweet 16 this year, the most in any year since 1999. That’s an amazing statistic, but what’s even more amazing is that Florida State, VCU, and Richmond are all in the Southwest bracket. That means that Kansas, the No. 1 seed, can make it all the way to the Final Four without playing a team seeded higher than ninth. No wonder they are now favored to win the tournament at some books.

NCAA Tournament Betting Trends
by T.O. Whenham - 3/23/2011

We can often learn a lot in sports betting about what is likely to happen in the future from what has happened in the past. That can especially be true with something like the NCAA Tournament where we see the same teams playing in increasingly pressure-filled games over a short time frame. Here’s a day-by-day look back at the first four days of the 2011 tournament from a betting perspective so we can see which NCAA Tournament betting trends have emerged that could be useful:

This Week in March Madness Betting, A-Z
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 3/23/2011

A – Ashton Gibbs. The Pitt hoopster has apparently had enough of school and ,conveniently enough, he decided that just two days after his top-seeded Panthers were bounced from the NCAA Tournament by No. 8 seed Butler. Gibbs tweeted, “Man school just isn’t for me smh.” The tweet was published in a daily Pittsburgh newspaper. We are led to believe that ‘smh’ is the name of some European basketball league where Gibbs will be playing next.

Sweet 16 Picks: Kansas vs. Richmond Odds and Predictions
by T.O. Whenham - 3/23/2011

This was the round in which I expected Kansas to get their first legitimate challenge of the tournament. That may still be the case, but I was quite sure it would come from Louisville, not Richmond. Judging by all of the complaining, most people who filled out a bracket thought the same basic thing. Just because it’s a long way from a predictable matchup, though, doesn’t mean it’s not an intriguing one.

March Madness Predictions: Reseeding the Brackets
by T.O. Whenham - 3/23/2011

For the weeks and even months leading up to the NCAA Tournament college basketball fans are fascinated by seeding. Who is going to get into the tournament? What seed will they get when they get there? Which teams will be No. 1s? It’s an obsession. Once the tournament starts, though, that fixation on seeding largely goes out the door in favor of March Madness brackets, upsets, and everything else that is great about the tournament. In the free time between rounds, though, I miss all of the seeding talk and speculation.

NCAA Tournament Odds and Predictions for Sweet 16
by T.O. Whenham - 3/22/2011

And then there were eight. The chaos of the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament has boiled down to a much saner and manageable number of games this week -- just four Sweet 16 games per day on Thursday and Friday. There might be fewer, but this weekend’s contests are no less interesting than the crazy ones we have just witnessed. Here’s a look at the NCAA Tournament Odds, Sweet 16 variety, and some predictions from my first reaction to each pairing (all NCAA Tournament odds are from BetUS):

Sweet 16 Picks: BYU vs. Florida Odds and Predictions
by David Schwab - 3/22/2011

The bottom of the bracket in the Southeast Region has followed suit with the No.3 seed BYU Cougars squaring off against the No.2 seed Florida Gators in the Sweet 16 round of this year’s NCAA Men’s Tournament. Thursday’s game from the Superdome in New Orleans is scheduled to tip at 7:27 p.m. (EST) and it will be broadcast nationally on TBS.

Sweet 16 Predictions and March Madness Futures Odds
by Alan Matthews - 3/22/2011

With the NCAA Tournament’s first week a thing of the past, it’s time to take a new look at those brackets and re-evaluate your betting options. Certainly oddsmakers are doing that. For example, at Bodog on the prop where you can bet on which conference the national champion comes from, the odds have shifted fairly dramatically. The Big 12 – i.e. Kansas – was the favorite before the Big Dance started. And

NCAA Tournament Odds and Predictions - Sweet 16
by David Schwab - 3/21/2011

The initial field of 68 teams for this year’s NCAA Tournament has been pared down to the Sweet 16 survivors who will continue their quest for a national title this upcoming Thursday and Friday. The following is a brief look at all four matchups and provide some betting predictions for each day along with the NCAA Tournament odds as provided by Sportsbook.com.

NCAA Tournament Predictions: Duke vs. Michigan
by T.O. Whenham - 3/19/2011

These are giddy times to be a Michigan fan. My beloved Wolverines looked to be en route to a season almost as disappointing as last year’s when they started conference play with an ugly 1-6 record. A switch flipped, though, and this team hasn’t looked back since. They were 9-3 down the stretch in conference play, won a game in the Big Ten Tournament, crushed the life out of Tennessee in their opening game, and showed without question that this is a team moving in the right direction.

NCAA Tournament Picks: Pitt vs. Butler Odds and Predictions
by Darin Zank - 3/18/2011

The Butler Bulldogs rode a wave last spring all the way to college basketball's National Championship game. And they added to their recent tournament resume Thursday with a buzzer-beating first-round victory over Old Dominion. The Pitt Panthers, meanwhile, entered this season and this NCAA Tournament with great expectations, as they search for that long-elusive Final Four berth.

March Madness Picks: UCLA vs. Florida Odds and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 3/18/2011

Does Saturday afternoon’s third-round (that still sounds wrong – damn you First Four!) Southeast Region matchup in Tampa between UCLA and Florida sound rather familiar? It should: Florida beat the Bruins in the 2006 National Championship Game and again in the 2007 Final Four. The winner of this one gets a trip to New Orleans to face the Gonzaga-BYU winner in the Sweet 16.