Sunday’s 6-pack:
Teams that played the easiest non-conference schedules this season:
(conference record)
— Minnesota (9-11)
— George Washington (4-14)
— Tulsa (7-11)
— Air Force (2-16)
— Fort Wayne (11-9)
— TCU (9-9)
Quote of the Day
“There’s a lot of baseball players that are like milk. Milk is only good when it’s fresh. And then as you leave it out a while, it spoils. There are some other baseball players that are like wine. … Those are the only two kinds. You’re either milk or you’re wine. There’s no in the middle.”
Phillies OF Nick Castellanos
Sunday’s quiz
NFL teams recovered only one of 31 onside kicks last year; which team recovered the one onside kick?
Saturday’s quiz
Syracuse-UConn played a 6-overtime game in the Big East tournament, back in 2009.
Friday’s quiz
Bryce Drew was Vanderbilt’s coach, the last time they made the NCAA Tournament in 2017; he is coaching Grand Canyon now.
*********************************************************
Long Beach State 83, Cal-Davis 68
Monday, Long Beach fired coach Dan Monson, who has been at Long Beach for 17 years.
Long Beach goes out and wins the Big West tournament, getting to NCAA’s for first time since 2012. Last three years, Long Beach is 43-22 in conference games; the AD looks like a jackass.
Long Beach actually paid a lot of Monson’s salary by playing guarantee games in November (Michigan, DePaul, USC, San Diego State this year); most of the $$$ they got for playing those games went to Monson. Long Beach wasn’t actually paying him that much out of their pocket.
— Big 14
Wisconsin 76, Purdue 75
Badgers shot 59.5% inside arc.
Wisconsin was 3-8 in its last 11 regular season games.
Purdue was 24-32 on foul line, Badgers 5-9.
Illinois 98, Nebraska 87
Illinois outscored Nebraska 58-34 in second half.
Terrence Shannon scored 40 points (13-16 on foul line)
Illini won eight of its last ten games.
— Big X
Iowa State 69, Houston 41
Iowa State outscored Houston 39-18 in second half.
Cyclones have won 11 of their last 13 games.
Iowa State forces turnovers 25.7% of time (#2)
— American
Temple 74, Florida Atlantic 73
11th-seed Temple has posted upset wins four nights in a row.
Temple is 8-2 in last ten games, which followed an 0-10 streak.
FAU looks like they’re still solidly in the Field of 68.
UAB 93, South Florida 83
UAB shot 61% inside arc.
Bulls won AAC regular season with a 16-2 mark, but they’re on bubble now.
Temple-UAB winner Sunday is a bid-stealer from a bubble team.
— SEC
Auburn 73, Mississippi State 66
Auburn shot 61.3% inside the arc.
Auburn has best eFG% defense in country.
Miss State had 17 offensive boards, but was 3-15 on the arc.
Florida 95, Texas A&M 90
Florida made 14-26 shots on the arc.
Gators scored 94 ppg in winning the last three days.
There were 67 foul shots in this game; lot of whistles.
— ACC
NC State 84, North Carolina 76
Wolfpack wins five games in five days to win its first ACC tournament since 1987.
State shot 59.5% inside the arc.
Tournament title kicks in a multi-year contract extension for coach Keatts.
— Word of the Day: Sláinte- means “health” in both Irish and Scottish Gaelic. It is commonly used as a drinking toast in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man.
Happy St Patrick’s Day.
— Big East
UConn 73, Marquette 57
First time UConn won a conference tournament since 2016 AAC tourney.
Huskies are 20-1 since Christmas.
UConn has #6 eFG% in country, #4 eFG% defense.
— Mountain West
New Mexico 68, San Diego State 61
Lobos won four days in a row, giving up 61 ppg.
New Mexico wins MW tournament for first time since 2014.
San Diego State was in MW tourney final for 7th straight year (3-4)
Ledee (25 points) was only Aztec to score more than 8 points.
— Ivy League
Brown 90, Princeton 81
#1-seed Princeton gets upset here.
