Lines that stood our early in the week (Make sure to check Twitter @spreadinvestor for official bets).

 

Oregon -1.5 v s Wisconsin: Oregon is on an 8-0 SU and ATS run and they’ve made an amazing comeback to get themselves into the tournament. Wisconsin is very reliant on Happ for scoring and Oregon has the length to defend Happ. Plus this game is in San Jose, which gives Oregon a major travel advantage.

 

Cincinnati -3.5 vs Iowa in Columbus. Cincinnati is off a huge win vs Houston and Cumberland can take over a game. Iowa’s defense is terrible and they haven’t played well down the stretch.

 

St. Mary’s +5.5 vs Villanova, 130. St. Mary’s just beat Gonzaga and held them to 47 points. Gonzaga beat Duke. Villanova didn’t cover their last 2 games in the Big East tournament against Seton Hall and Xavier, and they’re on a 3-6 ATS run. St. Mary’s also lost to LSU by just 4. This team is dangerous and they really defend and slow you down.

 

New Mexico St is +7 vs Auburn. A lot of people are going to jump on Auburn because of their run in the SEC tournament but this was their first SEC championship since 1985 and it was a very emotional win. If they don’t come out with the same energy New Mexico St can really threaten them. They’re on a 19 game win streak, lost to Kansas earlier this year by 3, they have size, depth and really defend well. They’re 8th in the country in offensive efficiency and 1st in offensive rebounding. Auburn has to travel 1800 miles to Salt Lake City for this game that starts at 1:20 Thursday.

 

Arizona St -1.5 should beat St. John’s in the first four. Arizona St. has been a much more consistent team than St. John’s and the Johnnies are coming off getting blown out vs Marquette in the Big East tournament.

 

Utah St -2.5 vs Washington. Washington just lost to Oregon and Utah St plays really good defense and has a lot of size. They beat Nevada two weeks ago and beat San Diego St twice this year, who also beat Nevada. They beat St. Mary’s this year by 17 and lost to Houston by 10. They’re a great passing team and their PG Sam Merrill is a playmaker and averages 21.2 ppg.

 

Belmont can make a run. They’re the number 1 team in the country in assists and have scored 83 points or more in 6 of their last 7. They’re -3 vs Temple, would play Maryland if they win who is struggling, and would get the winner of Yale and LSU who is without their head coach. Belmont beat Murray St 92-74 on 1/19 and lost at Purdue by 11.

 

Old Dominion +13 v s Purdue – they play really good defense and are on a 9-1 Under run. They held their last 3 opponents to 57 ppg and they beat VCU earlier this year 62-52. Head Coach Jeff Jones is battling prostate cancer and you could never underestimate the power of a team riding the emotional wave of their coach.

 

Yale +8 vs LSU – Yale is a really good passing team and shoots the ball well. Naz Reid can take over later in this game but he usually doesn’t take over games until the second half. LSU will be without their head coach.

 

 

 

Notes:

UC Irvine is on a 9-1-1 ATS run their last 11.

Liberty shoots the three really well but don’t have any wins against top 50 competition this season.

Nevada is 1-7 ATS their last 8 and Florida is 7-3 ATS their last 10. Nevada has been a bad first half team and good second half team lately and betting this game live might be the better move.

Wofford is on an 11-1 ATS run. Fletcher McGee is an unbelievable scorer and they have a big man in Cam Jackson who can really play. They have a lot of good guards. They lay -2.5 vs Seton Hall who has played really well lately also and have one of the best players in the country in Myles Powell. This is likely a game I’m passing that I’ll just enjoy the entertainment.

Murray State is on a 7-3 ATS run

Northeastern is on a 6-0-1 ATS run but they don’t have any wins vs top 50 competition this season.

 

 

Trends by seed:

#8 vs #9: the dog in this game is 24-12-4 ATS the last 10 years

#11 seeds are on a 25-15 ATS run in the first round over the last 10 years. Loyola Chicago and Syracuse were both 11 seeds last year.

#14 seeds: 10-5 ATS the last 5 years when +12 or more

#12 seeds are on a 24-14-2 ATS run the last 10 years