NCAA Tournament - East Region Power Poll
by Mike Rose
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1) Florida State Seminoles (18-9-1 ATS, 25-9 SU, +2400 to win East Region) The Noles came up one step short of their first ACC crown, but certainly didn’t embarrass themselves. Against tournament teams, FSU went 7-5 ATS, and with a short spread in front of it, the #5 team in the East could prove profitable once again in the first round of the tourney.
Up Next: Wisconsin (-2.5)
2) NCAA Tournament against ETSU. Pitt went just 1-3 ATS in games where it was favored by at least 20 points this year.
Up Next: East Tennessee State (-20)
3) Musketeers are a smoking hot 12-6-2 ATS.
Up Next: Portland State (-11)
4) Villanova Wildcats (16-13 ATS, 26-7 SU, +600 to win East Region) Memories of an eight-game cover streak that spanned almost an entire month are long gone for the Wildcats, who closed the regular season just 3-6 ATS and 6-3 SU. The NCAA Selection Committee did them a favor, leaving them in Philadelphia for the first weekend, where the Cats only lost three games all season.
Up Next: American (-17)
5) basketball betting line.
Up Next: Tennessee (+2)
6) UCLA Bruins (16-15-1 ATS, 25-8 SU, +700 to win East Region) The Bruins had won five straight games after a very faulty stretch in the month of February, and looked poised to take the Pac-10 crown. They were surprisingly crushed by the eventual champs, USC, and now have a ridiculously hard draw against a high-flying VCU team.
Up Next: Virginia Commonwealth (-6.5)
7) Duke Blue Devils (16-16-1 ATS, 28-6 SU, +375 to win East Region) The Dookies took down the ACC crown, and did it in typical 1-2 ATS fashion. Expect to see plenty of big numbers early in this tournament in Duke’s favor. Against the non-tourney teams out of conference, the Devils went just 2-4-1 ATS.
Up Next: Binghamton (-21.5)
8) Virginia Commonwealth Rams (14-15-1 ATS, 24-9 SU, +5500 to win East Region) The Rams have been hot since February 20th, winning five out of six games both SU and ATS. VCU only played two power conference schools all year, covering against both Vanderbilt and Oklahoma at neutral sites. The #11 seed is a trendy upset selection here.
Up Next: UCLA (+6.5)
9) Vols almost won the SEC, they were punished with a ridiculous draw in a difficult region. They closed out the year just 4-5 ATS and 5-4 SU. In a two-game series with the #9 Cowboys in ’05 and ’06, UT went 1-1 SU and 0-2 ATS. It could be a short tournament for HC Bruce Pearl’s squad.
Up Next: Oklahoma State (-2)
10) East Tennessee State Buccaneers (2-1 ATS, 22-11 SU, +35000 to win East Region) Sports betting fanatics didn’t get a good look at the Bucs until the A-Sun Tournament two weeks ago. The only team that made the field that they took on this year was Temple, a squad they lost to by a 79-65 final count as 11.5-point dogs to kick start their 2008-09 campaign.
Up Next: Pittsburgh (+20)
11) Minnesota Golden Gophers (12-14-1 ATS, 22-10 SU, +5700 to win East Region) The only reason Minnesota is in the field of 65 is courtesy of a 12-game winning streak to start the season. It only went 10-10 in its final 20 games (8-12 ATS) and now faces a difficult draw against an under-seeded Texas squad.
Up Next: Texas (+4)
12) Portland State Vikings (12-15-1 ATS, 23-9 SU, +20000 to win East Region) NCAA basketball bettors may not be too familiar with the Vikes, but they should be. Sure, they only went 10-15-1 ATS against non-tournament teams this year, but when push came to shove against the big boys, they beat Gonzaga outright in the Kennel as 21.5-point dogs, and lost in Washington 84-83 as two touchdown pups. The Musketeers are on red alert.
Up Next: Xavier (+11)
13) Wisconsin Badgers (12-16-1 ATS, 19-12 SU, +4200 to win East Region) Fewer teams had to sweat more on Selection Sunday than the Badgers, who were one of the final four teams that qualified for the field. They limped towards the finish line of the regular season going 2-2 SU and 1-3 ATS, and then went into the Big Ten Tournament and laid a huge second half egg against the Buckeyes in a 61-57 loss. In the ACC/Big Ten challenge earlier this year, Wiscy knocked off Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, but it has largely underachieved for sports bettors this year.
Up Next: Florida State (+2.5)
14) Texas Longhorns (11-18 ATS, 22-11 SU, +4200 to win East Region) The Horns have only covered one game since beating Oklahoma back on February 21st (0-5-1 ATS), but still have the talent and experience to make a deep run in this tournament. That’s bad news for a largely inexperienced bunch of Gophers. The Dookies had better stay focused, or they won’t survive the first weekend of this tournament once again.
Up Next: Minnesota (-4)
15) American Eagles (1-0 ATS, 24-7 SU, +25000 to win East Region) The Eagles only played one lined game all year, that being their 73-57 win in the Patriot League final against Holy Cross. American was pounded by its three power conference foes this year, losing by an average score of 74-51. Don’t expect an upset here, particularly with the Wildcats essentially playing a home game.
Up Next: Villanova (+17)
16) Binghamton Bearcats (1-0 ATS, 23-8 SU, +30000 to win East Region) The Fighting Tony Kornheiser’s can’t be happy with this draw. Binghamton may be riding an 11-game winning streak heading into , but let’s face the truth here… There wasn’t one tournament team on the schedule this season, and its best victory (vs. Vermont twice) just doesn’t stack up to the blue and white train that it’s about to come face to face with.
Up Next: Duke (+21.5)
