Getting Ready for March Madness

Don't know about you but the staff here is certainly Giddy for March Madness to start. The conference championships are as exciting as ever and before you know it we will be at selection sunday!

So in the meantime to get your fix here is our Free Printable 2010 March Madness Brackets. Enjoy.

Superbowl hangover March madness Brackets Time

Superbowl Hangover


It's a sad day. As the last bits of lingering confetti are swept off Bourbon street, reality sinks in.

Football season is officially over. So how can gridiron diehards keep their bankrolls in the black for the next six months? Before you strap on steel construction boots and fluff up your catering resumes, remember to sharpen your handicapping skills in preparation for the the holy grail of sports -- March Madness.

The Superbowl might be king for an evening but the NCAA tournament is the undisputed grandaddy of all wagering events. Why worry about the tourney now when we're still three weeks away from selection sunday? Some guy named John Wooden once told us: "Failing to prepare is preparing to fail." Who better to heed such advice from than a man who won a record ten NCAA tournaments? Sports bettors are by nature impulsive beasts, but profitable ones must plan and prepare their strategy weeks in advance before launching their assault on the books.

March Madness Brackets and office pools are great for camaraderie but the real value is handicapping the opening round games. Neutral sites, overinflated spreads, and matchups between small conference darkhorses and power conference big dogs create a myriad of opportunities for the bettors to fatten their wallets. It's no secret that underdogs have covered opening round games at a 60% clip over the past 15 years. While system bettors have successfully subscribed to the blanket underdog method for years, be sure exercise caution and examine individual matchups first. The books are adjusting lines to counter the growing parity in college hoops so don't be the one to get caught off guard if this is the year that oddsmakers finally catch up.

It's never fair to bash system plays if they are profitable but the most successful sports handicappers are purists who objectively examine single outcomes to protect themselves from a potential system catastrophe. Now is the time to pay attention to the following:

1. Start paying attention to the obscure conference with automatic invites. Conferences such as the Horizon (Butler), Sun Belt (Western Kentucky), America East (UMBC), Missouri Valley (Drake), Southern (Davidson), etc. Do some research on which teams are running away with their leagues (such as Cornell in the Ivy League) and familiarize yourself with their rosters and coaching philosophies. Put more emphasis on teams that dominate both their regular season and postseason tourneys. When the first spreads are posted, be educated enough to know which smaller conference teams are ailing: information such as who is missing their leading rebounder or second leading scorer and how important they are to their team's success can be the difference between winning and losing.

2. Ignore streaks. Even if a team runs the table during the regular season the one and done format of the tourney guarantees nothing. Teams that end conference play on a hot streak rarely carry over similar success in the tournament because they don't have the familiarity of facing in-conference opponents they've already had the luxury of playing and scouting earlier in the season. There's simply less info and film available for smaller conference teams because they get far less media exposure and televised games whereas the smaller name programs have the advantage of pulling tape on every game of their better known opponents.

3. Do factor in certain historical trends. Certain programs (Michigan State, Duke) have cement reputations for postseason success. Their respective coaches prepare their teams with rigorous non-conference schedules and have the innate ability to turn up the heat in March. Teams with tourney experience and seasoned coaches are capable of overachieving in down regular season years. Conversely, other programs consistently struggle in the tourney despite an impressive regular season body of work (Arizona, Louisville, Pittsburgh). Be careful not to ride a high powered offensive team that traditionally flounders against a defensive oriented team that uses a shot clock eating four corners reminiscent offense (anyone remember 13th seeded Princeton's upset of 4th seeded UNLV in '96?).

Do your homework on the above and you'll be well prepared come Selection Sunday. Feel free to fill out multiple low risk brackets too, just remember not to go Rick Neuheisel on us.

NBA weekly Honors

Bosh, Durant earn NBA weekly honors

New York, NY (Sports Network) - Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh and Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant were named Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for the period ending January 31.

Bosh paced the Raptors to a 3-0 week while leading the league in rebounds (16.0 rpg) and ranking fifth in scoring (25.7 ppg). The Georgia Tech product recorded a double-double in each contest and became the first player in franchise history to have at least 20 points and 15 rebounds in three straight games. Bosh posted 26 points, 15 boards, and a season-best seven assists versus the Pacers on January 31.

Durant guided the Thunder to a 2-1 week and led the league in scoring (34.3 ppg). The 6-foot-9 Texas product had a season-high 45 points to go with 11 rebounds against the Warriors on January 31. In that game, Durant made a season-best 16 field goals on 21 attempts (76.2 percent).

