SEC Tournament Betting Free Play: Missouri Tigers vs. Ole Miss Rebels

03.15.2013 11:07 AM Andrew Lange Printer Friendly

Submitted by Andrew Lange

Missouri vs. Mississippi +5 O/U 153.5
Recommendation: Mississippi

When people think Ole Miss they think an underachieving squad that recently did the unthinkable and lost to woeful Mississippi State. But this is a squad that still won 23 games and went a respectable 12-6 in SEC play. Are there flaws? Absolutely. But I like the fact that rather than pack it in the Rebels beat Alabama and went on the road and roughed up LSU following the embarrassing lost to rival MSU. Missouri played a tougher SEC slate than Ole Miss but at 11-7 in league play, the Tigers also have flaws – most notably performing well away from home against quality competition. I'm whipping the slate clean with the underdog and giving them a shot to stick around and potentially pull off the upset.

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Tags: College Basketball Missouri Tigers Ole Miss Rebels Andrew Lange

MAC Tournament Betting Free Play: Miami-Ohio RedHawks vs. Eastern Michigan Eagles

03.13.2013 07:56 AM Andrew Lange Printer Friendly

Submitted by Andrew Lange

Miami-OH vs. Eastern Michigan +2.5 O/U 113
Recommendation: Eastern Michigan

A lot of this line has to do with the fact that Miami-Ohio played in the MAC's stronger East Division and went 3-13 while Eastern Michigan finished below .500 in the weaker West Division. Flip-flop divisions with both teams and you'd probably have similar outcomes. But just because you played in the East doesn't mean you are good or need to be laying points on a neutral floor. In MAC play, Miami was favored four times – all of which on its home floor and went 1-3 SU and 0-3-1 ATS. Eastern Michigan had the same issues, failing to cover four of the five times it was favored vs. the MAC. Ironically, the lone cover for EMU came at home against Miami. The Eagles won 65-58 as 2.5-point chalk. EMU tends to struggle against athletic teams that can score in bunches hence blowout losses to Toledo, Akron, Kent State and Ohio. Miami has athletes but isn't a very efficient (95.2 ppp, Read more

Tags: College Basketball Miami-Ohio RedHawks Eastern Michigan Eagles Andrew Lange

Big Sky Tournament Betting Preview

03.12.2013 11:08 AM Andrew Lange Printer Friendly

Submitted by Andrew Lange

Big Sky Tournament Preview

The format of the Big Sky Tournament changes seemingly every year. Last year, only six teams made the field and the first round were at campus sites. The semifinals were at top seed Montana and the Grizzlies defeated second seed Weber State, 85-66, in the finals. This year sets up for an identical scenario with Montana hosting and Weber once again the No. 2 seed. After the first round they reseed the teams with Montana playing the lowest remaining seed in the semifinals.

First Round Pick: Southern Utah/North Dakota OVER
I'm not usually looking to play neutral site conference tournament games over the total but both teams have obviously played in Montana's gym – which is normal in terms of back drop and depth perception – and I'm confident that pace of the game will be fairly high. In the two regular season meetings, SUU and ND hit 72 and 70 possessions. Both teams score and allow about a point per possession which gives us a raw score around 140. In the first meeting, SUU won 79-67 and like a lot of lower-level Big Sky games – because a lot these teams don't defend particularly Read more

C-USA Tournament Betting Preview

03.11.2013 03:55 PM Andrew Lange Printer Friendly

Submitted by Andrew Lange

C-USA Tournament Preview

Top seed Memphis has won six of the last seven conference tournaments but five of those were in the friendly confines of the FedEx Forum. This year's tournament is in Tulsa and the champion will have to win at least three games. Memphis didn't lose a regular season conference game and is obviously headed to the Big Dance regardless of this week's outcome. No. 2 seed Southern Miss is in the at-large discussion but it'll need no less than a title game appearance to be considered. Central Florida would have been the fourth seed but is ineligible for the postseason.

First Round Pick/Darkhorse: Name a team in college basketball that endured more emotional highs and lows than Marshall. You probably could drum up a similar situation but the Thundering Herd have been there and back and then some this season. What we know about this squad is that on any given day they can beat anyone in the league. Despite its 6-10 league record, Marshall swept Central Florida, just beat No. 2 seed Southern Miss (after losing to the Eagles by 56 in late January), and went on the road to Memphis and lost by 1. They have absolutely Read more

MAC Tournament Betting Preview

03.11.2013 07:05 AM Andrew Lange Printer Friendly

Submitted by Andrew Lange

MAC Tournament Preview

As a result of Toledo's postseason ineligibility, this year's MAC Tournament format is pretty wild. Seeds 6-11 play at campus sites on Monday. The fifth seed, Ball State, received a bye into the second round. No. 4 Kent State and No. 3 Western Michigan received byes in the third round. And then top seeds, No. 1 Akron and No. 2 Ohio won't play until Friday in the semifinals. The big storyline of the tournament is the suspension of Akron point guard Alex Abreu. Heading into March, the Zips were off their second win over Ohio and in the at-large discussion with a stellar record of 23-4 and 13-0 in league play. Akron then lost at Buffalo, Abreu was busted for weed, and they suffered a devastating loss to Kent State at home in the regular season finale. The Zips are talented enough to overcome the loss of their star point guard and win two games but without him, they are far more vulnerable.

