NCAA Tournament Brackets Strategy: The No. 5 vs. No. 12 Seed Upsets
by Alan Matthews - 3/15/2011

Overall, the No. 5 seed is 69-35 against the No. 12 seed since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985. So nearly 67 percent of the time the No. 5 comes out victorious. But being that there are four 5-12 games, that generally does mean you see one No. 12 over a No. 5 first-round upset. It happened last year, for example, with Cornell beating Temple. By comparison, a No. 4 seed is 82-22 since 1985 against a No. 13 seed and a No. 6 is 71-33 against a No. 11.

NCAA Tournament Handicapping: The Biggest Challenges
by Aaron Smith - 3/15/2011

This is one of the most exciting weeks of the year for sports fans and bettors. March Madness captures the attention of nearly everyone with its trademark tremendous finishes. There’s no doubt this year’s tournament will be another exciting one. If there is a negative to March Madness for the average sports bettor, it clearly is the amazing amount of challenges that come with handicapping the NCAA Tournament. College basketball handicapping during the tournament is far different than during the regular season. Let’s take a closer look at some of the challenges that are specific to the NCAA Tournament.

NCAA Tournament Predictions: Potential Sweet Sixteen Surprises
by T.O. Whenham - 3/15/2011

The NCAA Tournament is as brilliant as it is because of many things, but upsets would be chief among them. There are few things I like more in sports than seeing the dust settle after the opening weekend and seeing some incredibly unlikely teams still alive when 48 other teams (or 52 thanks to this stupid new format) are already on their way home with their tails between their legs. What makes these upsets so exciting is that they aren’t always easy to spot. Here are six spots, though, that seem to have at least a decent chance of producing a pleasing shocker according to my NCAA Tournament predictions:

NCAA Tournament Facts and Interesting Tidbits
by T.O. Whenham - 3/14/2011

The term March Madness has only been associated with the NCAA Tournament since the early 1980’s -- perhaps thanks to usage by Brent Musberger. It’s been around referring to college basketball a lot longer than that, though. High school basketball tournaments in Midwestern states like Indiana and Illinois have been using the term since the 1930s.

NCAA Tournament Betting Trends
by T.O. Whenham - 3/14/2011

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting antsy. The field is set, I’ve stared at the bracket until I can’t see anymore, and now I just want the games to start -- and I’m not talking about those stupid games in Dayton. The next three weeks -- and especially the first four days of the NCAA Tournament -- are like Christmas for sports bettors. To help pass the time until the games start, and to hopefully make the March Madness betting experience more fun and profitable, here’s a look at NCAA Tournament betting trends from three different perspectives:

NCAA Tournament Bracket Tips and Advice
by T.O. Whenham - 3/14/2011

For a lot of people the NCAA Tournament is all about one thing -- winning your tournament pool. If you want to have a good chance of winning your bracket you need to be lucky, but you also need to make sure that you are making good decisions to give yourself the best chance of success. In a lot of pools there are many people who really have no idea how to fill out a bracket properly, so you have a big edge over most of those people just by thinking about what you are doing as you do it. Here are some NCAA Tournament bracket tips and advice to help you find the right path:

NCAA Tournament Odds and Predictions
by T.O. Whenham - 3/14/2011

Looking at the NCAA Tournament odds just minutes after they came out there are a few games that really stand out as surprising or interesting. Here are 10 games that are the most interesting at first glance (NCAA Tournament odds for these games and all others are available from Bookmaker):

March Madness Brackets Advice and Tips
by T.O. Whenham - 3/14/2011

It’s almost time for March Madness to tip off. That means that it is time to fill out your bracket - hopefully your winning bracket. Here is some March Madness bracket advice and tips to help you with your March Madness brackets strategy:

How to Run a March Madness Brackets Pool
by Alan Matthews - 3/14/2011

It’s mid-March, so that means words like “bracketology” and “office pool” will become prevalent around your workplace. It’s also a time most employers dread because there will be very little work done next Thursday and Friday in the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Well, technically the opening round is on Tuesday now with the “First Four” – four opening-round games with those winners then advancing to the second round. But in reality the First Four is just four play-in games instead of the usual one we had when the tourney was at 65.