Other nominees for the award were Atlanta's Joe Johnson, Charlotte's Gerald Wallace, Cleveland's LeBron James, Denver's Chauncey Billups, Milwaukee's Andrew Bogut, Orlando's Dwight Howard and Utah's Andrei Kirilenko.

21 Year old Indiana Player Dies

Southern Indiana's Lewis dies after fall

Evansville, IN (Sports Network) - University of Southern Indiana senior center Jeron Lewis died Thursday night after falling hard to the floor in his team's game at Kentucky Wesleyan College.

A release from the school said Lewis fell with a little over four minutes to play and was rushed to Owensboro Medical Health Center. However, no other details from the school were available at the time of the release.

"The University community is heartbroken with the passing of this outstanding young man," said USI president Linda L.M. Bennett. "Jeron was an excellent example of a student athlete who strove to be the best that he could be. He will be truly missed, not only by his teammates, but by the University community. Our prayers are with Jeron's family in their time of need."

Lewis, who was 21 years old, was in his second season with USI.

Texas inches closer to Kansas in men's hoops poll

Texas' victory over North Carolina on Saturday swayed a few voters in the media and enabled the Longhorns to move closer to top-ranked Kansas in the latest Associated Press men's college basketball poll.

Kansas (10-0), which posted a 75-64 win over Michigan on Saturday, remained a solid No. 1 with 55 first-place votes and 1,611 total points from a nationwide media panel.

However, Texas (10-0) took six top votes away from the Jayhawks for a total of seven and 1,543 points after its 103-90 win over North Carolina in the first basketball game at the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.

Kentucky (11-0) again garnered a No. 1 vote and remained third, followed by Purdue and Syracuse. The Orange again received two first-place votes.

West Virginia, Duke, Villanova, Michigan State and North Carolina round out this week's top 10. Michigan State moved up three spots after an 80-58 win over IPFW and will visit Austin to meet the Longhorns on Tuesday. The Tar Heels, despite their third loss of the season on Saturday, remained 10th.

The second 10 consists of Connecticut, Kansas State, New Mexico, Georgetown, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Ohio State, Florida, Texas A&M and Butler. Kansas State moved up five places, while unbeaten New Mexico vaulted six spots. Both were unranked before last week.

Tennessee tumbled seven spots after a loss at Southern California, while Florida dropped five places after losing to Richmond.

The last five teams ranked this week are Temple, Washington, Texas Tech, Clemson and Gonzaga. Temple is ranked for the first time since November 2001, while Clemson is back in the poll after an earlier stint this season.

Texas Tech dropped seven spots after a loss at Wichita State, while Gonzaga fell 10 spots after a 76-41 loss to Duke at Madison Square Garden.

Georgia Tech and Cincinnati both dropped out. The Yellow Jackets lost to Florida State in overtime on Sunday, while the Bearcats lost to UAB last Wednesday.

In addition to the Michigan State/Texas matchup, Tuesday's slate also features Texas A&M at Washington. On Wednesday, Ole Miss will visit West Virginia.

In Rememberance of the great Jim Valvano

We will be succesful if we focus on 3 things and 3 things only. Have a dream, a goal, and work for it. Having courage are just some of the amazing points that the great Jimmy V spoke about at the 1993 espys in one of the most remarkable and memorable speeches of all time. I urge all of you to enjoy the precious moments you have, be enthusiastic and keep your dreams alive">
"500,000 people will die this year from cancer" and thanks to this man this serious issue was brought back out to the table to help raise money for cancer research.

Don't Give up Don't Ever Give up

Please go to http://www.Jimmyv.org or 1-800-4JimmyV if you wish to help.

November Madness

The smell of processed turkey is in the air and Tim Floyd has his eye on this kid. This can only mean one thing: college hoops season is upon us.

The recreational bettor loves placing early season wagers on the holy grail of sports betting: the NCAA tournament. Last year's favorites, UNC, offered little value to futures players opening at 3-1 to win it all. Despite a minor mid-season conference hiccup, the odds on the Tar Heels never increased beyond 3.5-1 all season.

Younger squads opening with good odds (Wake Forest 50-1, Connecticut 20-1, Pittsburgh 25-1) all took turns as the regular season #1 but couldn't hold the throne for longer than two weeks. When the smoke settled in late March, the most intriguing Final Four team was undoubtedly Villanova (opened at 75-1). Carolina blue made quick work of the Wildcats and Tom Izzo's Spartans (20-1 preseason), cruising to lopsided double digit victories in both games.

