NCAA Basketball: Georgia Tech vs Oklahoma

Maybe one of the most exciting games of this 2010 NCAA Tournament will take place Friday evening. That’s when the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and Oklahoma State Cowboys will do battle in the betting odds.

No. 10 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (22-12 SU, 15-12-1 ATS) vs. No. 7 Oklahoma State Cowboys (22-10 SU, 15-10-1 ATS)

NCAA Tournament First Round:

Friday, March 19: 7:15 p.m. CBS

NCAA Betting Odds: Oklahoma State -1 ½

Here are some NCAA Betting Trends that may impact this game:

• Georgia Tech: 3-1 ATS in their last 4 games
• Georgia Tech: 3-4 ATS in their last 7 games
• Oklahoma State: Total has gone OVER in 4 of their last 5 games
• Oklahoma State: 2-3 ATS in their last 5

Georgia Tech comes into this game on a hot streak, having made it all the way to the ACC Conference finals, before losing to Duke. And the biggest reason for that success was the play of forward Derrick Favors.

Quite frankly, when Favors is playing well, there are few, if any players nationally who can matchup with him. But it seemed like during the regular season his teammates almost forgot about him, as he averaged only 12.5 points a game. However come the ACC Tournament, he blew up, averaging 18 a game, including 22 in the final against Duke. If the Yellow Jackets are to win, they’ll have no choice but to force feed Favors the ball down low.

On the other side of things are the Oklahoma State Cowboys, led by the Big XII’s player of the year, James Anderson. Anderson is simply one of the greatest pure scorers in all of college basketball, as he averaged 22.6 points a game on the season. Even in defeat in the Big XII Tournament, he was still at his best, scoring 27 points against Kansas State in a losing effort.

With both these teams so similar defensively (Georgia Tech allows 65 points a game, Oklahoma State 68), what this game will likely come down to turnovers, a battle that Oklahoma State should win. On the season, Georgia Tech was absolutely abysmal, and comes into this tournament ranked 63 of all 65 teams in turnovers at over 16 a game. If they couldn’t take care of the ball against the bottom of the ACC, how will they do it against the fast paced Cowboys?

There are a lot of reasons to make Oklahoma State your play in this one, but none more important than that last stat, Georgia Tech is just too reckless with the ball. Even if Favors does have a big game, it still won’t be enough for the Yellow Jackets to avoid the loss.

Take the Cowboys in the betting odds.