Posts Tagged ‘March Madness picks’

2013 NCAA Tournament Odds, College Basketball Picks & Tips

April 7th, 2013 by Adam Markowitz (Bankroll Sports Columnist) | Posted in NCAA Basketball   1 Comment »
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Complete List of Odds to Win 2013 NCAA Tournament Can Be Found Below

March MadnessJust two teams are left standing in the chase to pick up college basketball’s most illustrious award. Don’t miss all of the action on the March Madness betting lines for the one final game of the year, and here at Bankroll Sports, we’re giving you the inside edge for which one of these two dynamite teams you should be backing on the National Championship Game odds.

5Dimes College BasketballThe Michigan Wolverines (March Madness Odds: 1.65 to 1 @ 5Dimes Sportsbook) has shocked the world out of the No. 4 seed in the South Region to not just make it to the Final Four, but to ultimately win the National Semifinals as well. We have continually said that this is a touched team, and we are sticking by that logic in the National Championship Game as well. This is the toughest test that the team has faced all season long, though. For as great as teams like Ohio State, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Illinois, and Minnesota really were this year, Louisville is the best team that the Wolverines will be challenged by. The hope is that Big Blue doesn’t fall by the wayside the same way that Iowa did against Baylor in the NIT Final earlier this week. What we will say about Michigan though, is that it does have the best player that is going to be on the court. G Trey Burke didn’t play all that well against the Syracuse Orange, but he had some help from his friends. The Wooden Award winner is joined in the backcourt by the talented G Tim Hardaway Jr. and the streaky G Nik Stauskas. F Glenn Robinson III has done a remarkable job in this tournament, but the real man of the hour has been F Mitch McGary, who has averaged 16.0 points and 11.6 rebounds per game after averaging under seven points and under six rebounds per game in the regular season.

List Of NCAA Tournament Basketball National Champions (Since 2000)
2012 NCAA Tournament Champions: Kentucky Wildcats
2011 NCAA Tournament Champions: Connecticut Huskies
2010 NCAA Tournament Champions: Duke Blue Devils
2009 NCAA Tournament Champions: North Carolina Tar Heels
2008 NCAA Tournament Champions: Kansas Jayhawks
2007 NCAA Tournament Champions: Florida Gators
2006 NCAA Tournament Champions: Florida Gators
2005 NCAA Tournament Champions: North Carolina Tar Heels
2004 NCAA Tournament Champions: Connecticut Huskies
2003 NCAA Tournament Champions: Syracuse Orange
2002 NCAA Tournament Champions: Maryland Terrapins
2001 NCAA Tournament Champions: Duke Blue Devils
2000 NCAA Tournament Champions: Michigan State Spartans

The Louisville Cardinals (Odds To Win National Championship: 1 to 1.75 @ 5Dimes Sportsbook) are the team to beat for sure. Though they did have a tough time with the Wichita State Shockers in the Final Four on Saturday, they have definitively been the toughest team in America to knock off for the mass majority of the season. Ironically, there is only one player, G Russ Smith that is averaging double digits in scoring per game for Head Coach Rick Pitino, but that doesn’t make the team any less talented. C Gorgui Dieng usually doesn’t have a man that can match his combination of size and strength on the inside, while G Peyton Siva has a leadership quality that isn’t able to be taught even in the best practices. F Chane Behanan has been relatively quiet in this tournament, but though he has really not done all that much, F Luke Hancock became a star instantaneously when he scored 20 points against the Shockers. Head Coach Rick Pitino is the master of getting the most out of his team, and Louisville has been the bona fide favorite on the odds to win the National Championship for the duration of this tournament. If Louisville were to win it all on Monday, it would be just the third time in the history of the dance that the No. 1 overall seed went on to claim glory at cut down the nets at the Final Four.