Brown has only been in NCAA’s once (1986)
Yale 69, Cornell 57
Yale never trailed, held Big Red to 32.8% from floor.
Yale has won two of last four Ivy League tournaments.
— Pac-12
Oregon 75, Colorado 68
Ducks’ big man Dante was 12-12 from floor, scored 25 points.
Oregon won its last four games, is in NCAA’s for first time since 2021.
Colorado had its 8-game win streak snapped.
— Famous birthdays for March 17:
Cito Gaston, 80
Kurt Russell, 73
Gary Sinise, 69
Danny Ainge, 65
Sam Bowie, 63
Rob Lowe, 60
Rhys Hoskins, 31
— MAAC
Saint Peter’s 68, Fairfield 63
Fairfield led this game by 10 points early in 2nd half.
Saint Peter’s has won seven of its last nine games.
Stags missed their last 15 shots behind the arc.
— Mid-American
Akron 62, Kent State 61
Kent State scored to go ahead by a point with 0:06 left; one of their guys thought they were still losing. When Akron inbounded the ball, Kent State kid fouls the guy with the ball on purpose, giving the Zips foul shots with 0:04.8 left, which they made.
Kent PG Santiago played all 40:00 for third night in a row.
— Conference USA
Western Kentucky 78, Texas-El Paso 71
Hilltoppers trailed by 6 with 13:18 left in game.
WKU shot 57.1% inside the arc.
Hilltoppers are in NCAA’s for first time since 2013.
— America East
Vermont 66, UMass Lowell 61
Catamounts win America East tourney for 5th time in seven years.
Vermont was +8 in turnovers (14-6).
Vermont beat St John’s in November, lost to Virginia by 6.
— MEAC
Howard 70, Delaware State 67
Bison won 7 of last 8 games, after an 11-15 start.
Howard is in NCAA’s for second year in a row (22-13 LY)
Howard has a 6-9 graduate student, Seth Towns:
2016-17- scored 12.3 ppg at Harvard
2017-18- was Ivy League Player of Year at Harvard
2018-19- medical redshirt
2019-20- medical redshirt
2020-21- scored 3.8 ppg at Ohio State
2021-22- medical redshirt
2022-23- voluntarily took last year off
2023-24- is scoring 14.2 ppg for Howard.
— SWAC
Grambling 75, Texas Southern 66
Grambling is in the NCAA’s for the first time ever.
Tigers won nine of their last ten games.
Teams that played the easiest non-conference schedules this season:
(conference record)
— Minnesota (9-11)
— George Washington (4-14)
— Tulsa (7-11)
— Air Force (2-16)
— Fort Wayne (11-9)
— TCU (9-9)
Quote of the Day
“There’s a lot of baseball players that are like milk. Milk is only good when it’s fresh. And then as you leave it out a while, it spoils. There are some other baseball players that are like wine. … Those are the only two kinds. You’re either milk or you’re wine. There’s no in the middle.”
Phillies OF Nick Castellanos
Sunday’s quiz
NFL teams recovered only one of 31 onside kicks last year; which team recovered the one onside kick?
Saturday’s quiz
Syracuse-UConn played a 6-overtime game in the Big East tournament, back in 2009.
Friday’s quiz
Bryce Drew was Vanderbilt’s coach, the last time they made the NCAA Tournament in 2017; he is coaching Grand Canyon now.
*********************************************************
Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a Saturday full of basketball…….
— Big WestLong Beach State 83, Cal-Davis 68
Monday, Long Beach fired coach Dan Monson, who has been at Long Beach for 17 years.
Long Beach goes out and wins the Big West tournament, getting to NCAA’s for first time since 2012. Last three years, Long Beach is 43-22 in conference games; the AD looks like a jackass.
Long Beach actually paid a lot of Monson’s salary by playing guarantee games in November (Michigan, DePaul, USC, San Diego State this year); most of the $$$ they got for playing those games went to Monson. Long Beach wasn’t actually paying him that much out of their pocket.
— Big 14
Wisconsin 76, Purdue 75
Badgers shot 59.5% inside arc.