First Round Pick: Egads! Conference tournaments are a tough nut to crack and seemingly produce more random outcomes than any other situation in college basketball (If you have time, Google “Liberty” and Read more

College Basketball Betting Free Pick: Marshall Thundering Herd and East Carolina Pirates

03.09.2013 07:54 AM Andrew Lange Printer Friendly

Submitted by Andrew Lange

Marshall at East Carolina -6.5
Recommendation: East Carolina

Marshall is not a team that knows how to handle prosperity or be consistent. In the five previous instances in which the Herd was off a conference win, they lost and failed to cover. This past Tuesday was Marshall’s Super Bowl. They had lost to Southern Miss 102-46 earlier in the season and had the rematch circled for over a month. They came up big and beat USM 88-84. Heading into their regular season finale there is little to nothing to play for – and as noted, even when there is something to play for, Marshall doesn't always show up. A slew of things need to happen in order for them to move up the standings and even if that occurs (very unlikely) it still doesn't change the fact that they will need to win a bunch of games to get to the Big Dance. East Carolina already has the No. 4 seed locked up so on the surface it doesn't look like the Pirates have much to play for either. But Read more

Tags: College Basketball East Carolina Pirates Marshall Thundering Herd Andrew Lange

Colonial Conference Tournament Betting Preview

03.08.2013 12:48 PM Andrew Lange Printer Friendly

Submitted by Andrew Lange

Colonial Conference Tournament Preview

What a year for the Colonial! Perennial heavyweight VCU bolted for the A-10. Old Dominion, who won back-to-back tournament titles in 2010 and 2011 and reached the semifinals last year, went 5-25 and fired its coach midseason. Preseason favorite George Mason finished fifth. Towson went from 1-31 to 18-13 but can't play in the postseason due to poor grades. UNC-Wilmington is also ineligible. Georgia State is leaving for the Sun Belt so wasn't invited. As a result of those three teams being out, Hofstra (7-23, 4-13) got in. And Northeastern won the regular season title despite being one of the luckiest teams on the planet for a month-long stretch. With the exception of George Mason (2008) and James Madison (1994), the remainder of the field has exactly zero Colonial Conference tournament titles.

First Round Pick: Delaware played a tough non-conference schedule, battling with the likes of Villanova, Duke, Temple, Pitt, Virginia, and Kansas State. They acquitted themselves fairly well in those games and opened conference play 3-0 SU, 3-0 ATS. Unfortunately, it was the kiss of the death. The Blue Read more

Metro Atlantic Conference Tournament Betting Preview

03.07.2013 02:05 PM Andrew Lange Printer Friendly

Submitted by Andrew Lange

Metro Atlantic Tournament Preview

After the three straight years of the No. 1 seed knocking off the No. 2 seed in the finals, the last two MAAC title games have featured a No. 2 vs. No. 4 matchup. The conference was highly competitive this season with five teams in the hunt for regular season crown. For example, Niagara, the regular season champ, had games decided by 3, 4, 1, 3 (OT), 2 (2 OT), 3, 4, and 3. The close nature of the league should make for a crazy tournament and perhaps a difficult handicap with nothing but the slimmest of margins separating most of these squads. Note that this will mark the first year the tourney will be held at the MassMutual Center even though no one in the MAAC resides in Massachusetts.

Darkhorse: Hard to pick a darkhorse when over half the field should all be priced the same the win the tournament. Bettors should be prepared for a lot of games lined -2.5 or less. Rider can hardly be considered a darkhorse as the No. 2 seed but the Broncs weren't even considered a contender with a league record of 6-5 heading into February. They got hot at the right time but drew a tough card with a potential Read more

Sun Belt Conference Tournament Betting Preview

03.07.2013 12:19 PM Andrew Lange Printer Friendly

Submitted by Andrew Lange

Sun Belt Conference Tournament Preview

The Sun Belt Conference Tournament has a long history of craziness. Upsets happen with regularity, like last season when the top two seeds were bounced in their first game and the finals featured a No. 5 vs. No. 7 matchup. Of the last 12 teams to participate in the championship game, seven were a fourth seed or lower. On paper No. 1 Middle Tennessee State is as close to a lock as you can get to cut down the nets this conference tournament season. The Blue Raiders rolled through league play (14-2) last year and lost to No. 9 Arkansas State in the quarterfinals but this year’s edition is even stronger; a veteran club on a mission.

First Round Pick: North Texas
For much of the season, North Texas was an easy bet against. Longtime head coach Johnny Jones left for LSU, they had a ton of injuries, and Tony Mitchell underperformed. But the Mean Green have talent and a little bit of confidence having won four of six to close out the regular season. The also got point guard Chris Jones back. Jones missed practically all of January and February but returned and played the last two Read more