2013 Odds To Win NCAA Tournament @ 5Dimes Sportsbook (as of 4/7/13):
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Louisville Cardinals Win NCAA Championship -175
Michigan Wolverines Win NCAA Championship +165

Louisville Cardinals -3.5
Michigan Wolverines +3.5
Over/Under 138

2013 College Basketball National Championship Odds @ JustBet Sportsbook (as of 4/7/13):
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Louisville Cardinals -185
Michigan Wolverines +165

Louisville Cardinals -4
Michigan Wolverines +4
Over/Under 137.5

2013 March Madness Free Picks: Midwest Region Bracket Predictions

March 31st, 2013 by Adam Markowitz (Bankroll Sports Columnist) | Posted in NCAA Basketball   Comments Off on 2013 March Madness Free Picks: Midwest Region Bracket Predictions
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Full List of Odds To Win The Midwest Region Can Be Found Below

Louisville CardinalsSportBet Sportsbook‘s NCAA basketball betting odds were always considered to be tight here in the Midwest Bracket. Everyone figured that the top seeds in this region had themselves a heck of a lot of problems against some other great teams, but alas, this was the one bracket where the chalk really held up. We’re down to just two teams, and two powerhouses at that, and today, we’re going to take one last look at the Final Four odds for the Louisville Cardinals and the Duke Blue Devils.

#1 Louisville Cardinals (-180) – The time is clearly here for the Cardinals to flex their muscles. They are overwhelmingly considered the most talented team left in the dance, as they are the only No. 1 seed that lived to make it here to the Elite Eight. G Russ Smith has been playing out of this world, and the defense, save for a few stretches against Oregon on Friday, has been out of this world. The Cardinals though, haven’t played much in the way of great teams in the dance, knowing that the toughest game that it has faced to date came against the eighth seeded Colorado State Rams, a game that really wasn’t all that close. The rest of the way though, it is destined to be nothing but big boys and heavy hitters, and this is where the rubber is going to meet the road. Head Coach Rick Pitino knows that this could be the best shot that he has of getting back to the Final Four in the near future, as so many of the players on the court are going to be leaving the school via graduation or for the NBA at the end of the season.

#2 Duke Blue Devils (+170) – There is a certain swagger about the Blue Devils that we like right now. The ACC reps were disrespected by the Selection Committee this season and were made to be No. 2 seeds instead of the top seed that they probably deserved. Duke probably has had the toughest path to reach the Elite Eight of any of the teams that are still dancing at this point. Not only was a game against Creighton very difficult on paper, but the very next game against Michigan State proved to be a heck of a battle. Beating the Spartans was one thing. However, the Dookies blew the Spartans out of the water and were never really in any serious danger of losing the game. We love watching G Seth Curry step back and let the rock fly without hesitation, and the way that F Mason Plumlee throws his body around with wreckless abandon is a pleasure as well. These are the things that didn’t exist for last year’s Blue Devils, which were knocked out of the first round of the dance by the lowly little No. 15 Lehigh Mountain Hawks. Coach K and the gang are just one win away from the greatness that is the Final Four, and we have a tough time believing that they can’t beat any team in the nation that comes their way with the way that they are playing.

2013 Midwest Region Odds @ SportBet Sportsbook (as of 3/30/13):
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Louisville Cardinals (-3.5) -180
Duke Blue Devils (+3.5) +170

2013 March Madness Free Picks: South Region Bracket Predictions

March 31st, 2013 by Adam Markowitz (Bankroll Sports Columnist) | Posted in NCAA Basketball   Comments Off on 2013 March Madness Free Picks: South Region Bracket Predictions
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Full List of Odds To Win The South Region Can Be Found Below

Kansas JayhawksOver at SportBet Sportsbook, you’ll find all of the odds to win the South Region and all of the brackets in the 2013 NCAA Tournament. This is one of the most stacked brackets that we have ever seen in the dance, and we know that it is going to be a tough one to handicap, so join us for our South Bracket predictions for March Madness and the NCAA Tournament, complete with each team’s odds to make it to the Final Four.

#3 Florida Gators (-150) – Florida truly has played no one on the road to the Elite Eight, but that hasn’t stopped it from being the overwhelming favorite for this entire tournament to make it to the Final Four. Now, it’s just down to a matter of one game for the right to go to Atlanta, where the team would surely have a huge following if it were to get that far. The Gators have dominated on the glass, and they have had two very strong shooting games from long range out of three. There really have been no tremendous standout players, though that’s the way that Head Coach Billy Donovan plans it. This is a veteran squad, led by the likes of G Scottie Wilbekin and F Erik Murphy, though this is a solid eight-man rotation chock full of players that are going to be capable of doing massive damage. If Florida gets to the Final Four, it is going to be a tremendously dangerous team to watch out for.

