The Miami Heat (46-21) are suddenly hot again and will test their mettle against a playoff-caliber opponent from the Western Conference for the fifth time in as many games when they host the Oklahoma City Thunder (43-23) on Wednesday.  The Heat (-6.5) have won their last three games following a season-high five-game losing streak, including the past two in dominant fashion.

Miami is coming off a 110-80 rout of San Antonio on Monday, returning the favor for a 125-95 blowout they were on the losing end of 10 days earlier when they visited the Spurs, who own the NBA’s best record.  The Heat also clobbered Memphis 118-85 last Saturday behind a combined 55 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds from the duo of Dwyane Wade and LeBron James.  The Grizzlies currently sit in the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Oklahoma City has the fourth-best record in the West and leads the Northwest Division by 3.5 games over Denver.  The Thunder have won their last four games both straight-up and against the spread with the UNDER cashing in their past three.  They close out a three-game road trip in Miami and have beaten their last three opponents by double digits, all of whom reside in the Eastern Conference.

However, the Heat will provide much tougher competition for Oklahoma City after the team beat up on three teams from the East who have a combined 51 wins between them (Detroit, Cleveland and Washington).  The Thunder lost to Miami at home in the only previous meeting this season 108-103 back on January 30, as Wade, James and Chris Bosh totaled 75 points.

Kevin Durant led Oklahoma City with a game-high 33 points against the Heat but made just 7 of 20 shots from the field.  After the game, Durant reportedly called Bosh a “fake tough guy” after the two had some choice words for each other in the first quarter.  Both players picked up technical fouls, adding some more intrigue to the rematch.

The Thunder had won the previous two meetings with Miami both straight-up and against the spread before the “Big Three” was assembled.  The total has gone OVER in seven of the last meetings, and the winner has scored 100 points or more in all seven of those games that went OVER.  The UNDER has cashed in Oklahoma City’s last three games overall though after four straight OVERs.

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Just as we in the sports betting community love to see the Cinderella story in every NCAA Tournament, we have to admit that we also revel in seeing the odd choke job, agreed? Here are my picks for the biggest bust teams this year. Keep your money — and your bracket picks – away from them!

Connecticut Huskies

I’m starting to see more and more bettors worry about UConn. At first, the hype machine revved in the Huskies’ favor. After all, they won the Big East Tournament last week and Kemba Walker is playing as well as anyone in the country. However, a closer look suggests Connecticut could be ripe for an upset. It played an exhausting five games in five days last week. How much will that take out of the Huskies and, more specifically, out of Walker? This is not a deep team. No contender is more reliant on its star. These are all ominous signs for UConn as it prepares to battle Bucknell.

Texas Longhorns

Will you find many places other than this sports betting blog picking Texas to fail? Maybe not. But I think sometimes Texas’ reputation outshines its performance. While some of the personnel have changed over, the coach hasn’t, and Rick Barnes’ boys choked in round one last year. In fact, Barnes-coached Texas teams have been bounced in the second round or earlier seven times in his 12 seasons with the Longhorns. Sometimes Texas’ guards force too many shots. If the Longhorns start to panic – say, in a second-round matchup with Arizona – that might happen again.

Wisconsin Badgers

Many signs point to Wisconsin being ousted as a No. 4 seed in the first round. The Badgers lost their last two games entering the tourney. In the most recent defeat, they were one-and-done in the Big Ten tourney after losing 36-33 to Penn State. Worse yet, Wisconsin struggles to defend against three-pointers and potential Cinderella pick Belmont is second in the country in three-pointers. Gulp.

Georgetown Hoyas

Does this one count as a bust? It’s borderline. Arguably, the Hoyas bandwagon emptied long ago, as Chris Wright was lost to injury, and Georgetown wound up an underwhelming No. 6 seed in the Southwest Region. But I put them on the bust list anyways as a warning to any college basketball betting fans who are easily swayed by the high-profile, “brand-name” teams.

