B1G/NCAA basketball

[hack]

I had no idea he actually had a W against Krzyzewski either.

Heh. That's a little harsh though. He's only been outdated for most of this decade, not the previous ones.

[hack]

This is difficult. I have M over Va in one FF matchup, and Duke over Purdue. At that point forget analysis -- I can't pick Duke over M.

-Jay Wright very rarely gets past the 16s. This would be a better year than most to call Nova deep into the tourney, as it seems the Shockers are a little soft guarding the three-point line, and Wright has Brunson. Anyone seen either of these teams and can comment? But I don't know that Jay Wright gets past both the Shockers AND Purdue. Ultimately those games are just tossups for me.

-No way I can ride Tennessee with Rick Barnes and a bunch of kids that never made the tournament before.

-Kentucky over Arizona is a fairly easy call IMO

-Not sure what to do about Kansas/Duke other than that by the end of the day I may switch and have Kansas beating Duke.

[hack]

About Michigan, we've seen UNC already this year, the December version of us did hang with them for 15 minutes, and this'll be neutral site. They too are coming into the tournament hot. I think that's the hardest call. If Michigan gets to the FF, they'll win a game in it for sure. I'm surer of that than that they get by UNC.

[Cody_Russell]

This is difficult. I have M over Va in one FF matchup, and Duke over Purdue. .

I took Virginia out of my final 4 when De’Andre Hunter was announced to be done for the season. Important 6th man that really has been good since January.
Virginia fans aren’t optimistic after hearing this:

https://247sports.com/college/virginia/Board/16/Contents/Virginia-Cavaliers-Basketball-March-Madness-2018-NCAA-Tournament-UVA-announces-DeAndre-Hunter-is-out-for-season-116198628

Cincinnati, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arizona... someone has a shot at knocking off Virginia.

[hack]

Yeah, I just don't know who I can see taking them out. Is Kentucky really that good? These kinds of Kentucky teams can really get up a head of steam come March, like the '14 team Michigan lost to. But still. Tennessee has nobody whose been in a tournament before. Barnes is neither here nor there as a coach. Cincy? Dunno. Seems like a lesser version of VA from a lesser conference.

[The Oracle]

I don't think UK/Az is easy. Az has as much talent as anyone. UK has been shooting the ball better than they have all year, let's see of that keeps up. I'd bet the spread is something like UA -2 or 3 and I'd take that.

[iam416]

I think I've seen enough to go into full P12 Fade Mode. I sort of already have -- backed the Bonnies with some conviction and Syracuse as more of flier.

I do think that Arizona is actually good, but I'm now inclined to back Buffalo +8'.

The P12 went 1-8 in the CFB Postseason and, I think, 1-8 ATS. They are now 0-2 in the CBB Postseason and 0-2 ATS.

[The Oracle]

I don't disagree with any of that, even tho I won't touch buffalo.

I'm gonna be hammering tcu if it's less than 5, I almost fell asleep a few times Syracuse had the ball...what a shitty offense. That and I like the history between Dixon and Boeheim.

[iam416]

I quit watching the game. House Hunters was more entertaining. I watched most of the first half and assumed Syracuse would grind it out unless ASU caught fire.

I'm not sure how much I trust TCU. I think it very likely that the game is played at Syracuse's tempo, which is death. TCU almost never plays in the 60s, but they did the last two times they played KSU and it wasn't great (they're 1-2 when scoring less than 70 -- only 3 times all year!).

I wish I had a better feel for conference strength. My gut feeling is that the B12 is overvalued and the ACC is not. I also think the B10 is hot fucking garbage. No offense to your boys, but I have a hard time putting much faith in any B10 to go past the S16.

Alright "The" Oracle (or anyone else) - here's the contest -- pick half the games each day (your call) -- each win is a point; asterisk up 1 pick that is your lightning pick -- receives a 2 point bonus if correct for a total of 3 points if you hit it. Use SBROdds (https://www.sportsbookreview.com/betting-odds/)

Today I like:

URI -2
Duke -20' (LIGHTNING)
Greensboro +12'
NCS +2'
Kentucky -5
San Diego State +4
Buffalo +8'
St. Bonaventure +5'

[The Oracle]

I quit watching the game. House Hunters was more entertaining. I watched most of the first half and assumed Syracuse would grind it out unless ASU caught fire.

I'm not sure how much I trust TCU. I think it very likely that the game is played at Syracuse's tempo, which is death. TCU almost never plays in the 60s, but they did the last two times they played KSU and it wasn't great (they're 1-2 when scoring less than 70 -- only 3 times all year!).