5Dimes College Basketball#4 Michigan Wolverines (+140) – There is no team of those that are left standing here in the Elite Eight that dodged death better than the Wolverines. They were literally already written off against the top seed in the South, the Kansas Jayhawks, the Gators were already busy ironing their away jerseys for the game. Instead, UF only needs to continue wearing the home whites, as it now has a date with the fourth seeded Wolverines instead. Michigan has gotten tremendous contributions from its starters this entire tournament, and in that win against the Jayhawks, all five of the starters logged at least 10 points. C Mitch McGary is the man that has really had a coming out party here in the NCAA Tournament, as he has had back to back tremendous games to help bring the Big Blue Nation to its first Elite Eight since 1994. It would be fitting for this team to get to the Final Four, as this is a squad that has been drawing comparisons all season long to the Fab Five that brought this team to greatness in the early 1990s.

2013 South Region Odds @ SportBet Sportsbook (as of 3/31/13):
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Florida Gators (-2.5) -150
Michigan Wolverines (+2.5) +140

2013 Final Four Free Picks: East Region Bracket Predictions

March 30th, 2013 by Adam Markowitz (Bankroll Sports Columnist) | Posted in NCAA Basketball   Comments Off on 2013 Final Four Free Picks: East Region Bracket Predictions
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Full List of Odds To Win The East Region Can Be Found Below

Indiana BasketballThe Syracuse Orange and the Marquette Golden Eagles were the only two Big East teams that started off in the East Region, yet they are the only two that are still standing as well. These two are going to square off at the Verizon Center on Saturday with a trip to the Final Four on the line, and we’re going to take one last look at both of these clubs and which one has the upper hand on the Final Four odds. SportBet Sportsbook.

#3 Marquette Golden Eagles (+160) – Marquette is going to be wearing the home whites in this one, but it is most certainly a severe underdog at the hands of the Orange on Saturday afternoon. The Golden Eagles have played three very solid defensive games here in the dance, but their offense has been all over the place. They’ve saved their better performances for their most recent games though, as their dominating win over Miami was truly the best game that they have played all season long. In this one, Marquette shot over 50 percent from the floor, including 50.0 percent from long range, and it left just nothing for the Canes to try to pick up when push came to shove on the the other side of the court. You can’t help but be a bit underwhelmed when you look at the numbers that Marquette is averaging this season. It is only good for 68.9 points per game, and it is allowing 62.8 points per game. The defense ranks 60th or worse in every major category, and the offense shoots the ball at just barely 30% from three-point range. That being said, this was a team that was channeling magic right at the outset of the year. It went 14-4 in the Big East, surprisingly won a share of the league title, and now has a shot to claim a second victory against Syracuse on the season, and this one would get it into the Final Four.

#4 Syracuse Orange (-170) – Who would’ve really thought that the Orange would be able to make it all the way here to the Sweet 16? This was a team that really struggled down the stretch of the season, losing games to teams like Louisville and Georgetown with terrible offensive showings. Many thought that the Orange would be bounced out of the Big East Tournament right away when taking on Pitt in what was their second game played at MSG. Instead, Syracuse just continues to get better. Its only loss in this stretch came against a very good Louisville outfit in what proved to be a very tiring game in the second half. Since then, it’s double digit victory after double digit victory and impressive showing after impressive showing. Even the six-point win over Cal in the Round of 32 was a solid looking game for the Orange. When they look in that 2-3 zone, they’re a tough team to score on, and if you take out the Big East Tournament Final, no one has scored more than 61 on this ‘D’ since… you guessed it… the loss at Marquette. And who says that the world doesn’t always cycle back around? Head Coach Jim Boeheim has a legitimate shot to get his team back to the Final Four once again, and if it were to happen, it really would turn out to be what looked like a statistical improbability just eight days ago.

2013 East Region Odds @ SportBet Sportsbook (as of 3/29/13):
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Marquette Golden Eagles (+3.5) +160
Syracuse Orange (-3.5) -170

2013 March Madness Free Picks: West Region Bracket Predictions

March 30th, 2013 by Adam Markowitz (Bankroll Sports Columnist) | Posted in NCAA Basketball   Comments Off on 2013 March Madness Free Picks: West Region Bracket Predictions
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Full List of Odds To Win The West Region Can Be Found Below

Gonzaga BulldogsSportBet Sportsbook is ready to go with the odds to win the West Bracket. There is just one game left for us to bet on in this bracket, and it is the clash pitting the Ohio State Buckeyes against the Wichita State Shockers. Does Cinderella’s slipper have a chance to stay on all the way to the through to the Final Four? Find out right here as we break down the West Region odds and the odds to make the Final Four this year.

