Sports Betting
NCAA Tournament Day 1 Best ESPN BET Bets: Duquesne-BYU, Morehead St-Illinois, McNeese St-Gonzaga
A great night for the Winning Picks on the eve of the NCAA Tournament, going 3-0. The over was able to cover in Grambling/Montana as the Tigers prevailed in overtime. VCU not only covered against Villanova, they were able to win outright on the road in the NIT. Colorado fought off Boise St to advance in a tight First Four game. We moved to 210-159-3 on the year.
As always, I will only be giving out three Winning Picks for Day 1 of the tournament. But, there are some other games I really like as well. First off, I don’t like many favorites today, but we will get those out of the way first. I like North Carolina to cover against Wagner as well as Oregon to cover against South Carolina, who is a slight favorite over the Gamecocks despite being a higher seed. Also, I like Drake to cover in the last game of the night against Washington St.
For the upsets and underdogs, I like a lot of them. I am predicting Long Beach St to at least cover against Arizona but they could upset the Wildcats outright. As with Samford as well versus Kansas; the Jayhawks are dead in the water. And in the final game of the night in Pittsburgh, NC State upsets Texas Tech to continue their Cinderella run. In Kentucky/Oakland, don’t be surprised if the Golden Grizzlies cover but I like the over more than the spread.
Now onto the Winning Picks!
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#11 Duquesne Dukes vs #6 BYU (-9.5) O/U 142.5 NCAA Tournament First Round 12:40 PM on truTV
Almost 50 years in the making, Duquesne finds themselves back in the NCAA Tournament and for the first time in the field of 68. When they made it in 1977, only 32 teams were invited. Keith Dambrot announced he will retire as coach of the Dukes when their run is done. And Duquesne isn’t going down without a fight today.
BYU lives and dies by the three. If the Dukes can shut down the three pointer, they have a legitimate chance to win today. I believe they will at least cover today and fight to the very end against BYU for Coach Dambrot.
Duquesne Covers +9.5, Duquesne Dukes 67 BYU Cougars 73
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#14 Morehead St Eagles vs #3 Illinois Fighting Illini (-11.5) O/U 145.5 NCAA Tournament First Round 3:10 PM on truTV
After Duquesne and BYU get done, Morehead St will take on Illinois for the right to play the winner of the first game. If you have been following along the Winning Picks, you know I targeted the Eagles as a potential team to pull an upset. Even against the Big Ten Tournament champs, that is still a possibility today.
Morehead St’s best player is named Riley Minix, who starred in NAIA before making the move to Division 1 for his last year. Averaging 20 points per game and looking like a 90’s teen movie villain, Minix has the stuff to lead this Eagles team to the upset. And I believe they will, the Winning Pick is the Eagles spread, but I believe they will win outright. I have had a weird feeling with this Illinois team all year and it gets proven today.
Morehead St Covers +11.5, Morehead St Eagles 71 Illinois Fighting Illini 69
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#12 McNeese St Cowboys vs #5 Gonzaga Bulldogs (-6.5) O/U 149.5 NCAA Tournament First Round 7:25 PM on TBS
Last year, the 12 seeds didn’t do the damage they had done in previous years. All the 5 seeds won their respective matchups, which was very surprising. What was also very surprising is the fact that Gonzaga was awarded a 5 seed after an up and down season that almost saw them miss their first tournament in over 20 years.
I hate that McNeese St was matched up with Gonzaga. The Cowboys are the other team I mentioned as an upset caliber team. And I still believe that with McNeese St having some of the best offensive metrics of the mid-majors and with a veteran led team full of former Power 5 players. This will be another upset, the Winning Pick is McNeese on the spread, but they will win outright as well.
McNeese St Covers +6.5, McNeese St Cowboys 75 Gonzaga Bulldogs 72
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