Wisconsin was 3-8 in its last 11 regular season games.
Purdue was 24-32 on foul line, Badgers 5-9.
Illinois 98, Nebraska 87
Illinois outscored Nebraska 58-34 in second half.
Terrence Shannon scored 40 points (13-16 on foul line)
Illini won eight of its last ten games.
— Big X
Iowa State 69, Houston 41
Iowa State outscored Houston 39-18 in second half.
Cyclones have won 11 of their last 13 games.
Iowa State forces turnovers 25.7% of time (#2)
— American
Temple 74, Florida Atlantic 73
11th-seed Temple has posted upset wins four nights in a row.
Temple is 8-2 in last ten games, which followed an 0-10 streak.
FAU looks like they’re still solidly in the Field of 68.
UAB 93, South Florida 83
UAB shot 61% inside arc.
Bulls won AAC regular season with a 16-2 mark, but they’re on bubble now.
Temple-UAB winner Sunday is a bid-stealer from a bubble team.
— SEC
Auburn 73, Mississippi State 66
Auburn shot 61.3% inside the arc.
Auburn has best eFG% defense in country.
Miss State had 17 offensive boards, but was 3-15 on the arc.
Florida 95, Texas A&M 90
Florida made 14-26 shots on the arc.
Gators scored 94 ppg in winning the last three days.
There were 67 foul shots in this game; lot of whistles.
— ACC
NC State 84, North Carolina 76
Wolfpack wins five games in five days to win its first ACC tournament since 1987.
State shot 59.5% inside the arc.
Tournament title kicks in a multi-year contract extension for coach Keatts.
— Word of the Day: Sláinte- means “health” in both Irish and Scottish Gaelic. It is commonly used as a drinking toast in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man.
Happy St Patrick’s Day.
— Big East
UConn 73, Marquette 57
First time UConn won a conference tournament since 2016 AAC tourney.
Huskies are 20-1 since Christmas.
UConn has #6 eFG% in country, #4 eFG% defense.
— Mountain West
New Mexico 68, San Diego State 61
Lobos won four days in a row, giving up 61 ppg.
New Mexico wins MW tournament for first time since 2014.
San Diego State was in MW tourney final for 7th straight year (3-4)
Ledee (25 points) was only Aztec to score more than 8 points.
— Ivy League
Brown 90, Princeton 81
#1-seed Princeton gets upset here.
Brown has only been in NCAA’s once (1986)
Yale 69, Cornell 57
Yale never trailed, held Big Red to 32.8% from floor.
Yale has won two of last four Ivy League tournaments.
— Pac-12
Oregon 75, Colorado 68
Ducks’ big man Dante was 12-12 from floor, scored 25 points.
Oregon won its last four games, is in NCAA’s for first time since 2021.
Colorado had its 8-game win streak snapped.
— Famous birthdays for March 17:
Cito Gaston, 80
Kurt Russell, 73
Gary Sinise, 69
Danny Ainge, 65
Sam Bowie, 63
Rob Lowe, 60
Rhys Hoskins, 31
— MAAC
Saint Peter’s 68, Fairfield 63
Fairfield led this game by 10 points early in 2nd half.
Saint Peter’s has won seven of its last nine games.
Stags missed their last 15 shots behind the arc.
— Mid-American
Akron 62, Kent State 61
Kent State scored to go ahead by a point with 0:06 left; one of their guys thought they were still losing. When Akron inbounded the ball, Kent State kid fouls the guy with the ball on purpose, giving the Zips foul shots with 0:04.8 left, which they made.
Kent PG Santiago played all 40:00 for third night in a row.
— Conference USA
Western Kentucky 78, Texas-El Paso 71
Hilltoppers trailed by 6 with 13:18 left in game.
WKU shot 57.1% inside the arc.
Hilltoppers are in NCAA’s for first time since 2013.
— America East
Vermont 66, UMass Lowell 61
Catamounts win America East tourney for 5th time in seven years.
Vermont was +8 in turnovers (14-6).