#2 Ohio State Buckeyes (-210) – The Buckeyes haven’t always been at their best thus far in this tournament, but they are winning games, and that’s about all that anyone could really ask for. Ohio State’s defense, after allowing just seven teams to reach 70+ points this season, has allowed at least 70 in three straight games here in the NCAA Tournament. Granted, we know that the pace with which the Buckeyes have been asked to play has been a lot faster than what they are accustomed to, and the truth of the matter is that the team has done well to keep up. However, how much longer can a team like Ohio State that isn’t always the best offensively be asked to keep shooting threes at the rate with which it is knocking them down? Not only does the team have a pair of threes with less than five seconds left to play in games, but it also is knocking down exactly half of its triples for the postseason. That’s absolutely unreal. However, we see teams catch fire all the time from the outside here in the dance. Normally, we’re talking about teams like Wichita State getting on fire. When it’s the great teams that do it though, that’s the stuff that National Championships are made out of.

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#9 Wichita State Shockers (+190) – The Shockers are here in the Elite Eight, and they are probably the least deserving team of the eight that are left standing. We hear you. It’s a shock to hear that (no pun intended). Wichita State did knock off arguably the best No. 8 team in the land in Pittsburgh right at the outset of the tournament, and any time you take out a No. 1 seed, you deserve a lot of credit. Just how good were the Zags, though? Beating an upstart No. 13 seed that already had to play three games to reach that point in the season was no great shakes as we saw it either. What we do admit though, is that this is a team that deserves a lot of respect. It has played three very different games against three very different teams, and this is going to add a fourth different type of team to that list. The Shockers have a real chance to do some more damage to the average bracket, as Ohio State was the team most commonly picked to advance out of the West. If Wichita State pulls this one off, we’ll have a heck of a lot more respect for the boys from the Missouri Valley.

2013 West Region Odds @ SportBet Sportsbook (as of 3/29/13):
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Ohio State Buckeyes (-4.5) -210
Wichita State Shockers (+4.5) +190

2013 NCAA Tournament Bracket Picks, Predictions, & Advice

March 17th, 2013 by Travis Edwards (Bankroll Sports Contributor) | Posted in NCAA Basketball   Comments Off on 2013 NCAA Tournament Bracket Picks, Predictions, & Advice
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NCAA Tournament Final FourThe brackets have just been released for the 2013 NCAA Tournament, and here at Bankroll Sports, we are already tearing through the 68 teams that are going to be in the field and making our March Madness predictions. Join us right now for our 2013 March Madness advice, as well as our 2013 NCAA Tournament predictions for the teams that could be cutting down the nets on the road to the Final Four in Atlanta.

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2013 Midwest Bracket Predictions
Louisville won the Big East Tournament this year, and it predictably was the overall No. 1 seed in the dance. Of all of the No. 1s, there really doesn’t seem to be a much easier road to get to the Sweet 16, and perhaps even the Elite Eight as the one that the Hoosiers have. Oklahoma State is a team that likes to run and gun, but it really is the only team that is going to be able to contend as we see it if it gets that far. Saint Louis is a team that is playing with a heavy heart in memory of its lost coach, Rick Majerus.

At the bottom of this bracket, there really isn’t a heck of a lot to see either in our eyes. Duke is a dangerous team that could ultimately win this bracket, and we think that it is going to be a de facto No. 1 seed through the Elite Eight. Actually, the most dangerous team that we see out of this bracket as a potential sleeper is Saint Mary’s, a team that is going to have to go through Dayton to make it to the main bracket. Michigan State is a team that is always prepared to make a huge move in the dance, as Head Coach Tom Izzo’s teams never go down quietly. Of course, he has a tough bracket to try to navigate through this year, and it starts right away with what could be an upset-minded Valpo side.