NCAA Tournament Predictions: Teams That Are Hard to Assess
by T.O. Whenham - 3/10/2011

There are some teams that are really easy to figure out heading into the NCAA Tournament -- they are either very strong teams that have the chance to go a long, long way, or they are badly outclassed teams that don’t need to book their hotel rooms for long. These five teams unfortunately fit into neither group. These are the ‘tweeners’ -- teams that have the potential to go really deep if everything goes their way, but which have enough questions surrounding them to make their success far from a certainty. In short, these five teams make my head hurt, and they are going to make my head hurt until the last possible second I have to fill out my bracket -- and perhaps long after that.

SEC Tournament Predictions and College Basketball Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 3/9/2011

Watching SEC basketball is a lot like watching a WWE Royal Rumble. (Which makes sense, since hillbilly southerners are the primary purveyors of both.) In both the SEC and the Royal Rumble there is biting, clawing, chaos, out-of-control athletes, no real organization, and in the end the winner is usually either one of the obvious choices (Hulk Hogan in the RR, Kentucky in the SEC) or one shrouded in controversy and coming out of nowhere (Mississippi State in 2009 and Georgia in 2008; Vince McMahon in 1999).

College Basketball National Championship Free Picks - Duke-Butler Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 4/5/2010

I don’t know about you, but I believe today is the best sports day of the year because you have baseball’s Opening Day to go along with the end of college basketball’s season. Shoot, this year we’ve even got Tiger Woods facing the full media for the first time. The TV will be on all day!

Final Four Free Picks: Duke-West Virginia Predictions
by T.O. Whenham - 4/1/2010

A lot of people are portraying the Duke - West Virginia Final Four game as a de facto national championship. I'm not sure that I but into that theory, but it's definitely the game with the teams that were more expected to be here and don't seem quite as out of place in a Final Four. Here's how the contest, which happens Saturday at 8:45 pm ET from Indianapolis, sets up and here are my Final Four free picks (Duke-West Virginia predictions):

Guard Play Overrated in Final Four
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 4/1/2010

Of all the beliefs this year’s Final Four will prove wrong, such as a team from the Horizon League not being able to make a Final Four, or teams with injured star players having no chance to win it all or that Coach K and Duke have lost their game, the one notion that can finally be forgotten is the one that states, “the team with the best guard play will win the tournament.”

Final Four Free Picks: Michigan State-Butler Predictions
by T.O. Whenham - 3/31/2010

The Final Four contest between Michigan State and Butler is, to say the least, unlikely. It's the first ever appearance for Butler, and the first time that two No. 5 seeds have even made the Final Four in the same year, never mind played each other. Here's how the contest, which happens Saturday at 6 p.m. EST from Indianapolis, sets up:

Final Four Coaches
by T.O. Whenham - 3/31/2010

Despite the lack of NBA Draft lottery talent and the biggest-named teams, there are still a whole lot of reasons why this Final Four is at least as interesting as several we have seen before. At or near the top of that list is the set of coaches that are leading their teams into Indianapolis. There's a bit of everything here - from the legends to the future star. I mean, just look at these guys:

Final Four Handicapping: Butler’s Home Court Advantage
by T.O. Whenham - 3/30/2010

The fact that Butler is playing the Final Four on their home court is, with good reason, one of the most discussed aspects of this strange Final Four that looms just on the horizon. This is a reasonably unique situation - the last time a team played at home was UCLA in 1972. Though the Bruins won it all that year, that's hardly a precedent given how much the tournament has grown since then.

Final Four Totals Betting Trends
by Aaron Smith - 3/30/2010

It has been a couple of crazy weeks of basketball, which is exactly what one would expect from March Madness. If you have even two of your teams left on your bracket, then you have done a brilliant job in a year where upsets have turned the college basketball tournament upside down. Now that we have the Final Four all set, I wanted to take a close look at totals trends for each of the teams in the Final Four.

Free College Basketball Picks: NIT Semifinals Preview
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 3/29/2010

There is another Final Four in mens’ college basketball and it is set to start Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. This year’s NIT semifinals feature two teams from the Atlantic 10, Dayton and Rhode Island, one team from the SEC, Mississippi, and last year’s defending NCAA National Champions, North Carolina of the ACC.

March Madness Handicapping: Can Lower Seeds Keep Going?
by T.O. Whenham - 3/25/2010

I can't say that the hype surrounding the four teams ranked ninth or lower that made the Sweet 16 is unprecedented, but it certainly is intense. You don't have to look too hard to find members of the media that are in love with one of the four teams and their chances of continued success.