Case of the Mondays: Virginia on the Wrong Side of History

by Ricky Dimon - 3/19/2018

Virginia was looking to make history in the form a first-ever National Championship in men's basketball. Instead, it made history by becoming the first No. 1 seed in an NCAA Tournament to lose to a No. 16 seed. Fellow ACC representative Miami (FL) and SEC runner-up Tennessee were also among the group of early upset victims. But March is not entirely reserved for the madness, as the NBA nears its home stretch of the regular season, baseball approaches, and golf heats up with Tigers Woods' comeback.

Odds provided by Bovada Sportsbook unless otherwise indicated.

Virginia . Most people probably thought that a 16-over-1 upset would either never happen in their lifetime or-if it did-end with some kind of fluke buzzer-beater. Think again. Maryland-Baltimore County positively pounded the NCAA Tournament's No. 1 overall seed last Friday, dominating Virginia throughout the second half en route to a historical 74-54 victory. The Retrievers poured in 53 points over the final 20 minutes-one fewer than UVA's averaged allowed for entire games this season. ACC rival Duke is a +325 favorite to win the National Championship.

Miami (FL) and Tennessee . With UMBC-which lost to Kansas State on Sunday-now out of the tournament, Loyola-Chicago is the top remaining Cinderella story. Upsets of Miami (FL) and Tennessee have the Ramblers headed to Atlanta, where a busted South Region features no seed better than No. 5 Kentucky (also No. 7 Nevada, No. 9 Kansas State, and No. 11 Loyola-Chicago). Miami led throughout the second half of its first-round game against the Ramblers but missed a late free-throw and lost 64-62 on a three-pointer with less than one second left. Tennessee went on a late run to take a one-point lead over Loyola-Chicago with 21 seconds on the clock, but Clayton Cluster clanked in a shot with five seconds remaining to eliminate the Volunteers 63-62. The Ramblers are +2.5 underdogs against Nevada in the Sweet 16 on Thursday ( MyBookie.ag).

Detroit Pistons . How is that Blake Griffin trade working out for the Pistons? Well, they mortgaged some of their future to apparently do the same thing that they have been doing seven of the last eight seasons: missing the playoffs. Detroit has lost three in a row, is 1-7 in its last eight, 2-10 in its last 12, and 3-13 in its last 16. As such, head coach Stan Van Gundy's squad is now 6.5 games out of a playoff spot at 30-39 overall (Miami is eighth place in the Eastern Conference at 37-33). The Pistons are -2.5 favorites at Sacramento on Monday .

Dmitry Kulikov . Winnipeg is poised to make its first playoff appearance since 2014-15, and from the looks of things it has a good chance of winning at least one playoff game for the first time since 1995-96. The Jets, however, may be without Kulikov for the rest of the season unless they make a deep run in the playoffs. Kulikov, a 27-year-old defenseman, is set to undergo back surgery and will be sidelined for approximately eight weeks. He has three goals and eight assists to go along with a plus-6 rating, 48 shots on goal, and 22 penalty minutes in 62 games during this 2017-18 campaign.
"Hopefully we're still playing hockey when he's ready to play," head coach Paul Maurice said. Winnipeg is +500 to win the Western Conference.

Jason Vargas . The Mets may be without one of the newcomers to their pitching staff for a while. Vargas, who signed a two-year, $16 million contract in February, suffered a broken bone in his right hand while attempting to catch a line drive this past Saturday. The left-hander will have minor surgery and could begin the regular season on the disabled list. He went 18-11 with a 4.16 ERA with Kansas City in 2017. That was Vargas' first full year since 2014, when he compiled an 11-10 record and a 3.71 ERA with the Royals. The 35-year-old has posted double-digit victories in a season five times in his career. Zack Wheeler would become New York's fifth starter in Vargas' absence, although the team does not need a No. 5 until April 4. The Mets are -160 to win more than 81 games this year.

Manchester United . Man U is not going to win the English Premier League title this season (that might as well already be handed to rival Manchester City), so every other competition is especially precious. Unfortunately for the Red Devils, their UEFA Champions League campaign is over. United bowed out of the tournament following 2-1 home loss to Sevilla earlier this month. The two clubs had previously tied 0-0 at Sevilla, so the White and Reds advanced to the quarterfinals 2-1 on aggregate. Manchester United will now turn its attention to the Premier League, in which it is in second place but a whopping 16 points behind Man City. This past weekend's schedule match between Man U and West Ham was postponed due to snow. The Red Devils are -185 to finish in the top two on the EPL table.

Henrik Stenson . Tiger Woods had a chance to win on Sunday, but it was a remote one, and a T5 showing is still an outstanding result as Tiger hopes to be peaking in his latest comeback three weeks from now at the Masters. Stenson had a much better chance to win heading into Sunday-and for much of the final round-at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The 41-year-old held a one-shot lead after 54 holes and extending the advantage to two midway through Sunday's action, but he did nothing on the back nine while Rory McIlroy went low. McIlroy carded an 8-under 64 to beat Bryson DeChambeau by three strokes, five clear of the fourth-place Stenson. Tiger reached 12-under at one point but finished at 10-under following a 3-under 69. McIlroy is a +800 favorite to win the Masters; Tiger is +1000 third choice.

Start:	November 22, 2024 @ 11:59 PM
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Case of the Mondays: Virginia on the Wrong Side of History

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