Vermont beat St John’s in November, lost to Virginia by 6.
— MEAC
Howard 70, Delaware State 67
Bison won 7 of last 8 games, after an 11-15 start.
Howard is in NCAA’s for second year in a row (22-13 LY)
Howard has a 6-9 graduate student, Seth Towns:
2016-17- scored 12.3 ppg at Harvard
2017-18- was Ivy League Player of Year at Harvard
2018-19- medical redshirt
2019-20- medical redshirt
2020-21- scored 3.8 ppg at Ohio State
2021-22- medical redshirt
2022-23- voluntarily took last year off
2023-24- is scoring 14.2 ppg for Howard.
— SWAC
Grambling 75, Texas Southern 66
Grambling is in the NCAA’s for the first time ever.
Tigers won nine of their last ten games.
AUBURN is 7-0 ATS (7 Units) after failing to cover 2 of their last 3 against the spread in the current season.
ILLINOIS are 7-0 ATS (7 Units) in road games when the line is +3 to -3 in the current season.
BROWN is 8-1 ATS (6.9 Units) in road games after a conference game in the current season.
VA COMMONWEALTH is 9-1 ATS (7.9 Units) in road games after 1 or more consecutive unders in the current season.
TEMPLE is 8-0 ATS (8 Units) revenging a loss vs opponent of 10 points or more over the last 2 seasons.
NCAAB
Armadillo's Write-Up
Sunday, March 17
Sunday’s 5 interesting games
Ivy League
Brown vs Yale
Brown (13-17, 9-6)
KenPom rating: 42
Tempo: 278
Experience: 46
Continuity: 44
Brown won last seven games, after starting season 6-17.
Bears covered their last eight games overall.
Brown has rebounded 32.8% of its missed shots in Ivy games (#1)
Opponents are shooting 52.6% inside arc (#285)
Brown has only been in NCAA’s once (1986)
Brown is 2-5 vs teams ranked in top 100.
Bears played four starters 31:00+ yesterday.
Yale (21-9, 12-3)
KenPom rating: 81
Tempo: 327
Experience: 236
Continuity: 21
Yale won four its last five games.
Bulldogs are 12-2 ATS as an Ivy League favorite.
Yale played its starters 32:00+ in yesterday’s 69-57 win.
Bulldogs are #14 team in country in defensive boards.
Yale is 8-8 vs teams ranked in top 200.
Yale is 2-2 in the finals of the Ivy tournament.
Road team won both series games this season.
Brown won 84-81 in OT at Yale last Saturday.
Yale won 16 of last 18 meetings with Brown.
SEC tournament (@ Nashville)
Florida vs Auburn
Florida (24-10, 14-7)
KenPom rating: 25
Tempo: 18
Experience: 77
Continuity: 284
Florida won last three nites, scoring 84 ppg.
Florida is 4-3 ATS as an SEC underdog.
Only two starters played more than 28:00 Saturday.
Gators are #6 team in country on offensive boards.
Florida played last 3 days, 79-80-75 possession games (fast-paced)
Last time Gators won SEC tournament: 2014.
Florida is 7-7 vs top 50 teams.
Auburn (26-7, 15-5)
KenPom rating: 4
Tempo: 62
Experience: 119
Continuity: 78
Auburn won its last five games, four by 14+ points.
Tigers are 13-5 ATS as an SEC favorite.
Auburn has #1 eFG% defense in country.
Tigers are 14-7 vs teams in the top 100.
Tigers won SEC tourney in 2019; since 2006, they’re 10-15 in this event.
Only two Auburn guys played more than 23:00 Saturday.
Auburn (-1.5) lost 81-65 at Florida February 10.
Florida won four of last six games vs Auburn.
Atlantic 15 tournament (@ Brooklyn, NY)
Duquesne vs VCU
Duquesne (23-11, 13-8)
KenPom rating: 90
Tempo: 248
Experience: 46
Continuity: 94
Duquesne won seven in a row, 14 of its last 17 games.
Dukes are 4-3 ATS as an A-15 underdog.
