{"id":3895,"date":"2009-03-19T07:55:00","date_gmt":"2009-03-19T12:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/2009\/03\/thursday-ncaa-tournament-odds-picks-and-predictions\/"},"modified":"2009-03-19T07:55:00","modified_gmt":"2009-03-19T12:55:00","slug":"thursday-ncaa-tournament-odds-picks-and-predictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/2009\/03\/thursday-ncaa-tournament-odds-picks-and-predictions\/","title":{"rendered":"Thursday NCAA Tournament Odds, Picks, and Predictions"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=Section1>\n<p><font size=2 color=\"#333333\" face=Arial><span style='font-size:9.5pt'>Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: First-round <span class=SpellE>matchups<\/span> at the Big Dance shoe dazzle dominate the sports scene, with UConn, <\/span><\/font><st1:City><st1:place>Memphis<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>, <span class=SpellE>UNC<\/span>, and Duke all in action. The must read links for March Madness betting <a href=\"http:\/\/www.offshoreinsiders.com\/index.php?Page=Articles&amp;ArticleID=4940\">are here<\/a>.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>\u00a0 <\/span>Most importantly, get the objective rundown of which professional sports handicappers are hot and who has the big plays for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.offshoreinsiders.com\/index.php?Page=Articles&amp;ArticleID=4941\">NCAA picks and predictions<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p><strong><b><font size=2 color=\"#333333\" face=Arial><span style='font-size: 9.5pt;font-family:Arial'>The search for Cinderella . . .<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/font><\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><b style='mso-ansi-font-weight:normal'><font size=2 color=\"#333333\" face=Arial><span style='font-size:9.5pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:normal; mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>All sources claim that <\/span><\/font><\/b><\/strong><st1:State><st1:place><strong><b   style='mso-ansi-font-weight:normal'><font face=Arial><span style='font-family:   Arial;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>North Carolina<\/span><\/font><\/b><\/strong><\/st1:place><\/st1:State><strong><b style='mso-ansi-font-weight:normal'><font face=Arial><span style='font-family: Arial;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'> will be without point guard <span class=SpellE>Ty<\/span> Lawson, but <\/span><\/font><\/b><\/strong><span class=MsoHyperlink><u><font color=blue><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lines-maker.com\/\">Lines-Maker.com<\/a><\/font><\/u><\/span><strong><b style='mso-ansi-font-weight:normal'><font face=Arial><span style='font-family: Arial;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'> will update any late breaking information. <\/span><\/font><\/b><\/strong><o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p><st1:State><st1:place><font size=2 color=\"#333333\" face=Arial><span   style='font-size:9.5pt'>North Carolina<\/span><\/font><\/st1:place><\/st1:State> is one of two top seeds in action at the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, as they&#8217;ll see how badly they&#8217;re able to beat No. 16 Radford in an afternoon contest. The Tar Heels are 26-point favorites in that South Region matchup. Other South games on tap for Thursday: No. 9 Butler vs. No. 8 LSU (-2.5), No. 10 Michigan vs. No. 7 Clemson (-5.5), No. 13 Akron vs. No. 4 Gonzaga (-12.5), No. 15 Morgan State vs. No. 2 Oklahoma (-16.5), and No. 12 Western Kentucky vs. No. 5 Illinois (-4.5). The <span class=SpellE>Hilltoppers<\/span> won their opening game in &#8217;08.<\/p>\n<p><font size=2 color=\"#333333\" face=Arial><span style='font-size:9.5pt'>The other No. 1 in action on Thursday is <\/span><\/font><st1:State><st1:place>Connecticut<\/st1:place><\/st1:State>, which will take on <st1:City><st1:place>Chattanooga<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> as a 20.5-point favorite in West Region action. Also in that quarter of the bracket on Thursday: No. 15 CSU Northridge vs. No. 2 Memphis (-19.5), No. 9 Texas <span class=GramE>A&amp;M<\/span> vs. No. 8 <span class=SpellE>BYU<\/span> (-2), No. 12 Northern Iowa vs. No. 5 Purdue (-8), No. 10 Maryland vs. No. 7 California (-1), and No. 13 Mississippi State vs. No. 4 Washington (-5.5). <st1:place><st1:PlaceName>Mississippi<\/st1:PlaceName>  <st1:PlaceType>State<\/st1:PlaceType><\/st1:place> won the SEC Tournament last weekend.<\/p>\n<p><font size=2 color=\"#333333\" face=Arial><span style='font-size:9.5pt'>Four East Region games round out the Thursday Madness schedule, with that slate highlighted by No. 2 Duke taking on No. 15 Binghamton. The Blue Devils have been pegged as big 21.5-point favorites. As well, it&#8217;ll be No. 10 Minnesota vs. No. 7 Texas (-4), No. 14 American vs. No. 3 Villanova (-16.5), and No. 11 <span class=SpellE>VCU<\/span> vs. No. 6 UCLA (-7). The Bruins were upset last week in the Pac-10 tourney.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<p><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><font size=2 color=\"#333333\" face=Arial><span style='font-size:9.5pt;font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-weight: normal'>Major sports service winning March Madness picks\u2026<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/font><\/b><\/p>\n<p><font size=2 color=\"#333333\" face=Arial><span style='font-size:9.5pt'>Revolutionary and futuristic pro gambler Stevie Vincent is celebrating three years of his picks being public. <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=2 color=\"#333333\" face=Arial><span style='font-size:9.5pt'>NCAA Tournament betting is the time of the year that so many new clients get their first exposure to forensic <a href=\"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/2007\/08\/betonsports360com_1.html\">sports handicapping<\/a>. For <span class=SpellE><span class=spelle>newbies<\/span><\/span>, welcome to the world of winners, but we want to explain the basis. Stevie releases fewer plays but has more winners.