Tick…tock…just hours until March Madness betting begins. Can’t wait. Now that we’ve covered all the regions, it’s time to explore some tournament sleepers and potential Cinderella teams.

It’s important to list and distinguish between sleepers and Cinderellas. A sleeper is an under-the-radar team with actual potential to make a deep run in the NCAA tournament. You could actually throw down a sports betting long-shot pick on a sleeper to win it all. A Cinderella is an obscure, low-seeded squad with potential to pull off a huge upset or two. But it’s important to remember that, as much as the Valparaisos and George Masons of the world win our hearts, they never go all the way. Cinderellas are better for game-by-game picks.

SLEEPERS

Purdue Boilermakers

In the Southwest Region, powerhouse Kansas gets all the love from sportsbook bettors. Notre Dame and Louisville also have a decent contingent of supporters who swear by Big East teams. But Purdue has sleeper potential. The Boilermakers knocked off No. 1 Ohio State earlier this year and I love their senior tandem of JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore. Don’t sleep on Purdue.

BYU Cougars

No matter how many good teams across multiple sports BYU fields, it never seems to get taken seriously. Maybe it’s the Mormon thing? I mean, the Mormon thing got BYU’s third-leading scorer, Brandon Davies, booted from the team. Many people are writing the Cougars off as a result – but not this sports betting blog. Jimmer Fredette is so dominant that he could singlehandedly carry BYU to a date with Pittsburgh in the Elite Eight.

Arizona Wildcats

I know they’re caught in the dreaded No. 5 spot, a seed that has been upset a whopping 51.4 per cent of the time. But I still like Arizona for two reasons. One is Derrick Williams. The other is that, aside from Duke, every other contender in the West Region is flawed. I see Arizona reaching the Sweet 16 before bowing out against Duke.

CINDERELLAS

Bucknell Bison

Ooh, this is my favorite Cinderella pick. Everybody’s leaping on the UConn bandwagon, right? Kemba Walker is God! Connecticut is the Big East Tournament champ! The Huskies won five games in five days! That’s why I like Bucknell to do the unthinkable. Connecticut will be exhausted, as will Walker, and the Huskies are nothing if he goes cold. Go for it! Pick Bucknell!

Belmont Bruins

The upstart Bruins went a respectable 30-4 and, while they had the advantage of breezing through the weak Atlantic Sun, they had encouraging showings in non-conference affairs. These guys are great shooters and Wisconsin, a very common bust pick among pundits, has a devil of a time defending the three-ball. Watch out for Belmont.

USC Trojans

USC looks like a solid bet to survive a few rounds. First, it has to get past VCU in the play-in, but that should be no problem. After that, I really like the Trojans to upset Georgetown, which won’t have Chris Wright. USC is peaking just in time for the tourney and has an intriguing offense-defense tandem in Nikola Vukevic and Alex Stephenson.

OffshoreInsiders.com Senior Sports Handicapper Matt Rivers has a free pick Tuesday is on Oklahoma State (-5.5) in the NIT against Harvard.

Reasoning: Tommy Amaker has done a really good job with the Crimson and I do believe that this Harvard team is legitimately good, not just Ivy League good. But with that said they are coming off of the gut wrenching loss against Princeton at the buzzer and now just a few days later have to go to a very different type of an atmosphere in Stillwater in a much minor tournament after having their hopes and dreams crushed the way they were. Can they be successful in this scenario? I just don’t see it happening.

The Cowboys certainly did not have one of their best years but they still finished up at 19-13 after winning three of their last five games including the great effort and one point loss to Kansas in the Big 12 tournament. I do like Travis Ford a lot and for the most part Okie State is always very good at home and it’s not like they are a heartbroken team that can sulk after not making the Big Dance. Obviously the loss to the Jayhawks was tough but they didn’t exactly come into that the Big 12 tournament as an at large team or one that had a real chance to win the conference tournament.

