2015 Final Four Coaches: Analysis and Handicapping
by Trevor Whenham - 3/30/2015

What stands out most years when you look at the Final Four is how strong and accomplished the coaches are. You can’t fluke your way into the last weekend of the NCAA Tournament. You have to have had a season good enough to get into the dance — and likely earn a good seed. Then you need to win four games as the level of competition and the pressure amplifies each game. This year is no exception — every coach here is more than impressive, and they know a thing or two about coaching.

Elite Eight Bracket Picks for the NCAA Tournament 2015
by Trevor Whenham - 3/28/2015

The Sweet 16 has only been over for a few hours, and I already can’t wait until the Elite Eight starts. I always love the Elite Eight, but never like this. This is a ridiculous display of heavyweights. Huge-name programs playing great ball and squaring off against other top programs.

NCAA Basketball 3-Point Play: Three Final Sweet 16 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 3/25/2015

It's been a great college basketball season, and I close my writing part of it with this preview of the final three Sweet 16 games in the NCAA Tournament on Friday night. I now have a new Bovada prop that's my favorite for the rest of the Big Dance: Will a team with an animal mascot win it all? “Yes” is -400 and “no” +250. I would certainly think yes because you have two Wildcats (Kentucky, Arizona), a Badger (Wisconsin) and a Bulldog (Gonzaga). Those are four of the top five favorites along with Blue Devils (Duke), which I guess aren't animals.

NCAA Tournament Updated Bracket Picks: Final Four Predictions and Futures
by Dave Schwab - 3/25/2015

The first three rounds of this year’s NCAA Tournament are in the books, and Bovada has reshuffled its future odds to win each of the four regions as well as this season’s National Championship heading into the start of the Sweet 16 Round this Thursday night.

March Madness Betting: Best and Worst Sweet 16 Wagers
by Trevor Whenham - 3/24/2015

Betting on the Sweet 16 is tough. Teams are playing well or they wouldn’t be there, but the pressure is amplified dramatically, and teams have had more time to prepare than they did for their last game. These contests don’t always turn out like we expect them to. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t bet on them, of course — far from it. It just means that you need to make sure that the bets make sense before you make them — like always, but even more so now.

NCAA Basketball 3-Point Play: Three More Interesting Sweet 16 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 3/24/2015

I still claim that UCLA doesn't belong in the NCAA Tournament, but the Bruins are the only double-digit seed left among the Sweet 16. I expect that mini-run to come to an end in Friday night's first game as it faces Gonzaga. The Bruins are the longest shots on the board to win the NCAA Tournament, listed at +10000 on Sportsbook.ag. The Zags are at +1500. The team with the second-lowest shot behind Kentucky is one that I think has been most impressive and should win Thursday: Arizona.

Sweet 16 Odds: Underdog Betting Value for March Madness
by Trevor Whenham - 3/24/2015

I’m a sucker for an underdog in most circumstances when it comes to betting. In the opening round of the NCAA tournament this year that certainly wasn’t a bad obsession to have. Underdogs went 10-6 ATS on Thursday and 9-7 ATS on Friday. That’s 19-13 on the two days — very nicely profitable. It only makes sense, then, that we should be on the lookout for Sweet 16 underdog value. Here are three underdogs that stand out as interesting (Odds are from Sportsbook.ag):

NCAA Basketball 3-Point Play: Three Interesting NIT/NCAA Tournament Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 3/23/2015

It's my final week of doing these daily college basketball stories for this season. I will hit on every NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 game between now and Wednesday (two today, three Tuesday and three Wednesday) while also including one NIT game from Tuesday night. The ACC is the big winner by far in the Big Dance with five teams remaining, with at least one guaranteed a spot in the Elite Eight because Louisville and NC State play one another. The ACC could earn as much as a record $40 million in this tournament for its members depending on how it plays out.

Sweet 16 Bracket Picks for the NCAA Tournament 2015
by Trevor Whenham - 3/23/2015

For the most part my bracket is in good shape after the opening weekend of the tournament, Better than it often is, anyway. The reason is pretty simple — I tend to be pretty conservative when I pick brackets despite my love of upsets, and this was a tournament that rewarded conservatism this year. Upsets were scarce, and a lot of teams that did get upset were scary anyway — did anyone really believe Kansas was for real this year? Sure, I trusted Villanova a little more than I should have, but the Final Four is intact, and that’s all that matters right now.

March Madness Sweet 16 Bracket Predictions: Ranking the Teams
by Trevor Whenham - 3/23/2015

I don’t know about you, but these three days in March starting today are annually among my least favorite of the year. After four amazing days of college basketball action, we are forced to wait until Thursday to get another fix. It’s just not fair. To fill that time there is handicapping to be done, but that doesn’t fill all the time — or make it pass quickly enough. That means that there is time for other ‘productive’ activities to keep the basketball juices flowing and make the games get here faster.