Duquesne started A-15 play 0-5 in January, then got rolling.
Dukes are forcing turnovers 19.3% of time (#52)
Duquesne hasn’t played in NCAA Tournament since 1977.
Dukes are 7-8 vs top 100 teams.
Duquesne played three guys 31:00+ Saturday.
VCU (26-7, 15-5)
KenPom rating: 76
Tempo: 302
Experience: 218
Continuity: 340
VCU won its last three games, giving up 60.3 ppg.
Rams are 9-4 ATS in last 13 games as a favorite.
VCU has #27 eFG% defense in country.
VCU is shooting 36.1% on arc (#54)
Rams are 8-8 vs teams in top 100.
VCU won its conference tournament LY, for first time since 2015.
Rams played three guys 35:00+ last night.
Duquesne (+5.5) won 69-59 at VCU 12 days ago.
Dukes won three of last four series games.
AAC tournament (@ Fort Worth, TX)
Temple vs UAB
Temple (16-19, 9-13)
KenPom rating: 180
Tempo: 238
Experience: 112
Continuity: 265
Temple won five in row, 8 of last 10 games.
Owls are playing for fifth day in a row.
Temple played three starters 34:00+ in Saturday’s upset of FAU.
Temple is 4-12 vs teams in the top 125.
Owls haven’t won a conference tournament since 2010.
At one point this season, Temple lost ten games in a row.
Owls are shooting 44.7% inside arc (#346)
UAB (22-11, 14-6)
KenPom rating: 106
Tempo: 160
Experience: 219
Continuity: 242
UAB won/covered its last four games.
Blazers are 8-3 ATS as an AAC favorite.
Blazers are #20 team in country on offensive boards.
UAB gets 23.2% of its points on foul line (#20)
UAB is 12-5 vs teams ranked outside the top 100.
Last three years, UAB is 7-1 on conference tournaments.
Only two Blazers played more than 29:00 Saturday.
UAB (-7) pounded Temple 100-72 in Philly 11 days ago.
That was teams’ first meeting as AAC rivals.
Big 14 tournament (@ Minneapolis)
Wisconsin vs Illinois
Wisconsin (22-12, 14-9)
KenPom rating: 307
Tempo: 17
Experience: 48
Continuity: 8
Wisconsin won last three days, upsetting #1-seed Purdue yesterday.
Badgers played four guys 31:00+ in Saturday’s OT win.
Badgers are 4-2 ATS as a Big 14 underdog.
Opponents are shooting 37.2% on arc (#347).
Wisconsin is #13 team in country on defensive boards.
Wisconsin is 9-6 vs teams ranked in top 50.
Badgers haven’t won a conference tournament since 2015.
Illinois (25-8, 16-6)
KenPom rating: 10
Tempo: 57
Experience: 10
Continuity: 144
Illinois won six of its last seven games.
Illini is 8-8 ATS as a Big 14 favorite.
Illini has #50 eFG% in country, #51 eFG% defense.
Illinois is #18 team in country on offensive boards.
Illini won this tournament three years ago.
Illinois is 8-6 vs teams in top 50.
Illini outscored Nebraska 58-36 in 2nd half of Saturday’s win
Illinois played four guys 33:00+.
Illinois (+2) won 91-83 at Wisconsin March 2.
Illini won last seven series games.
NCAAB
Dunkel
Sunday, March 17
NCAAB
Long Sheet
Sunday, March 17
ILLINOIS are 7-0 ATS (7 Units) in road games when the line is +3 to -3 in the current season.
BROWN is 8-1 ATS (6.9 Units) in road games after a conference game in the current season.
VA COMMONWEALTH is 9-1 ATS (7.9 Units) in road games after 1 or more consecutive unders in the current season.
TEMPLE is 8-0 ATS (8 Units) revenging a loss vs opponent of 10 points or more over the last 2 seasons.
NCAAB
Armadillo's Write-Up
Sunday, March 17
Sunday’s 5 interesting games
Ivy League
Brown vs Yale
Brown (13-17, 9-6)
KenPom rating: 42
Tempo: 278
Experience: 46
Continuity: 44
Brown won last seven games, after starting season 6-17.
