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There is no other sporting event on the planet that seems more like Christmas morning to me than the NCAA Tournament.
It’s the emotion and team spirit of college basketball that really gets me. Then, of course, you have the brackets and the office pools and the pointspreads … oh, the pointspreads. Most of these teams haven’t faced each other before, so it’s a brand new look at these matchups for even the most prolific college hoops fans.
Sally from Accounting could just as easily win your office bracket pool and you’d better go into this being fully aware of that. The NCAA Tournament puts all sports fans on essentially the same level.
I’ll be jumping around from one game to another this afternoon, trying to keep you up to date on what you need to know while you’re stuck at your crummy office job.
Here’s a few links to keep bookmarked:
Sports Interaction NCAA Tournament futures odds
Sports Interaction NCAA Tournament games and matchup odds
Sports Interaction NCAA Tournament in-game live betting
Frank Doyle’s NCAA Tournament Bracket
Early games we’ll look at:
Dayton vs. Ohio State (-6.5, 131) – FINAL: Dayton 60, Ohio State 59
American vs. Wisconsin (-14.5, 121) – FINAL: Wisconsin 75, American 35
Colorado vs. Pitt (-6.5, 128) – FINAL: Pitt 77, Colorado 48
Harvard vs. Cincinnati (-3, 121.5)
Western Michigan vs. Syracuse (-13, 128.5)
About the Bracket:
After those games are over, you’re on your own because I’m heading to my couch for a beer while I cry over my bracket. Full disclosure: I went heavy on some favorites this year. My Final Four is Florida, Michigan State, Louisville and Arizona. I hate myself for it, really I do. You can check out my full NCAA Tournament bracket here.
But it was a conscious decision after going through year after year of picking wild upsets to run deep into the Tournament. This year, I’m picking some upsets early, but I truly think those are the four strongest teams in the bunch. So sue me.
Pregame thoughts:
Funny how Colorado is the No. 8 seed yet is a 6.5-point underdog vs. No. 9 Pitt, isn’t it? I’m all over Pitt in this game. The Panthers haven’t been great this year but they have experience. Plus, Colorado is really going to miss star guard Spencer Dinwiddie in this one.
Thought a bit about taking Dayton to upset Ohio State, but couldn`t pull the trigger. Buckeyes have that nasty defence.
Sports Interaction NCAA Tournament games and matchup odds
Good Canadian boy Tyler Ennis will help ‘Cuse lay a beat down today. After that, Syracuse’s offence becomes a problem I have them losing to Ohio State in the next round.
GAME ON!
Ohio State jumped out to a 5-0 lead early but Dayton has taken over with a 12-2 run. Buckeyes need to regroup quickly.
If you’re looking for the next upcoming female hoops personality, there you go. Allie LaForce.
Ross and Smith are going to be tough to contain if OSU stays patient and works its offence around to get them good looks. They can’t get into a run-and-gun with Dayton.
Ah, forgot to mention Sports Interaction’s live in-game betting. Add that to your bookmarks.
Aaron Craft getting down and dirty to scoop up that loose ball. He’s a beauty.
Dayton up 21-15 midway through the opening half.
There’s another great drive by picking up the foul and getting the and 1. He hits the FT to pull OSU within a point. Now with 7:49 left, Ohio State is up 22-21. We’ll leave this game for a bit and take a look in other action kicking off.
American vs. Wisconsin
I have the Badgers going deeper – the Elite 8 – than I ever would have expected. I just think their side of the bracket looks pretty good for them. Wisconsin will work the ball down low to Frank Kaminsky and kick it out to some deadly deep shooters. Franks rule.
Sports Interaction NCAA Tournament games and matchup odds
Early on it’s 10-10 here. American has hit four of five shots though and that’s not going to hold up.
The reason everybody hates banking on Wisconsin is Bo Ryan. I hate myself for banking on Bo Ryan.
This centre for American shoots one-handed free throws? Weird, I didn’t see Shaq in the crowd.
That’s an ugly possession for the Badgers. They’ve hit just four of 12 so far and trail American 14-10 nine minutes into the first half. Timeout there as Wisconsin looks to regroup. Get ready for some BO RYAN YELLING EVERYBODY.