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2013 West Bracket Predictions
The biggest question this year in the West Region is whether Gonzaga really, truly belonged as a top seed. In fact, you could ask the question as to whether Ohio State is a legitimate No. 2, or if New Mexico is a legitmate No. 3 as well. What this is setting up for could be a bracket chock full of upsets.

We aren’t particularly worried about the play-in game winners sitting in that No. 13 line that are going to have to face Kansas State playing a de facto home game in Kansas City. However, Ole Miss is a team that has caught some fire of late, and it might be able to make some real havoc in that No. 12 slot, especially against a Wisconsin team that has a habit of falling short in the dance.

The bottom of this bracket contains a ton of dangerous double digit seeds. Iona is one of the highest flying teams in America, and it is going to turn on the jets for the full 40 minutes no matter what Ohio State tries to do to stop it. Iowa State, Harvard, and Belmont are all seeds down here that can score a ton of points and stroke it from long range. The defensive minded teams of Ohio State and Notre Dame could be in some trouble as a result. Keep a close eye on Arizona as well if it can survive that first game against Belmont, as the Wildcats really underachieved all season long. They have the talent to really go far in this tournament.

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2013 East Bracket Predictions
The road to the Final Four in the East Region goes through Washington DC, and for that reason, we have to think that Indiana is going to be at a huge advantage. Miami, the No. 2 seed in this bracket, is going to have some real issues in terms of getting some support from the crowd, knowing that it is a long ways away from both Austin, where it is going to be playing its first two games of the dance, and then at the Verizon Center. That’s why things could be opened up quite a bit in the middle of this bracket. There aren’t a lot of flashy teams in this bunch, but Marquette, Butler, Syracuse, and UNLV are teams that just continue to find ways to win on a regular basis.

However, if you look at the road to the Final Four, there really might not be a path from top to bottom that is easier than that of the Hoosiers. Indiana draws a play in game winner that won’t challenge it, and then it gets either an underachieving NC State team or Temple. Playing against Syracuse could be tough in the Sweet 16, but if that’s the toughest potential game in the bracket for what used to be the No. 1 rated team in America, the Hoosiers have it good.

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2013 South Bracket Predictions
The South is bracket that has a lot of teams that can score a heck of a lot of points in it. The highest scoring team in the bunch is actually Northwestern State, the No. 14 seed, who comes into this tourney as the top team in the nation from a scoring perspective. Other teams like North Carolina, VCU, and UCLA love to run and gun in the South Region as well.

However, the top two teams in this draw are both defensive minded teams, though. As long as the pace of the big games stays slow, Kansas and Georgetown are the clubs that should ultimately make it to the Elite Eight when push comes to shove. The Jayhawks don’t really have to go all that far away from home when they head to Dallas for the Sweet 16, assuming that they get there. However, when they do, they could be greeted by either a solid Michigan team, or a VCU outfit that could ultimately be the most dangerous team in the dance. The Rams are going to press for the full 40 minutes, and they have a really tough defense to try to get ready for in short order.

Of all of the brackets, the South is clearly the most competitive of them all.

NCAA Tournament Free Picks: Top 10 March Madness Sleeper Teams

March 17th, 2013 by Adam Markowitz (Bankroll Sports Columnist) | Posted in NCAA Basketball   Comments Off on NCAA Tournament Free Picks: Top 10 March Madness Sleeper Teams
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VCUNCAA Tournament sleeper teams are all over the place this year, and there are a number of teams that are going to be in the field that are going to be teams that can bust your bracket. Check out the Top 10 teams that can do some damage, and be sure to check back after the brackets are released to see who is on Upset Alert for the NCAA Tournament.

#10: Belmont Bruins – Always a terror, Belmont is one of these teams that could always blow up your bracket. The Bruins play fast basketball, and they average 77.2 points per game. G Ian Clark has had himself a great career, and this isn’t nearly his first rodeo in the NCAA Tournament. He’s averaging 18.1 points per game this year, and he has a great supporting cast around him. Give Belmont the right draw, and the OVC reps might ultimately be dancing into the second week of the tourney.

#9: Davidson Wildcats – When you’re hot, you’re hot. The Wildcats have won 17 games in a row, and they feature one of the most efficient offenses in the entire tournament. Davidson is also the only team in the land that hits at least 80% of its free throws, something that really is important at this level when the pressure is on. The Wildcats have a great pedigree, and they are going to have a real chance of making a deep run here in the dance, a la when they had G Stephen Curry knocking down shots from all over the place in the Elite 8.

