Two very good college basketball teams from the Midwest, Butler and Wisconsin, have traveled all the way to the 'Big Easy' to play in the Southeast Regional semifinals of the 2011 Men's NCAA Basketball Tournament with tip-off set for about 10 PM Eastern Thursday. Butler's arrival marks the fourth time in nine years it's advanced to the "Sweet 16."
Odds makers at most off shore sports shops list the Badgers as 4 1/2-chalk NCAA Basketball Odds favorites for the game with a combined point total of 124. Bulldogs backers are getting +175 odds on the off shore money line while the price of a ML wager on Wisconsin is -210. For bettors unfamiliar with ML format wagering; in order to win $100 betting on Wisconsin to win SU, it requires a $210 wager. On the flip side, today's underdog, lined at +175 ML, wins $175 with a SU win.
Butler, an 8-seed, advanced to the regional semifinals by defeating Old Dominion in the second round 60-58 and top-seed Pittsburgh by a point 71-70 in the second round. The Bulldogs covered the point spread in both games, listed as a +1 ½-point underdog to ODU and a +8 dog to Pitt.
Wisconsin is in the final-16 after logging second and third round victories over Belmont (72-58) and Kansas State (70-65). The Badgers covered ATS in both, as 4 ½-chalk favorites over Belmont and -3 ½ favs to K-State.
Early betting trends, always good tools for making NCAA Basketball Picks , show public betting almost down the middle on the side with Butler getting a single percentage point more action its way than Wisconsin (51-to-49%). In money-line wagering, the Badgers are getting 56% of action to 44% for Butler. In totals over/under wagering, 69% of players are betting the game total goes OVER the 124 points posted for the game.
The Bulldogs really caught fire the latter part of the season and has now won 11 games in a row and has covered ATS in four straight. Out of their last 10 games, Butler’s record ATS is 6-3-1 while the UNDER has been the best cashed on the total in six of the last 10. Wisconsin has gone 7-3 SU over a 10 game span while going 5-5 ATS. The Badgers have taken the game score OVER the posted total in eight of its last 10 games played.
Making your College Basketball Picks on this game is easy, if you can flip a coin. I can understand why the Badgers are getting the SU betting action. People think overall they have the best talent, and play in a tougher league. Butler's been very fortunate getting the ball to roll the right way the last two games. The Bulldogs could have easily been eliminated in the second round. I predict their luck runs out and Cinderella loses her shoe – NCAA Best Bet – Wisconsin ML -210.