Marshall Moses, Keiton Page and Ray Penn lead a team that has beaten Kansas State and Missouri at home among others and no matter how improved and legit Harvard is they are still not up to snuff when compared to those semi heavyweights.

The emotional loss against the Tigers was beyond stinging for the smarter kids on the floor today and in the end tonight I’ll eat some chalk with Oklahoma State in Stillwater.

Top expert pick on this game: Oklahoma State from Matt Rivers.

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OffshoreInsiders.com Senior Writer Vegas Matty previews the Dallas Mavericks at Portland Trail Blazers.  There are many March Madness picks up, but plenty of opportunities to excel in NBA betting.

The Dallas Mavericks (47-19) probably will not catch San Antonio for the best record in the Western Conference, but they can still capture the #2 seed ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers if they can finish the regular season strong.  The Mavericks (-1) will look to bounce back from a 96-91 home loss to the Lakers last Saturday as they begin a brief two-game road trip by visiting the Portland Trail Blazers (37-29) on Tuesday.

Dallas saw LA inch closer in the standings with a 97-84 home win over Orlando on Monday, cutting the lead for the second spot in the playoff race to a half-game.  Lakers star Kobe Bryant had suffered an ankle injury against the Mavs in their latest meeting, but he played through the pain and scored 16 points on 7 of 19 shooting from the field against the Magic.

Portland would face Dallas if the playoffs started today and wants to move up from the sixth slot by getting hot down the stretch as well.  The Trail Blazers just wrapped up a four-game East Coast road trip with consecutive losses at Charlotte and Atlanta, which was especially disappointing considering they had opened the trip with impressive wins at Orlando and Miami.  They struggled to score in the finale against the Hawks, falling 91-82 as the total went UNDER for the first time in three games.  The UNDER has also cashed in the team’s last three home games.

The Mavericks have not won or lost consecutive games the last six times they have taken the court, but they have had a difficult time covering the spread recently.  They are 1-5 against the line in their last six games overall and have seen the OVER cash four times during that stretch.  However, they have won nine of their last 11 road games and own a 10-5 mark in the first half of back-to-backs this season.

Portland has split the last six home meetings with Dallas after dropping the previous six games in the series there.  The Blazers have also covered the spread in four of the last six meetings overall despite losing both meetings with the Mavs this season straight-up by a combined eight points.  The UNDER is 3-1 in the last four meetings between the teams and 5-2 in the past seven.  The winner has cracked the century mark in scoring three times in the last seven meetings, including a 103-98 Dallas victory back on December 15.

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It’s time, baby! March Madness betting picks begin this week. Who will make the Final Four? Here’s a region-by-region projection of how I think things will shake out.

EAST REGION

Favorite: Ohio State (+135)

Contenders: North Carolina, Syracuse, Kentucky

Cinderella: Washington

While the East looks like perhaps the toughest quarter in the bracket, I think picking Ohio State to get upset is overthinking things. The Buckeyes had a couple of surprising losses in the regular season, yeah, but they really found their groove down the stretch. Jared Sullinger is on fire and this team can shoot like crazy.

North Carolina is too inconsistent despite Harrison Barnes’ brilliance; Syracuse arguably lacks a true gamebreaker player to give the ball in the dying seconds; I do like Kentucky but its freshman-laden team seems like a better bet for next year. Washington might pull an upset or two.

In the end, I still think the seasoned Buckeyes take the East.

Free pick: Ohio State

SOUTHEAST REGION

Favorite: Pittsburgh +155

Contenders: Florida, Kansas State, BYU, Wisconsin, St. John’s

Cinderella: Belmont

Is the Southeast the most wide-open bracket? I’m not totally convinced. I know Pittsburgh lost two of its final four games but the Panthers came from the vicious Big East and have two outstanding players in Ashton Gibbs and Brad Wanamaker.