March Madness Sweet 16 Seed Statistics
by Trevor Whenham - 3/23/2015

One weekend down in the NCAA tournament, two to go. After four glorious days of action — even if it wasn’t quite as exciting this year as some years have been — we now have to wait through three rest days before we get to another four days of games. It will be worth the wait. To pass the time until the Sweet 16 fires up, here’s a look at some March Madness Sweet 16 seed statistics. Maybe the secrets to handicapping the upcoming games lie within these facts and stats.

2015 Final Four Picks and March Madness Predictions
by Dave Schwab - 3/23/2015

The original 68-team field for this year’s men’s NCAA tournament has been pared down to just 16 teams following the first three rounds. After all the smoke cleared from this past Sunday’s action, five of the top eight seeds in this tournament have advanced to this Thursday and Friday’s Sweet 16 round, including three of the four No. 1 seeds in each region.

Sweet 16 Betting: Differences Between First and Second Weekends
by Trevor Whenham - 3/23/2015

When a lot of casual bettors think about the NCAA tournament, they think of it as one big event — three glorious weekends of basketball every March. Smarter bettors, know, though, that that isn’t entirely accurate. In reality, each weekend of the tournament is very different than the one that came before it from a betting perspective. Really, every round is different in a number of ways. As we await the start of the Sweet 16 after the end of the round of 32, it’s a good time to reflect on five of the biggest differences between the first and second weekends and what they means for bettors:

NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Opening Lines Saturday
by Alan Matthews - 3/20/2015

Here's hoping your bracket isn't totally busted following Thursday's epic first round of the Big Dance. The big losers, easily, were the state of Texas and Big 12. Supposedly the Big 12 was the best conference in the nation. I felt it was overrated, and that's looking accurate for now as No. 3 Baylor, No. 3 Iowa State and No. 11 Texas all lost. The Lone State State's five teams -- also SMU, Texas Southern and Stephen F. Austin -- each lost. Time to look forward to spring football in that state. Here's a look at three Round of 32 games Saturday that caught my eye.

Tracking the Wildcats: March Madness Picks and Handicapping for Villanova
by Dave Schwab - 3/20/2015

After covering Big East basketball for Doc’s Sports all season long, I have decided to turn my handicapping efforts towards the Villanova Wildcats drive towards a National Championship. I had to settle for a “push” on the total in their first game this past Thursday, but I have a really good feeling about cashing in on my pick for this Saturday’s matchup against North Carolina State.

March Madness Prop Bet Predictions and Analysis
by George Monroy - 3/19/2015

March Madness prop bets are a great way to mix up your betting action by wagering on something that could last the entire tournament and provide a little bit of entertainment to go along with the daily grind of wagering on individual games. Prop bets can be a shot in the dark at times yet could still an essential part of making a profit during the NCAA tournament .Let’s take a closer look at a few of the best and most interesting NCAA prop bets from Bovada and Sportsbook.ag with predictions and analysis.

NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Opening Lines Friday
by Alan Matthews - 3/19/2015

It's Day 2 of the NCAA Tournament's first round on Friday as by around midnight or so we will have our Round of 32 set. I put a few potential Top-4 seeds on upset alert: No. 4 Louisville vs. No. 13 UC Irvine, No. 4 Maryland vs. No. 13 Valparaiso and No. 3 Oklahoma against No. 14 Albany. I happen to think the Cardinals and Sooners, in particular, are overrated. While those are nice matchups, here are three others that caught my eye on another spectacular day of hoops.

NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Opening Lines Thursday
by Alan Matthews - 3/18/2015

It's one of the best sports days of the year on Thursday as the NCAA Tournament begins in full with games from noon to past midnight. As one who works from home, I certainly enjoy having live sports action going on during the day. Alas, it also makes me want to head to the sports pub (or Las Vegas). I'll likely be previewing many Kentucky games during the Big Dance, but I'll pass on Thursday's matchup against No. 16 Hampton because that clearly will be a slaughter. At Bovada, UK is +110 to win the tournament and -140 not to.

NCAA Tournament Wagering and Handicapping: Best Value Bets 2015
by Trevor Whenham - 3/18/2015

Normally when we are looking at the NCAA tournament in the days before it starts we are focused on our brackets. The tournament — especially on the first weekend — is at least as attractive as a place for bettors to find some nice value as it is for playing pools, though. You have to be careful, but there can be some very nice value to be found on the opening two days of the tournament. To help with your NCAA tournament handicapping, here are the five best value bets of the first two days of the tournament in my eyes:

March Madness Bracket Help: 5 vs. 12 Seed Upsets
by Trevor Whenham - 3/18/2015

You don’t even have to pay much attention to the NCAA tournament to know that when you are filling out your bracket and looking for an upset the place to look is the good old 5-12 matchup. In the 30-year history of the tournament since it expanded to 64 teams in 1985, the lower seeds in this matchup have a very solid 44-76 record, which means that we have seen upsets at a very strong 36.7 percent clip.