We now have five entrants into the NCAA Tournament field – Northern Iowa, Cornell, Winthrop, East Tennessee State and Murray St. We’ll add four more tonight with conference-title games for the Colonial, WCC, MAAC and So-Con Tournaments. Let’s get you ready for bets on tonight’s college basketball card.

**William & Mary vs. Old Dominion**

--Old Dominion (25-8 straight up, 13-16 against the spread) advanced to the finals of the Colonial Tournament by beating Virginia Commonwealth 73-69 in overtime yesterday as a two-point favorite. Gerald Lee exploded to score 26 points for the Monarchs.

--William & Mary (22-9 SU, 16-10-1 ATS) has won three in a row and eight of its last nine, including yesterday’s 47-45 win over Northeastern as a five-point underdog. The Tribe led 31-17 at intermission, only to allow the Huskies to rally back in this nail-biter at the Richmond Coliseum. The 92 combined points fell ‘under’ the 114 ½-point total.

--William & Mary owns an incredible 12-3 spread record in 15 games as an underdog this year.

--The ‘under’ is 12-2 in the Tribe’s last 14 games, 15-9 overall. On the flip side, the ‘over’ has hit in seven straight ODU games.

--ODU won both regular-season meetings against the Tribe, capturing a 61-42 win as a 12-point home favorite on Feb. 3. Frank Hassell paced the winners with 15 points and nine rebounds. When these schools squared off at William & Mary, the Monarch won a 58-55 decision although the Tribe took the money as a 5 ½-point home underdog. Gerald Lee had 15 points, six boards and three blocked shots in the Jan. 23 game at Kaplan Arena.

--Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Eastern on ESPN.

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**Gonzaga vs. St. Mary’s**

--Gonzaga (26-5 SU, 15-10-2 ATS) advanced to the WCC Tourney finals by virtue of last night’s 77-62 win over Loyola-Marymount as a 12 ½-point favorite. The 139 combined points fell ‘under’ the 150-point total. Steven Gray sparked the ‘Zags to victory with 18 points, seven assists and six rebounds.

--Saint Mary’s (25-5 SU, 18-10 ATS) took out Portland in convincing fashion in last night’s WCC Tourney semifinals. The Gaels stroked the Pilots 69-55 as four-point favorites thanks to 16 points and 13 rebounds from center Omar Samhan. Mickey McConnell had 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting.

--Gonzaga has won six in a row against St. Mary’s, including an 80-61 win as a 5 ½-point home favorite on Feb. 11. Elias Harris had a team-high 19 points for the Bulldogs, while Matt Bouldin added 18 points. Mark Few’s team played outstanding defense, keeping McConnell scoreless in 33 minutes of play. Samhan had 21 points and 11 rebounds in the losing effort.

--From Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, ESPN will provide television coverage at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. Terry Gannon, the sixth man for North Carolina State’s 1983 national championship team, will work the play-by-play call, while the underrated Stephen Bardo, who played on Illinois’s 1989 Final Four squad that lost to eventual-champion Michigan, will be the color analyst.

**B.E.’s Bonus Nuggets**

--The SEC Tournament in Nashville will start on Thursday with four games: South Carolina-Alabama, LSU-Tennessee, Florida-Auburn and Georgia Arkansas. I made my own numbers that look like this: Gamecocks -2, Vols -14, Dawgs -2.5 and Gators -6.

--Siena will take on Fairfield in tonight’s MAAC Tournament finals in Albany, NY. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Eastern on ESPN2.

--After losing 72-57 Sunday to Wisconsin as a three-point home underdog, Illinois is looking like an NIT team. The Illini will face the Badgers again in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. Bettors should check the status of Wisconsin guard Trevon Hughes, who sprained his ankle in the victory.

--Although Austin Rivers is definitely looking at Duke also, he recently told the Gainesville Sun that he’s still committed to Florida.

Brian Edwards can be reached at briane@vegasinsider.com.

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