So what can we learn from last season handicapping this season's futures?

Recent history suggests the #1 seed is king. Since 2000, a #1 seed has cut down the nets 7 out of the last 10 years. The exceptions were one #2 seed (UConn in '04) and two #3 seeds (Melo's Syracuse in '03 and Florida in '06). The last three national champions have been #1 seeds (UNC, '08 Kansas, '07 Florida).

This tells us the cinderellas and dark horses make occasional deep tourney runs but can't be trusted to win it all. There might be value in capping individual matchups during the tourney, but that's about it.

This leaves us with one major problem: how can we predict who's going to be the #1 seeds at the end of the season? This isn't the perfect formula, but I think their are three key ingredients: non conference SOS (strength of schedule), conference prestige, and star power.

Let's put some early favorites up to the formula test.

Kansas (Preseason poll ranking #1, SOS #48, Conference Ranking #3)
Odds to win 3-1 (Live College basketball odds)
At 3-1, it's impossible to make an argument for any team in today's climate of college hoops. This team has all the goods to make to Indianapolis: a strong anchor in the post (Cole Aldrich) and a senior playmaker to they can feed the ball to in crunch time (Sherron Collins). They have the experience, a tough SOS, and a seasoned tournament head coach. Still, the likelihood of this squad to to hoist the John Wooden trophy compared to last year's 3-1 UNC squad are significantly smaller. Stay away unless you can find better odds.
Pick value (1-10) - 4

Michigan State (Preseason poll ranking #2, SOS #29, Conference Ranking #2)
Odds to win 10-1
10-1 is about right. The team is led by an explosive backcourt (Kalin Lucas and Durrell Summers) that can spark a ten-point run in the blink of an eye. It's tourney tested and it's head coach (Tom Izzo) is arguably the best postseason coach this decade. The main concern is the frontcourt is undersized and young. While sophomores Draymond Green and Delvin Roe stepped up big during State's runner-up tourney finish last season, they are still very raw offensively (3.3 and 5.6 ppg last season, respectively). This team lives and dies by it's guard play and guard oriented teams traditionally struggle to bring home the bread in the tournament. Still, it's hard not to believe Izzo won't find a way to make it work come march.
Pick value - 7

Kentucky (Preseason poll ranking #5, SOS #94, Conference Ranking #6
Odds to win 6-1
Hands down the most controversial pick out there. Three of Ronald Mcdonald's very own diaper dandies are expected to start (PG John Wall, SG Eric Bledsoe, and C Demarcus Cousins). The virtuoso recruiter (John Calipari) switched horses in midstream, dodging an impending NCAA investigation to come to UK. None of this can answer the real question nagging wildcat backers: is this team really a contender?

There's no question Calipari can develop freshmen talent (see Dajuan Wagner, Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans). He does such a good job with first-year players they keep leaving him for the NBA after one go-around. But final four runs require more than just young legs: you need balance, depth, and team chemistry. There's simply no way to tell if these team will develop these key ingredients. If Jodie Meeks had decided to stick around for his senior season, I could give this pick the thumbs up.
Pick value- 3

Duke (Preseason poll #12, SOS #119, Conference Ranking #1)
Odds 11-1
The Dukies have fallen on hard times, failing to advance to the elite eight for the fifth straight season. The ACC finally has some competition as the premier conference this season with strong, balanced arguments coming from both the Big Ten and Pac-10.
Still, counting out the Blue Devils is a mistake. There are engraved adages in sports betting: don't bet against Tiger, Peyton, Belichick/Brady. Coach K absolutely deserves to be in this conversation. SF Kyle Singler is the go-to-guy again this season with the usual lights out 3-point shooting cast led by senior PG Jon Scheyer. This is an experienced and hungry team you can expect to rack up wins early before being tested in conference play. I wouldn't be surprised if they wrestle away the ACC title from the Tar Heels this season and secure the ACC's annual guaranteed #1 seed.
Pick value - 5

Teams worth taking a look (35-1 Washington, 35-1 California , 20-1 Purdue, 20-1 Tennessee, 15-1 Louisville)

Thanks, but no thanks (65-1 Michigan, 18-1 West Virginia, 12-1 Villanova, 8-1 UNC)

The "I feel like gambling" picks (55-1 Maryland, 50-1 Wake Forest, 50-1 Butler, 65-1 Clemson)

For all the best NCAA Basketball Picks check out Cooper's Sports Picks.