The 2011 Men's NCAA Basketball Tournament resumes Saturday and Sunday as the 68-team event pares itself down to the Sweet-16 to be played at regional sites March 27-28. First up today is is a 4-and-5-seed match-up between SEC-Tournament Champ's Kentucky Wildcats and BIG EAST at-large challenger's West Virginia Mountaineers. Kentucky's John Calipari and West Virginia's Bob Huggins are two crafty coaches who's teams have butted heads for years, including last years elite eight game when Huggens' Mountaineers knocked off the favored Kentucky in the Elite Eight. Today's game tips at 12:15 PM Eastern at St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla.
Odds makers at most off shore sports shops list the 4-seed Wildcats as 1-chalk NCAA Point Spreads favorites with a game point-total of 132. Mountaineers’ backers are getting +160 odds on the off shore money-line to win SU while ML odds on Kentucky are priced at -180.
Novice bettors unfamiliar with a money-line format; to win $100 require a $180 wager. On the other hand, today's underdog is lined getting +160 ML odds. Here if a $100 wager is a winner, the player wins $160.
Early betting trends, always useful tools for making NCAA Basketball Picks , show the public behind Kentucky on both the money line (61%) and ATS (64%) while 85% of totals players are betting the game score goes OVER the posted 132.
In making my NCAA Basketball Predictions , I look for this game to be a chess-match between two coaches who are good friends and who happen to have equal coaching talents. This game will be a neighborhood brawl; it’s Hatfield vs. McCoy. I like West Virginia getting +4.