Florida’s spotty record against tougher competition makes me pessimistic. I prefer BYU over the second-tier contender group. Jimmer Fredette can carry that team on his own. Wisconsin’s “D” is impressive but it stumbled down the stretch and could be upset by streaking Belmont.

I like Pittsburgh’s combination of experience from a tough conference and elite players.

Free pick: Pittsburgh

SOUTHWEST REGION

Favorite: Kansas +125

Contenders: Notre Dame, Purdue, Louisville

Cinderella: USC

It’s tough to imagine anyone toppling Kansas. The Jayhawks shoot the ball with unbelievable accuracy and have a dominant one-two punch in the Morrises, Marcus and Markieff. Ben Hansbrough-led Notre Dame is viewed as a potential challenger, as is Purdue. The Boilermakers are a sneaky play because they struggled down the stretch but have two seniors built to succeed in the NCAA tournament: JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore.

USC could play Cinderella thanks to an easy opening matchup and a potential upset setup in the round of 32 against Georgetown. But this is still Kansas’ bracket to lose. The Jayhawks are possibly the safest bet to reach the Final Four of any team in the nation, largely because their region isn’t too tough.

Free pick: Kansas

WEST REGION

Favorite: Duke +135

Contenders: San Diego State +385, Texas +465, Connecticut +485

Cinderella: Bucknell

It’s tough to go wrong with picking Duke here. The Blue Devils are the defending national champs and are in peak form having just won the ACC tournament. But they arguably face a tougher road than they did last year.

San Diego State hopes it can push the Blue Devils hard but the Aztecs have never won an NCAA tournament game. That spooks me. I worry they’ll choke under the pressure of being “expected” to make a deep run for the first time ever. Kemba Walker’s dominance could make UConn a popular pick but the Huskies still lack depth after him and could be tired entering the tourney after grinding out five wins in five days in the ACC tournament.

It’s boring to pick yet another No. 1 seed to reach the Final Four, but the seedings are accurate this year. What can I tell ya? No point picking an upset just for the sake of it. Only do it if you believe in it!

Free pick: Duke

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OffshoreInsiders.com Senior Sports Handicapper Matt Rivers has an NBA free pick on the Golden State Warriors (+1) at Sacramento.

Reasoning: I have probably liked this Golden State team a lot more than the average guy and today I’ll take my chances on them as they are the clear cut more talented team on the court.

The road is never easy and I’m not saying that Golden State overall is better than average as the 29-36 record could attest to. But there are some pieces in play with this team and the skill level is fairly high or at least much higher than with the inferior Kings, even at Arco.

Monta Ellis is a baller who can fill it up with the best of them, David Lee is very tough in the middle and Stephen Curry and Dorell Wright are quality young guys that can be very good in any game. The Warriors are on a back-to-back after hosting Minnesota last night and that is never an easy task but when push comes to shove in a near pick-em game Golden State should just be too good.

Sacramento isn’t the worst team ever as they have shown something at times but 15-49 overall is 15-49 overall. Plus the Kings have now dropped six straight games and eight of their last nine. Sac-town is the worst defensive team in the league in my opinion as they have allowed at least 99 points in 18 consecutive games with only two of those contests ending in 99 meaning that they have allowed north of the century mark 16 of their last 18 and I don’t need to tell you how bad that truly is. The Warriors don’t exactly clamp down defensively themselves as the 105 points per game prove but lately they have been a little better than tonight’s opponent in the Kings.

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Senior Writer Vegas Matty previews San Antonio Spurs at Miami Heat from a betting standpoint.

After suffering through a season-high five-game losing streak, the Miami Heat (45-21) appear to be back on track in hopes of finishing the season strong and securing one of the top seeds in the Eastern Conference playoff race.  A rematch with the San Antonio Spurs (54-12) on Monday though will give them another measuring stick to find out how good they really are.