Bears covered their last eight games overall.
Brown has rebounded 32.8% of its missed shots in Ivy games (#1)
Opponents are shooting 52.6% inside arc (#285)
Brown has only been in NCAA’s once (1986)
Brown is 2-5 vs teams ranked in top 100.
Bears played four starters 31:00+ yesterday.
Yale (21-9, 12-3)
KenPom rating: 81
Tempo: 327
Experience: 236
Continuity: 21
Yale won four its last five games.
Bulldogs are 12-2 ATS as an Ivy League favorite.
Yale played its starters 32:00+ in yesterday’s 69-57 win.
Bulldogs are #14 team in country in defensive boards.
Yale is 8-8 vs teams ranked in top 200.
Yale is 2-2 in the finals of the Ivy tournament.
Road team won both series games this season.
Brown won 84-81 in OT at Yale last Saturday.
Yale won 16 of last 18 meetings with Brown.
SEC tournament (@ Nashville)
Florida vs Auburn
Florida (24-10, 14-7)
KenPom rating: 25
Tempo: 18
Experience: 77
Continuity: 284
Florida won last three nites, scoring 84 ppg.
Florida is 4-3 ATS as an SEC underdog.
Only two starters played more than 28:00 Saturday.
Gators are #6 team in country on offensive boards.
Florida played last 3 days, 79-80-75 possession games (fast-paced)
Last time Gators won SEC tournament: 2014.
Florida is 7-7 vs top 50 teams.
Auburn (26-7, 15-5)
KenPom rating: 4
Tempo: 62
Experience: 119
Continuity: 78
Auburn won its last five games, four by 14+ points.
Tigers are 13-5 ATS as an SEC favorite.
Auburn has #1 eFG% defense in country.
Tigers are 14-7 vs teams in the top 100.
Tigers won SEC tourney in 2019; since 2006, they’re 10-15 in this event.
Only two Auburn guys played more than 23:00 Saturday.
Auburn (-1.5) lost 81-65 at Florida February 10.
Florida won four of last six games vs Auburn.
Atlantic 15 tournament (@ Brooklyn, NY)
Duquesne vs VCU
Duquesne (23-11, 13-8)
KenPom rating: 90
Tempo: 248
Experience: 46
Continuity: 94
Duquesne won seven in a row, 14 of its last 17 games.
Dukes are 4-3 ATS as an A-15 underdog.
Duquesne started A-15 play 0-5 in January, then got rolling.
Dukes are forcing turnovers 19.3% of time (#52)
Duquesne hasn’t played in NCAA Tournament since 1977.
Dukes are 7-8 vs top 100 teams.
Duquesne played three guys 31:00+ Saturday.
VCU (26-7, 15-5)
KenPom rating: 76
Tempo: 302
Experience: 218
Continuity: 340
VCU won its last three games, giving up 60.3 ppg.
Rams are 9-4 ATS in last 13 games as a favorite.
VCU has #27 eFG% defense in country.
VCU is shooting 36.1% on arc (#54)
Rams are 8-8 vs teams in top 100.
VCU won its conference tournament LY, for first time since 2015.
Rams played three guys 35:00+ last night.
Duquesne (+5.5) won 69-59 at VCU 12 days ago.
Dukes won three of last four series games.
AAC tournament (@ Fort Worth, TX)
Temple vs UAB
Temple (16-19, 9-13)
KenPom rating: 180
Tempo: 238
Experience: 112
Continuity: 265
Temple won five in row, 8 of last 10 games.
Owls are playing for fifth day in a row.
Temple played three starters 34:00+ in Saturday’s upset of FAU.
Temple is 4-12 vs teams in the top 125.
Owls haven’t won a conference tournament since 2010.
At one point this season, Temple lost ten games in a row.
Owls are shooting 44.7% inside arc (#346)
UAB (22-11, 14-6)
KenPom rating: 106
Tempo: 160
Experience: 219
Continuity: 242
UAB won/covered its last four games.