I wish I had a better feel for conference strength. My gut feeling is that the B12 is overvalued and the ACC is not. I also think the B10 is hot fucking garbage. No offense to your boys, but I have a hard time putting much faith in any B10 to go past the S16.

Alright "The" Oracle (or anyone else) - here's the contest -- pick half the games each day (your call) -- each win is a point; asterisk up 1 pick that is your lightning pick -- receives a 2 point bonus if correct for a total of 3 points if you hit it. Use SBROdds (https://www.sportsbookreview.com/betting-odds/)

Today I like:

URI -2
Duke -20' (LIGHTNING)
Greensboro +12'
NCS +2'
Kentucky -5
San Diego State +4
Buffalo +8'
St. Bonaventure +5'

You have anything going on for paypalable or venmoable dollars? Not looking for anything large but looking for something more than the couple brackets and DegenTalent usually has some cool stuff.

This is good too, will look harder when I get up and around.

[The Oracle]

I quit watching the game. House Hunters was more entertaining. I watched most of the first half and assumed Syracuse would grind it out unless ASU caught fire.

I'm not sure how much I trust TCU. I think it very likely that the game is played at Syracuse's tempo, which is death. TCU almost never plays in the 60s, but they did the last two times they played KSU and it wasn't great (they're 1-2 when scoring less than 70 -- only 3 times all year!).

I wish I had a better feel for conference strength. My gut feeling is that the B12 is overvalued and the ACC is not. I also think the B10 is hot fucking garbage. No offense to your boys, but I have a hard time putting much faith in any B10 to go past the S16.

Alright "The" Oracle (or anyone else) - here's the contest -- pick half the games each day (your call) -- each win is a point; asterisk up 1 pick that is your lightning pick -- receives a 2 point bonus if correct for a total of 3 points if you hit it. Use SBROdds (https://www.sportsbookreview.com/betting-odds/)

Today I like:

URI -2
Duke -20' (LIGHTNING)
Greensboro +12'
NCS +2'
Kentucky -5
San Diego State +4
Buffalo +8'
St. Bonaventure +5'

Wright State +12
South Dakota State +7.5
Virginia Tech -2
Kentucky -5
Loyola +1.5 (LIGHTNING aka Triple Lock Shocker)
NCSt +2.5
SDSU +4
St. B +5.5

[iam416]

I usually don't do much for the NCAAs. I run so much CFB/NFL shit that I usually take a break. And, TBH, brackets are brackets. Anyone can run them and collect money. Going beyond brackets to something really interesting is tough. Last time I went full on degen for NCAAs was 1992. Drove from Columbus to Pittsburgh for a Carnegie-Mellon team auction (payouts based on performance and awarded as percentage of total pot). Contribute $400 to consortium that bought USC and Harold Miner. That was roughly $200 more than I could afford to lose. James fucking Forrest's bullshit 3 at the buzzer sent USC home in the 2nd round. I ate tuna fish for two weeks.

I've also done an auction (way less than the above) where you bought teams and played them against the spread. If you team covered but lost, you acquired the winning, non-cover team. That was truly degenerate because, well, you, at most, had spreads for one game. LOL.

However, I do have a low cost semi-interesting contest you can enter -- pick 8 teams. You have to pick 1 team from seeds 1 thru 5 and then 3 wildcards. You get points based on wins and the points are award per win X seed value. So, a 2-seed gets 2 points per win and a 16-seed gets 16. The 3 wildcards can be any seed.

Post your 8 teams if you're interested. I think it's only $20 or something, so hardly worth the time, but it does create a mild rooting interest.

Oh, I'm also running an Ohio Division 1 HS BB pool contest, but you're too late for that. Big upsets last night as Copley takes down Massilon Jackosn and DSL's beloved alma mater, Lorain, shocks state power St. Ed's.

[The Oracle]

However, I do have a low cost semi-interesting contest you can enter -- pick 8 teams. You have to pick 1 team from seeds 1 thru 5 and then 3 wildcards. You get points based on wins and the points are award per win X seed value. So, a 2-seed gets 2 points per win and a 16-seed gets 16. The 3 wildcards can be any seed.

Post your 8 teams if you're interested. I think it's only $20 or something, so hardly worth the time, but it does create a mild rooting interest.

See, this is what I'm talking about. I'm in. I'll get my teams together, lemme know where to send $$$.

[crashcourse]

link?

Villanova
North Carolina
Michigan state
Arizona
Kentucky

Kansas state
florida state
butler

take it off my 160 or whatever the balance is

[iam416]

The Oracle:

I sent you a private message -- just email the dude.

Crash:

Will do. I'll send him the picks and give him your email address so you can keep apprised of contest.