The Heat (-4) were crushed 125-95 at San Antonio in the midst of their skid, one of seven consecutive games in which they failed to cover the spread.  They have since rebounded by winning two in a row both straight-up and against the spread, including an impressive home win against the Lakers last Thursday followed by a 33-point victory against Memphis on Saturday.  Despite that win, Miami remains 15-18 against teams with a winning record this season.

New addition Mike Bibby finally came alive for the Heat in the rout of the Grizzlies, connecting on all five of his 3-point attempts en route to 17 points in 25 minutes off the bench. Bibby’s previous high with Miami was six points after he asked to be bought out from his contract with Washington.  He played nearly 29 minutes in the last meeting with the Spurs on March 4, scoring four points on 2 of 6 shooting (0 for 3 on 3-pointers) to go along with five assists.

San Antonio hit a franchise-record 17 of 28 attempts from 3-point range in that game, including six from Matt Bonner.  Eight Spurs scored in double figures in the blowout and six different players made a 3-pointer.  Manu Ginobili scored a team-high 20 points and dished out seven assists while Tony Parker had 15 and eight in a surprise return from a calf injury.  Parker was supposed to miss two to four weeks of action but came back after missing just two games.

The lone loss for San Antonio in the last six games came against the Lakers, which is also the only time the team was held under 108 points over that span.  The Spurs fell at home to LA 99-83 on March 6 but have since averaged over 111 points during a three-game winning streak.  However, they have covered just one of their last four games along with eight of their past 11.

The OVER has cashed in nine of San Antonio’s last 11 games, including three straight.  The OVER is also 10-2 in the Heat’s last 12 games against Western Conference opponents, although the UNDER is 7-1 in the last eight meetings with the Spurs, who have won the last four both SU and ATS.

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The sports handicappers breakdown of the 2011 NCAA Tournament Round of 64. All records are against the spread.

Belmont vs. Wisconsin

Belmont 5-0 is non-conference game. Wisconsin is 1-6 neutral site game.

Utah State vs. Kansas State

Utah State 14-6 on neutral courts. Kansas State is 6-13 to teams with a winning record.

Kansas State has gone under 12-2 in non-conference games.

Penn State vs. Temple

Penn State is 9-3 versus an opponent with a winning percentage of .600 or above. Temple 21-8 off loss and 23-11 to teams with a winning record. Temple has gone under 10-2 on neutral courts.

Northern Colorado vs. San Diego State

Northern Colorado 2-12 off spread win. San Diego State 15-5 to teams with a winning record. Northern Colorado over six straight.

Gonzaga vs. St. John’s

Gonzaga 1-6 last seven in NCAA Tournament. They’ve gone under 17-4 versus an opponent with winning percentage of .600 or above.

Wofford vs. BYU

Wofford 7-1 on neutral courts. BYU 34-16 off spread loss.

Morehead vs. Louisville

Morehead under 9-1 on neutral courts.

Richmond vs. Vanderbilt

Richmond 7-0 overall run. Spiders under 8-0 off straight up win.

Old Dominion vs. Butler

Old Dominion 7-1 overall run. Butler 10-1 on neutral courts and 52-23 in non-conference games, but 1-6 off straight up win.

Missouri vs. Cincinnati

Cincinnati 5-17 off straight up loss. Missouri has gone over 11-2 in NCAA Tournament.

Bucknell vs. UConn

Connecticut 7-0 in non-conference games, 16-5 on neutral courts, 23-8 off straight up wins. Connecticut over 8-1 in NCAA Tournament.

Michigan State vs. UCLA

UCLA 7-0 to teams with a winning record. Michigan State under 10-1 to Pac 10.

UC Santa Barbara vs. Florida

Santa Barbara 8-1 on neutral courts. Florida 9-19 off straight up loss. UC Santa Barbara under 17-5 neutral courts.

Princeton vs. Kentucky

Princeton 16-5 versus an opponent with a winning percentage of .600 or above. Kentucky 1-6 off straight up win.

For more information: Top sports picks, March Madness odds, and betting analysis are all part of the OffshoreInsiders.com Network.