2010 NCAA Tournament upsets to watch out for South Regional

One of the best parts of any NCAA Tournament is the upsets. But picking them isn’t always easy. So we’ve gone ahead and highlighted a few to think about as you get ready to place your wagers in the 2010 NCAA Tournament betting odds. Today we’ll look at a pair of games in the South Regional:

No. 11 Old Dominion (26-8 SU, 12-17-1 ATS) vs. No. 6 Notre Dame (23-11 SU, 17-10-1 ATS)

Thursday, 12:25 p.m.

Opening Line: Notre Dame -2

If we’re going to start with upsets, why not start with one of the first games, right? Well that’d be Notre Dame and Old Dominion, which tip off at 12:25 on the opening day, in the South Regional.

The reason that this one should remain close throughout, is that Old Dominion is simply one of the best defensive teams in college basketball. On the season, they allowed just 57 points a game, which was the fifth ranked fifth scoring defense in all college basketball.

Opponents also shot just 40 percent from the field on the season against the Monarchs.

And while you might think of Notre Dame as a high-scoring team (after all, they did average over 76 points a game), they have slowed down the pace of play in recent weeks, after All-Big East center Luke Harangody went down with injury.

The Irish haven’t hit the 70 point mark in any of their last five games, and averaged just 51.5 in their last two.

With a slowed down Notre Dame and a stifling Monarchs defense, could we have an upset by 2:30 on the first day of the tournament?

It just might happen.

No. 13 Siena (27-6 SU, 16-14-1 ATS) vs. No. 4 Purdue (27-5 SU, 12-18-2 ATS)

Friday, 2:30

Opening Line: Purdue -3.5

At first glance, you’d think that this line is skewed, right? Purdue, the No. 4 seed in this region is giving less than four points? Well look closer and you’ll see that if anything, that line might be a bit too high.

Purdue comes into this game off an abysmal showing in their Big 10 Tournament semifinal loss to Minnesota, as they scored just 11 first half points, and 42 overall on the game. That of course is in large part to the loss of their second leading scorer, Robbie Hummel, who tore his ACL late in the season and will be out for the entire NCAA Tournament.

Because of that injury, Purdue has stumbled down the stretch going 0-4-1 ATS in their last five games.

And remember too, Siena is no stranger to the NCAA Tournament, as this is their third straight appearance. Even more impressive, they’ve won their opening round game in each of the last two, defeating Vanderbilt as a No. 13 seed and beating Ohio State last year.

Could the Saints make it 3 for 3 in 2010?

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