Blazers are 8-3 ATS as an AAC favorite.
Blazers are #20 team in country on offensive boards.
UAB gets 23.2% of its points on foul line (#20)
UAB is 12-5 vs teams ranked outside the top 100.
Last three years, UAB is 7-1 on conference tournaments.
Only two Blazers played more than 29:00 Saturday.
UAB (-7) pounded Temple 100-72 in Philly 11 days ago.
That was teams’ first meeting as AAC rivals.
Big 14 tournament (@ Minneapolis)
Wisconsin vs Illinois
Wisconsin (22-12, 14-9)
KenPom rating: 307
Tempo: 17
Experience: 48
Continuity: 8
Wisconsin won last three days, upsetting #1-seed Purdue yesterday.
Badgers played four guys 31:00+ in Saturday’s OT win.
Badgers are 4-2 ATS as a Big 14 underdog.
Opponents are shooting 37.2% on arc (#347).
Wisconsin is #13 team in country on defensive boards.
Wisconsin is 9-6 vs teams ranked in top 50.
Badgers haven’t won a conference tournament since 2015.
Illinois (25-8, 16-6)
KenPom rating: 10
Tempo: 57
Experience: 10
Continuity: 144
Illinois won six of its last seven games.
Illini is 8-8 ATS as a Big 14 favorite.
Illini has #50 eFG% in country, #51 eFG% defense.
Illinois is #18 team in country on offensive boards.
Illini won this tournament three years ago.
Illinois is 8-6 vs teams in top 50.
Illini outscored Nebraska 58-36 in 2nd half of Saturday’s win
Illinois played four guys 33:00+.
Illinois (+2) won 91-83 at Wisconsin March 2.
Illini won last seven series games.
NCAAB
Dunkel
Sunday, March 17
NCAAB
Long Sheet
Sunday, March 17
Monday’s 6-pack:
Highest-rated teams that missed the NCAA Tournament:
— St John’s
— Wake Forest
— Villanova
— Cincinnati
— Pittsburgh
— Oklahoma
Quote of the Day
“I knew it was going to be hard, especially when we’re building off of not much tradition……I was the most relaxed I’ve ever been. I just tried to enjoy it for the first time in my life.”
Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot; Dukes are in NCAAs for first time since 1977
Monday’s quiz
In the movie Oceans Eleven, what famous actress played George Clooney’s wife?
Sunday’s quiz
NFL teams recovered only one of 31 onside kicks last year; Arizona Cardinals recovered the one onside kick.
Saturday’s quiz
Syracuse-UConn played a 6-overtime game in the Big East tournament, back in 2009.
************************************************
Tuesday’s games
Colorado State-Virginia
Since 2019, Virginia has been in the NCAA’s four times:
In 2019, Virginia won the national title.
The other three years, Virginia lost in the first round.
Wagner-Howard
NEC teams are 5-5 in play-in games.
MEAC teams are 4-4 in play-in games.
Wagner went 7-9 in the 2nd-worst league in the country.
Wednesday’s games
Colorado-Boise State
All-time, Boise State is 0-9 in NCAA Tournament games, the most tournament games any team has played without getting a win.
Grambling-Montana State
Montana State is in NCAA’s for 3rd year in a row, but this year, they went 9-9 in Big Sky games. The last two years, Bobcats were 31-7 in Big Sky games.
This is Grambling’s first-ever NCAA Tournament game.
Thursday’s games
South Dakota State-Iowa State
Since 2012, Jackrabbits are 0-6 in NCAA Tournament games, 2-3-1 ATS.
From 2017-19, Iowa State coach Otzelberger went 70-33 coaching South Dakota State.
Saint Peter’s-Tennessee
Since 2003, MAAC teams are 6-13 ATS in first round games, but 3-1 the last four years. Peacocks were in the Elite 8 two years ago, but the coach/players from that team have moved on.
Last five years, Tennessee is 4-1 SU/2-3 ATS in first round games.
