NCAA Basketball Betting:
Southwest Regional Virginia Commonwealth vs.
Kansas March 27th, 2:10 EST- by
Lenny Del Genio
– As the only one seed left remaining in
the draw, Kansas will continue what has been a relatively easy
path to the Final Four as they play 11 seed Virginia
Commonwealth Sunday afternoon in San Antonio. The oddsmakers
have opened the Jayhawks as big 11-point favorites for this
Elite Eight matchup.
Kansas has yet to play a team seeded higher than ninth in the
2011 NCAA Tournament and this will be the third double digit
seed they've faced in four games. They overcame a sluggish start
to beat Boston U in their first game, winning 72-53, but not
covering as big 23.5-point favorites. They followed that up with
a 73-59 win and cover against nine seed Illinois as eight-point
favorites. Then on Friday, the Jayhawks put together their best
performance of the tournament in eliminating 12 seed Richmond
77-57 as 10-point favorites on the betting line. That's a pretty
impressive win, no matter what the seed says, when you consider
the Spiders came in on a 9-0 SU/ATS winning streak.
The final scores of Kansas' tournament games have been
remarkably consistent as has the team's shooting. They led the
nation in field goal percentage during the regular season and
after making better than 50% of their shots in the first two
games, they shot 47% against Richmond.
Eventually, the betting odds have to catch up with the Jayhawks,
however. At least according to the NCAA betting trends as Kansas
is just 13-24 ATS since the start of last season when riding a
win streak of at least six games.
Meanwhile, Virginia Commonwealth has been one of the great
stories of this NCAA Tournament. Most felt the Rams shouldn't
have even been included in the field of 68, but they have left
their detractors with some serious egg on their collective faces
with four straight wins and covers. Overall, VCU has covered its
last eight NCAA Tournament games! This is the second time in six
years that a team from the Colonial Athletic Association has
made the final eight as we're sure you all remember George
Mason's miracle Final Four run back in the 2006 NCAA Tournament.
Interestingly enough, George Mason was an 11 seed in that
tournament & beat a top seed (UConn) in the Elite Eight.
VCU has been an underdog in all four tournament games thus far.
The journey started in the 'opening' (play-in) round with a
59-46 win over a USC team that was a 4.5 point favorite on the
betting line. Then the Rams waxed slumping Georgetown, 74-56 as
5.5-point dogs. Then came an even better performance against
third seeded Purdue, winning 94-76 as 9.5-point favorites. In
the Sweet 16, they very nearly blew a lead against Florida
State, but won in overtime 72-71 as 4.5-point dogs. The Rams
have really been making the bookies pay in this NCAA Tournament
by beating the spread by a collective 74 points!
Please note that we've successfully played on the Rams in three
of those wins (didn't play Purdue game). Will we continue to do
so in the Elite Eight or is it time to lay the points with the
Jayhawks?
Need help deciding whether to play chalks or
underdogs in any of today's action visit the
Guaranteed Picks Page for winning selections
100%
GUARANTEED TO WIN OR YOU DON'T PAY!
We offer a unique guarantee to purchasers of picks:
If you don't win,
you don't pay! You will only be billed for picks that win;
multi-pick packages must show a profit or there is no charge. Be
sure to check-in with your favorite handicapper for
Guaranteed Pick in this weeks Basketball action.
|