Bankrupt the Bookie Volume 4 : Woof, Woof, its Officially Underdog Season.
After a brief hiatus we are back in the saddle this weekend ladies and gentleman. Not a great showing before taking 2 weeks off and I hate giving out losers so I had to wait and get hot again. Good news is the end of the regular season of college basketball is upon us. March is a month for underdogs and there is nothing more dangerous than a bubble team going to a ranked opponents court. If you are a gambling degenerate like I am then you know there are some serious money to be made starting TODAY!
Let’s kick it off with the Big 5 schools.
First game tips off at noon. Villanova goes on the road to face a desperate Seton Hall team. The line for this game opened at -2.5 Villanova. The Pirates are fresh off a comeback win over top 25 Marquette and still thirsty. On the other hand Villanova can win the Big East regular season with a win or a Georgetown win over Marquette later in the day. I think Jay Wright will have the Cats ready to go but I would have a hard time taking the spread. I think that this is a game that ends with a buzzer beater or goes to overtime. Villanova have gotten better but Seton Hall loves playing as the underdog. My pick here will be the over at 139 points, both teams are excellent from threeland and if it goes to overtime we are still covered. Take the over around 139.
Next up we have a #25 UCF Knights coming north to play Temple at 4pm. This line opened up with Temple favored by just -1. I’m all over it. I have had this game circled for the past month. Don’t let Vegas fool you Temple, although favored, is the underdog. As we went over in my Big 5 March Madness blog, Temple can get an invite to the dance with a W. This game is also Fran Dunphy’s last game at Temple. With this much emotion and a line that low the Owls are the definition of a lock. Take the spread at -1 and enjoy the lock. This is also a nice game to throw in a random parlay to get the odds up. Once again LOCK!
La Salle and Fordham tip off at 4pm also in Philadelphia. The Explorers opened as -6.5 favorites and at first glance I was a bit suspicious. Turns out the Fordham Rams are a garbage truck in conference. La Salle won earlier in the season by 2 points on the road. I think the Explorers are the clearly better team and should cover by more than 7 points. Hit the spread at -6.5 and check your notifications because no way any channel shows this game.
Last Big 5 game of the day is Penn at home against Brown, tip off is at 6pm. Every week Penn plays a Friday night game and the spread drops Saturday morning. So since the schedule makers want to fuck with my degeneracy I refuse to put any dough on this game. I’d love to bet it but I won’t, it’s definitely not because I don’t want to wake up and do research before this blog gets published. I wouldnt deprive the fans of that.
Money picks
Be aware I’m gonna get a bit greedy with these and try to put together some money to amend for the hiatus. Three money picks this week. LETS GET PAID!
First pick of the day is Virginia -13 at home against Louisville with a 4pm tip off. Week in and week out Vegas continues to disrespect this Virginia team. Why? I can’t tell you but I bet it would have something to do with the Cavaliers first round loss in last year’s tournament. Last week they were a -7 point favorite in Syracuse and they won by 30. Louisville has been acting like Lville lately and there is zero chance they turn it around on the road against Virginia. Cavaliers need a win to stay with UNC for the ACC title I expect another 20 point win. Take the spread at -13.
After Virginia covers don’t touch the remote. Duke heads down tobacco road against arch rival UNC at 6pm. Looking at this game two lines got me going. First, Duke is a +3 point dog in a revenge game. Second, the over/under is set at 166. I like both Duke and the over. This is a game where it doesn’t matter if Zion plays or not. Miss me with the “Duke only won by one against Wake Forest” bullshit, fluke games happen. I think Duke covers and it might not be a bad bet to throw some shekels on the moneyline. I also like the over, more for the barnburner factor because who doesn’t love points. Hammer Duke +3, entertain the money line, and root for the over. A rare double down dog bet.
Last up is the battle for the state of Michigan. Michigan University hits the road against Michigan State opening at +3.5 dog. The Spartans rolled into Ann Arbor and handled business a couple weeks ago and the Wolverines still remember. This has revenge written ALL OVER IT. The Wolverines have been on a heater since the loss and they could easily win outright. I won’t take money here because I did with Duke but it would be tempting not to roll it over after the previous games money line hits. Take Michigan and the +3.5 points, if you feel frisky hit the money line.