UPDATE: Dayton 33, OSU 30 at halftime. Ohio State was a 5-point favorite at the half.
Wisconsin finally getting the ball in the paint and it’s paying off with open looks outside. Badgers now down just one 19-18.
Sorry for the delay there. My feed went bananas. Anyway, Wisconsin goes on a big 9-0 run to close out the half and now lead 32-22. Bo Ryan says expect to see “multiple adjustments” in the second half. Of the top of my head, I can think of a half dozen but the Badgers look to have it together a bit. If they can put another 10-12 dominant minutes in this one’s over.
UPDATE: Dayton 41, OSU 34. 15:00 of second half.
Coming up…
Colorado vs. Pittsburgh – This is the biggest game on my plate (read: I REALLY need Pitt). Nothing against the Buffaloes, but they don’t have a senior in their rotation. Pitt should roll here. Yes, “should” being the operative word.
Good start so far, friends. Pitt swarming the ball and force a Colorado time out after jumping out to a 7-0 run.
UPDATE: OSU 45, Dayton 43 midway through second half. DEEP BREATHS, YOU GUYS.
Looks like a lot of nerves for Colorado. Pitt now up 9-0 with another timeout coming.
Colorado finally gets on the board with a trey but the Panthers answer to make it 15-3.
This is getting ugly. Pitt is up 21-5 and is absolutely smothering the Buffaloes. Another timeout there as Colorado looks for something to get back in this before it’s too late… the way Pitt plays, it might already be too late.
OK, back for the finish of Dayton vs. OSU. Ohio State up 51-50 with 3:30 left on the clock.
Dayton is a bad matchup for OSU, but the Buckeyes’ talent needs to step up here. Craft takes an intentional foul so two shots coming for Dayton. Make both and get the ball. OH NOES.
Dayton 55, OSU 52.
Craft with a huge bucket and one underneath. Now he needs to drill this to tie the game. Got it.
1:20 left.
Rotten foul call puts Dayton on the line. Missed them both and OSU takes timeout.
Craft finds man down low for a quick two, but OSU fouls on a trey attempt at the other end. Check your pulse! 26.3 left.
Good ol’ Canadian boy Dyshawn Pierre drills 3 FTs to give Dayton a 1-point lead over OSU. #Hoserism #MarchMadness.
Craft answers with a driving layup to put OSU up 59-58. Wow. 10.8 left.
Dayton pulls it off after a layup and Craft’s last-second effort misses.
FINAL: Dayton 60 OSU 59.
Well that was a wild one. No time to recap so let’s just keep on moving.
UPDATES: Wisconsin and Pitt are destroying. If that changes, we’ll check back in there but for now, let’s move on to Harvard vs. Cincinnati. The Bearcats were a 3-point favorite but I sided with Harvard. Tough call.
Harvard vs. Cincinnati
Nine minutes in and Harvard has a 12-6 lead after some dummy forgot to put a Cincy player’s name in the book. So stupid.
Harvard looks good on defence so far, while Cincy struggles to find a rhythm. The great thing about the Bearcats is that even when they’re struggling, they still get to the line a lot.
This is shaping up to be a good one. Harvard isn’t afraid of Cincy’s defence and both teams are taking turns running their attacks. Currently 24-18 Harvard with about five minutes left in the half.
Good finish to the half from Harvard too. They head into the break 36-29. These Harvard dorks can ball a bit, huh? Harvard opens at +3.5 in the second half vs. Cincinnati.
Western Michigan vs. Syracuse – Not crazy about the Orange, but they shouldn’t have any trouble here. Syracuse out to an early 17-9 lead. ‘Cuse starting to open it up. Orange up 28-13.
Back to Cincinnati vs. Harvard. I’ll give updates where I can here but this feed is the worst. If anybody else has a good one let me know in the comments.
Sports Interaction NCAA Tournament games and matchup odds
Harvard matches its biggest lead of the day at 42-33 about four minutes into the second half. Watch for some major push-back from the Bearcats coming out of this timeout. Harvard hitting 52 percent of its shots so far.
UPDATE: At the half, Syracuse is up 40-21 over Western Michigan.
UPDATE: That’s it, that’s all. Pitt destroys Colorado 77-48.