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=2 color=\"#333333\" face=Arial><span style='font-size:9.5pt'>To sell picks, more picks means more sales. Stevie wants to win picks and let everything else fall into place. He releases only picks he bets. <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=2 color=\"#333333\" face=Arial><span style='font-size:9.5pt'>That&#8217;s why he has &#8220;only&#8221; four <span class=SpellE><span class=spelle>NCAAB<\/span><\/span> plays including three of his highest rated Level 5. He has since added a PERFECT PLAY from the NIT and two pro <span class=GramE><span class=grame>basketball<\/span><\/span>. He goes 7-0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.offshoreinsiders.com\/index.php?Page=Packages\">Click now to purchase<\/a><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>\u00a0 <\/span><span class=SpellE>Stevies<\/span> entire card for $40. <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=2 color=\"#333333\" face=Arial><span style='font-size:9.5pt'>Let Jeff Buckley enter the ring of fire, you need the professional bettors who will tell you &#8220;I told you so&#8221; when the NCAA Tournament scores come in. <o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<p><strong><b><font size=2 color=\"#333333\" face=Arial><span style='font-size: 9.5pt;font-family:Arial'>Tipping off on the hardwood&nbsp; . . .<\/span><\/font><\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><font size=2 color=\"#333333\" face=Arial><span style='font-size:9.5pt'>The NBA has just three <span class=SpellE>matchups<\/span> on its schedule for Thursday night as the basketball world focuses on the college game. Starting things off is <\/span><\/font><st1:City><st1:place>Dallas<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> at <st1:City><st1:place>Atlanta<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> at <st1:time Hour=\"19\" Minute=\"0\">7:00pm ET<\/st1:time>, with the Mavericks coming off a 103-101 win over the Pistons on Tuesday night. LeBron James and the Cavaliers then play host to the Trail Blazers in an <st1:time Hour=\"20\" Minute=\"0\">8:00pm ET<\/st1:time> matchup, while Kobe Bryant and the Lakers get a visit from the Warriors at <st1:time Hour=\"22\" Minute=\"30\">10:30pm ET<\/st1:time>. <st1:City><st1:place>Los Angeles<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> was beaten 94-93 by the Sixers in their last outing Tuesday night, with Bryant being held to just 11 points.<\/p>\n<p><strong><b><font size=2 color=\"#333333\" face=Arial><span style='font-size: 9.5pt;font-family:Arial'>Taking a trip around the rink . . .<\/span><\/font><\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><font size=2 color=\"#333333\" face=Arial><span style='font-size:9.5pt'>The Sharks will be looking to bounce back from a loss to the lowly Coyotes on Thursday night when they take on the Predators in one of eight games on the NHL schedule. Also on the slate: Los Angeles at Boston, Montreal at Ottawa, Washington at Tampa Bay, Toronto at Florida, Edmonton at Colorado, and St. Louis at Vancouver, while Phoenix returns to the ice at home against the Ducks.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<p><strong><b><font size=2 color=\"#333333\" face=Arial><span style='font-size: 9.5pt;font-family:Arial'>Rounding out the Roundup . . .<\/span><\/font><\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><font size=2 color=\"#333333\" face=Arial><span style='font-size:9.5pt'>Finally, the second round of the World Baseball Classic concludes on Thursday night with <\/span><\/font><st1:country-region><st1:place>Korea<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> taking on the winner of Wednesday night&#8217;s late matchup between <st1:country-region><st1:place>Japan<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region><st1:place>Cuba<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> at <st1:City><st1:place>San   Diego<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>&#8216;s <st1:place><st1:PlaceName><span class=SpellE>PETCO<\/span><\/st1:PlaceName>  <st1:PlaceType>Park<\/st1:PlaceType><\/st1:place>. Whoever comes out on top in that contest on Thursday will claim top spot in Pool 1. The semifinals of the tournament will take place on Saturday and Sunday at Dodger Stadium in <st1:City><st1:place>Los   Angeles<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>, and the World Baseball Classic champion will be decided on March 23.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"blogger-post-footer\"><a\nhref=\"http:\/\/www.offshoreinsiders.com\/\"><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>OffshoreInsiders.com<\/b><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: First-round matchups at the Big Dance shoe dazzle dominate the sports scene, with UConn, Memphis, UNC, and Duke all in action. The must read links for March Madness betting are here.\u00a0 Most importantly, get the objective rundown of which professional sports handicappers are hot and who has the big &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/2009\/03\/thursday-ncaa-tournament-odds-picks-and-predictions\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Thursday NCAA Tournament Odds, Picks, and Predictions<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3895\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}