#8: Valparaiso Crusaders – Wake up the echos of Bryce Drew! Remember when the Crusaders pulled off the great upset in the NCAA Tournament against Ole Miss back in the day? This Valpo team could be just as dangerous. The Crusaders ranked sixth in the land in shooting percentage this year at 48.9%, and that came against a solid schedule that included a very tough Horizon League. This is another one of these teams that can rotate players in and out at will, and it plays some hardnosed defense as well. Ryan Broekhoff is a 6’7″ big man that can cause all sorts of matchup problems, especially knowing that he averages knocking down almost three triples per game.

#7: Harvard Crimson – Ever since Cornell went on its great run a few years ago, we have always had our eyes on these Ivy League teams as clubs that could make some noise. Harvard shoots over 40 percent from beyond the arc, and in a tournament where the three-ball is the great equalizer, it’s no wonder why the Crimson are expected to make some noise. G Wesley Saunders knocked down a whopping 52.6%(!!!) of his three-point attempts this year, and when he and his mates get going, look out! Harvard is going to put someone on upset alert for sure.

#6: LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds – LIU Brooklyn didn’t have as great of a season this year as it did a campaign ago, but it still won the NEC Tournament and will dance for the third straight season. The Blackbirds still fly up and down the court like they always have, and with the right matchup, they could prove to be problematic. F Jamal Olasewere is a much more experienced player than he was a few years ago when Long Island cracked into the dance the first time and tried its best to run with North Carolina. Now, this bunch of chiseled vets could ultimately prove to give a high seed some real problems.

#5: Northwestern State Demons – The Demons feature the top scoring offense in America at 81.0 points per game, and they are able to force the tempo against literally anyone that they play. This is a deep, deep team that will rotate 10 players, all of which average at least 15 minutes per game on the court. Are there any real stars? Not necessarily. However, just like VCU (more on the Rams in a second), Northwestern State is going to push you for the full 40 minutes and go full bore in the process. Though this isn’t a team that could make a huge run, there is no doubt that no one is going to want to see this club on its line on Selection Sunday.

#4: South Dakota State Jackrabbits – G Nate Wolters was a man that we highlighted last year for the Jackrabbits, and he is the man that we are going to keep a close eye on once again. The guard averaged 22.7 points per game this year, and he had a great Summit League Tournament. The Jacks now have some experience under their belts having been to the dance last year, and they are going to be ready to take it to an unsuspecting high seed this coming week as well. South Dakota State shoots the daylights out of the basketball, and it could be primed for an upset.

#3: Iona Gaels – The Metro Atlantic champs are back in the NCAA Tournament once again, but this year, they have the MAAC’s automatic bid that they are bringing with them instead of having to play in the First Four in Dayton against BYU. This was obviously a good enough team to get into the field as an at large last year, and most of the pieces are back from that puzzle. Why do we think Iona is a dangerous squad? Not only did the Gaels average 80.7 points per game this year, but they were beaten 11 times by five points or fewer this season. The only team to really whip Iona was a La Salle team that is going to likely be in the field of 68 as an at large.

#2: Colorado State Rams – Last year, we warned to keep a close eye on Colorado State, only to see it bow out in the first round in a bad matchup against Murray State. The Rams are back with a very similar looking team, and they once again can really dominate with their bigs. This is a team that is averaging outrebounding teams by almost 15 boards per night. Colorado State doesn’t have the guards to make a huge run in the dance, but if the bracket falls right for it and a bunch of teams that don’t have remarkable guard play turn up on the line with it, look out! The Mountain West really can play this year.

#1: VCU Rams – HAVOC is back! The Rams are going to be an underrated team in the dance this year, and if they can get the right draw against a team that can’t handle the pressure of playing against the full court press for the full 40 minutes, they’ll have a shot at the Final Four once again. Head Coach Shaka Smart knows that he has a solid team this season once again, and VCU is averaging nearly a dozen steals per game. The difference between this year’s team and the one that made it to the Final Four a few years ago? These Rams can shoot the three. Those did in the dance, but didn’t in the regular season. Watch out for sure. HAVOC is coming to get you!