Sweet 16 NCAA Tournament 2011 Preview

If you saw this Sweet 16 coming in March Madness betting, go buy a lottery ticket. And start your own psychic hotline. With a tournament-record four double-digit seeds making the cut, it’s the strangest Sweet 16 we’ve ever seen. Let’s have a look at the first two betting matchups for Thursday.

(3) Connecticut Huskies vs (2) San Diego State Aztecs

Thursday, March 24, 7:15 p.m. ET

Sportsbook favorite: Connecticut -1

While UConn is obviously the bigger “name” in this matchup, coming out of the Big East, some sports betting sharps are surprised to see the Huskies in the Sweet 16. I for one thought they’d be too tired after winning five games in five days during the Big East tourney. But, low and behold, UConn continued to look like a team on a mission over the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. It hammered popular sleeper pick Bucknell 81-52 and got by Cincinnati 69-58. Make that seven straight wins – and seven straight spreads beaten – for the nation’s hottest team.

Kemba Walker hasn’t slowed down yet. He dropped 33 on Cincinnati. But it will be interesting to see how the Huskies respond if the defensively sound San Diego State manages to bottle him up. The second-seeded Aztecs are riding their first two NCAA tourney wins in school history and, for the most part, their “D” was the key in stopping Northern Colorado and Temple.

For San Diego State to keep pace with Connecticut, however, it will need more than just defensive prowess. Guys like D.J. Gay have to break out of their slumps and start contributing.

(3) Brigham Young Cougars vs. (2) Florida Gators

Thursday, March 24, 7:27 p.m. ET

Sportsbook favorite: Florida -2.5

Jimmer Mania continues! BYU is picking up steam in the NCAA tourney. It had more trouble with Wofford in its opener(74-66) than it did with Gonzaga (89-67) in the round of 32. The one constant has, of course, been national leading scorer Jimmer Fredette. The guy can’t be stopped, it seems. Fredette opened his tourney with 32 and 34-point efforts and now has 30 or more in six of his last seven outings.

Florid has been somewhat under the radar as far as No. 2 seeds go. It got past UCSC and UCLA without much trouble and has won six of seven overall, going 6-1 ATS over that span. Erving Walker laid an egg in the SEC tournament against Kentucky but has bounced back strong in March Madness, dropping 18 points on UCSB and leading the charge with 21 against UCLA.

Interestingly enough, these two teams met a year ago in March Madness. The game was a 99-92 overtime barn burner, with Fredette’s 37 points being the difference maker for BYU.

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