There might not be a more enjoyable time for gamblers out there than the NCAA Tournament, which tips off on Thursday. Bettors will have 32 games on the slate to get some instant gratification on at the betting shops. Yet some folks will be focusing more on long-term profits as well. So for the fourth straight year, VegasInsider.com has polled its best and brightest college basketball handicappers for their fearless predictions on the upcoming event.
Over the past three seasons, our experts have provided their selections for who will be in the Final Four and the eventual champion as well. In 2007, one-third of our stable correctly picked the Gators to cut down the nets in Atlanta. Six of our ‘cappers backed Kansas to win it all in 2008.
Brian Gabrielle, Doc’s Sports and Jimmy Boyd were closest to picking all four of last year’s national semifinalists with three teams. Meanwhile, 12 of our handicappers successfully tabbed the Tar Heels to win the national championship.
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A quick glance at who our guys have going to Indianapolis will show that they don’t particularly believe in fairy tale endings. Out of the 22 handicappers we asked, it is the opinion of 14 of them that this is the Jayhawks tournament to lose. Kentucky was a distant second with our experts as just four of them pick John Calipari’s team would cut down the nets in Indianapolis.
Jason Johnson and Doc’s Sports are the only two experts boldly selecting all four top seeds to make it to the Final Four.
It isn’t hard to see why the majority of our ‘cappers took Kansas in this tourney. The Jayhawks were listed as the No. 1 overall seed for this year’s tournament. To give you an idea of how much our guys loved Bill Self and his team, consider that 20 of our 22 polled handicappers took them to come out of the Midwest Region.
“Kansas has played well all season long and with solid guard play, a big man in the paint, and a veteran coach that already has a national title under his belt, this team has everything you need to win. Plus, they have the added benefit of avenging their loss to Michigan State in the regional semis from a year ago," says VegasInsider.com expert handicapper Jason Johnson. It’s not hard to back Sherron Collins, Xavier Henry and the rest of the Jayhawks to win their second championship in three years a 2/1 return on your money.
Barry Holthaus concurs, “Overall, it is hard to pick against Kansas. The Jayhawks are the total package. Guard Sherron Collins can take over a game in the final minutes and can hit clutch free throws. This year's tournament reminds me of last year's where North Carolina was the team to beat, and they got the job done.”
What is interesting about Kentucky in this year’s tourney is the fact that they were not only second-most picked team to win the national championship; they were the second-most picked team to win the East Region. The Wildcats received 10 votes to win in Syracuse, while No. 2 seed West Virginia were tabbed by 11 of them.
Syracuse was the top choice of our guys to emerge with a ticket punched for Lucas Oil Stadium out of the West Region with eight votes. The South Region is split even between the top-seeded Blue Devils and Baylor with eight nods apiece. Villanova also got some love from coming out of the Big East with five handicappers choosing them to win the South.
The Bears were one of the more popular picks to be a “sleeper” in this year’s bracket with three handicappers. While it’s strange to show a three-seed in this spot, it goes to show how top heavy this tournament is for our experts.
“Baylor is the most undervalued team in the tournament despite gaining a #3 seed and find themselves in the weakest of the 4 regions, the West,” says VegasInsider.com expert handicapper James Manos. “The Bears have only one bad loss (at Colorado) and were extremely competitive in every single one of their defeats. Baylor has the pieces for a deep run into March as they have a quality, experienced backcourt and a solid big man in (Ekpe) Udoh.”
As if Manos’ thinking isn’t enough to sway gamblers to take Baylor, consider that you can bet them at a 5/1 price (risk $100 to win $500) at Sportsbook.com.
Andy Iskoe believes that a team from the woefully bad SEC could raise a few eyebrows on people as they drink from a straw. “Tennessee is a talented though erratic team capable of being upset by SDSU in the first round or playing well enough to make the Elite Eight or even the Final Four. They are the only team to have defeated both Kansas and Kentucky this year, a pair of No. 1 seeds that are each 32-2. They are in what I consider to be by far the toughest of the four brackets as they'd likely have to face Georgetown, Ohio State and either Maryland or Kansas to reach the Final Four but as they showed a few times this year the Vols have the talent to compete and succeed at the highest lever -- they can also stumble as they've shown by losing three games as favorites of -6 or more.”
The sixth-seeded Vols don’t have a terribly difficult trip to make for their games this season. Bruce Pearl’s club starts its run at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence and then would go out to St. Louis for the Regional Rounds, so they aren’t going to suffer much jet lag. And if they can get out of the Midwest Region, the trip to Indy isn’t too long for the good folks of Knoxville. If you like the Volunteers, you can bet them to win their region at 25/1 (risk $100 to win $2500) at Sportsbook.com.
