2017 NCAA Tournament Odds Round 2
Results / Fixtures
Two nights and 32 games later and the dust has settled. But not for long. A handful of upsets took place but not quite enough making the first round one of the most ho-hum openers in terms of bracket busting for this year's tournament. But fear not, underdogs!
Historically, the second round of the tournament has just as much upset potential. There may be less games but we've had a culling of sorts as the pretenders have been cut out and better college basketball awaits. We take a look at four more games with the most interesting matchups and break it down to give you the best possible bets.
No. 1 Villanova vs No. 8 Wisconsin (East)
The defending champs took care of business ousting Mt. St. Mary's by 20 while the Wisconsin Badgers beat Virginia Tech to set up a juicy second round matchup that has an eerily similar vibe to 2015's tournament. The Wildcats, also a no. 1 seeded team, fell to NC State in the second round. Like Wisconsin this year, NC State barely got past their first round matchup.
But the Wildcats are tough team to shut down with five players scoring in double digits last game. The Badgers play great D but there will be too many holes to plug. "Defense wins championships" is the mantra but +200 is a lowball offer. Either wait for it to go up or take 'Nova to win a thriller.
VILLANOVA
-250
No. 4 Purdue vs No. 5 Iowa St (Midwest)
The odds reflect a close matchup similar to how the seedings are. Both Purdue and Iowa St passed their opening round tests with flying colours. The 4th-seeded Boilermakers used their size to dominate Vermont en route to a 10-point victory while the 5th-seeded Cyclones won the fast-paced shootout against 12th-seeded Nevada. This is a toss-up.
Both teams couldn't be more opposite in style of play and it's a question of which team imposes their game style. Purdue plays a big, rough-and-tumble style of defensive play while the Cyclones get out on the open floor with their speedy and athletic guards including Monte Morris, the best player on the floor. Take the bigger and tougher team to prevail: Purdue.
PURDUE
-115
No. 3 Baylor vs No. 11 USC (East)
Hard to consider USC a "Cinderella Team" though they are. The 11th-seeded Trojans upset the 6th-seeded SMU in a thriller. In a classic matchup between slick offense versus tough defense, the Trojans pulled it off. As for the Bears, they looked like an upset candidate until they caught lightning in a bottle and trounced New Mexico State. They can't afford to start slowly against the Trojans as they won't likely come back barring a choke job from the underdogs. This will be a potentially high-scoring game as the two offensive teams go at it and in a game like this, it's dog or pass especially if USC receives upwards of 2-1 odds. Take the Trojans and don't look back.
USC
+205
No. 4 West Virginia vs No. 5 Notre Dame (West)
Another tough no. 4 vs no. 5 matchup but the oddsmakers clearly favour the Mountaineers here at 2-1 due to previous performances. West Virginia outslugged Bucknell winning by six while the Fighting Irishmen got an early St. Paddy's day gift by getting by Princeton thanks to a missed last shot. The Irishmen are only 4-8 against the AP Top 25 teams and have always been over-seeded. The Mountaineers will prevail here using their pressure and aggressive inside game. The Irishmen are deadly from outside but have nobody beyond their starters.
Notre Dame can catch fire as most of their starters can light up from anywhere. But the Mountaineers are no strangers to adversity and should pull through.
WEST VIRGINIA
-210
There are two types of underdogs: the trendy underdog and the true underdog everyone ignores. Every tournament there are lower-seeded teams both pundits and fans like to pick as a Cinderella team but it's usually the team nobody sees coming. Pay attention to which teams the media focuses on heavily as the betting lines tend to follow. Peer pressure gets to even the sharpest bettors around. Do your research, find the right statistics and go big on those deep sleepers nobody took. When the shocker happens, it could be just you smiling.
Category : Online Betting News
Tag : march madness
, NCAAB
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