Golden Eagles back to glory?
Duke, UConn, Villanova, Memphis, blah, blah, blah.
Rather than bore you with more chatter about the top four seeds, let’s take a look at the top four betting teams heading into Thursday’s first-round games.
Atop the list is Marquette. The Golden Eagles secured the No. 7 seed in the Oakland bracket and will play the No. 10 seed Alabama at the Cox Arena in San Diego (2:40 p.m. ET).
The Eagles had an overall record of 20-10 straight up (SU) and had a record of 10-6 SU in their new conference, the powerful Big East.
The highlight of their season came in early January when they handed No. 2 UConn their first loss of the year in their Big East opener. Marquette leading scorer Steve Novak had a career high 41 points and 16 rebounds in the game as the Eagles stuffed the Huskies 94-79 as 10-point home dogs.
They would later pick up key victories against No. 23 Georgetown (57-51 as 1.5-point home dogs) and No. 16 Pittsburgh (84-82 as 2.5-point home dogs).
Overall, Marquette had an outstanding record of 16-7-2 ATS. Factoring out the two pushes, the Eagles are winning nearly 70 percent of their games against the spread (ATS). Many see Marquette as a dark horse to reach the Final Four. BetUS has the Eagles listed as a slight 1.5-point favorite versus the Crimson Tide, who are an awful 9-14-2 ATS this season.South Alabama has the next best betting record among teams playing on Thursday.
The Jaguars went 24-6 SU overall and 12-3 SU in the lightly regarded Sun Belt Conference. Last week, they won the conference tournament with an easy win over Western Kentucky 95-70 as 1.5-point dogs.
The Jaguars subsequently grabbed the No. 14 seed in the Minneapolis bracket and will play the No. 3 seed Florida at Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville (2:25 p.m. ET).
The Jags didn’t have a very tough non-conference schedule. Their most notable win likely came in November when they beat then-No. 25 Houston 66-62 as 3-point home dogs.
A few weeks later they were crushed 87-69 by No. 18 Tennessee as 12.5-point road dogs.
Despite that loss, the Jaguars have an outstanding record of 17-8 ATS (a winning percentage of 68 percent) and have won seven straight against the number.
BetUS has USA listed as an 8-point dog versus Florida, which is coming off a victory in the SEC championship game. Ranked No. 11 by the AP, the Gators are 15-11-1 ATS on the season but are just 2-5-1 ATS in their past eight.
Tennessee also has an incredible record both straight up and against the spread this season.
Under new head coach Bruce Pearl, the Volunteers went 21-7 SU overall and 12-4 in the SEC. That’s a huge improvement from last year when they were just 14-17 SU and a terrible 6-10 in conference play.
Among their season highlights, the Vols beat the Gators twice and knocked off No. 9 Texas back in December.
Tennessee was given the No. 2 seed in the Washington bracket and will open the tournament against the No. 15 seed Winthrop at the Greensboro Coliseum (2:50 p.m. ET).
UT’s high seeding was somewhat surprising since the Vols have not played well of late having lost four of their past six games, including a loss to South Carolina in the SEC tournament. The Gamecocks were just 6-10 SU in the SEC this season.
Like South Alabama, the Vols were 17-8 ATS on the season. However, they have gone 2-4 ATS in their past six.
BetUS has Tennessee listed as a 7-point favorite versus Winthrop, which went 23-7 SU overall and 13-3 SU in the Big South. The Eagles only had four listed games this season and went 2-2 ATS.
The fourth best betting team in action on Thursday is UCLA.
The Bruins were 27-6 SU overall and 14-4 in the Pac-10 this season. They’re coming off a 71-52 pounding of Cal as 7.5-point favorites in the conference title game.
Ranked No. 7 by the AP, UCLA earned the No. 2 seed in the Oakland bracket and will play the No. 15 seed Belmont at the Cox Arena (5:10 p.m. ET).
Sporting one of the toughest defenses in the nation, the Bruins had big wins against No. 20 Nevada, Michigan, and Arizona (three times). However, they also fell to No. 4 Memphis, No. 22 West Virginia and No. 17 Washington.
UCLA has an impressive record of 19-10 ATS (a winning percentage of 66 percent). The Bruins have won 10 of 11 ATS including seven straight. They have also excelled away from home having gone 8-2 ATS.
BetUS has UCLA listed as a huge 20-point favorite versus Belmont, who went 20-10 SU overall and 15-5 SU in the Atlantic Sun Conference. The ASC champions only had one listed game this year and went 1-0 ATS.
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