Long Beach State-Arizona
From 1983-2007, Lute Olson went 589-187 coaching Arizona, winning a national title in 1997. Olson also coached Long Beach State for a year; he replaced Jerry Tarkanian there in 1973-74, going 24-2; he left after a year to coach Iowa.
Dan Monson has coached Long Beach State for 17 years (275-272), but got fired last week; he made the NCAA’s at Long Beach one other time, in
2012.
Morehead State-Illinois
Illinois coach Underwood has made NCAA’s seven times, for three different schools; he is 4-3 SU/ATS in first round games.
Oakland-Kentucky
Oakland is in NCAA’s for first time since 2011; over last 11 years, Horizon teams are 4-7 ATS in first round games.
Under John Calipari, Kentucky is 5-6 ATS in first round games.
Akron-Creighton
Last seven years, MAC teams are 3-4 SU/6-1 ATS in first round games.
Under McDermott, Creighton is 6-2 SU/4-4 ATS in first round games. This is second time Bluejays have been a #3-seed, tied for best seed Creighton has been under McDermott.
Samford-Kansas
Jayhawks have injury issues: Dickinson/McKullar didn’t play in the Big X tournament. Kansas lost four of its last five games.
14 of the last 15 years, a #4-seed lost in the first round. Is Samford good enough to pull an upset?
McNeese State-Gonzaga
While coaching at VCU/LSU, McNeese coach Will Wade was 3-2 SU in first round games. This season, his first at McNeese, Wade has the Cowboys at 30-3, their first winning season since 2012- they’ve won games at VCU, UAB and Michigan.
Since 2003, Gonzaga is 18-2 SU/9-11 ATS in first round games; last time they lost a first round game was 2008, as a #7-seed, to Seth Curry’s Davidson team.
Duquesne-BYU
Duquesne is in NCAA’s for first time since 1977; their coach is Keith Dambrot, who was Lebron James’ high school coach.
BYU is in NCAA’s for only 2nd time since 2015; they haven’t won an NCAA Tournament game since 2012.
NC State-Texas Tech
Wolfpack won five games in five days to win ACC Tournament, and get to this point; they went 2-7 in their last nine regular season games.
Texas Tech is shooting 36.5% on the arc (#38), getting 33.9% of their points on 3’s (#84).
Oregon-South Carolina
Much like NC State, Ducks were a surprise winner of their conference tournament. Under Dana Altman, Oregon is 7-0 SU in first round games in the NCAA’s.
This is South Carolina’s 2nd NCAA bid since 2004; they made the Final 4 as a #7-seed in 2017, when Frank Martin was coach.
Drake-Washington State
Bulldogs have #27 eFG% in country, they get good shots. Their best player is Tucker DeVries, the coach’s son; he is shooting 36.4% on arc. Drake is #1 team in country on defensive boards.
Washington State is in NCAA’s for first time since 2008; they’ve got the #35 eFG% defense.
Nevada-Dayton
Nevada won 7 of its last 8 games; CBS left them hanging a little when they announced the brackets- they have to be relieved to be in the tournament. In his coaching career, Steve Alford is 7-5 in first round games.
Dayton split its last four games, after a 21-4 start; they’re shooting 40.2% on the arc, #3 in the country.
Michigan State-Mississippi State
Spartans got in tournament despite losing five of their last seven games. Coach Izzo won five of his last six first round games.
Mississippi State also lost five of its last seven games; coach Jans is in NCAA’s for 5th time in last six years. Bulldogs are #21 team in country on the offensive boards.
Friday’s games
Northwestern-Florida Atlantic
Northwestern is in NCAA’s for 2nd year in row, 3rd time in 8 years; they went 10-2 outside the Big 14, with a #355 non-conference strength of schedule.
FAU was in the Final Four LY, as a #9-seed; they have wins this year over Arizona, Texas A&M and Virginia Tech- they lost 98-89 to Illinois.
Colgate-Baylor
Last 10 years, Patriot League teams are 4-6 ATS in first round games; Colgate went 2-2 ATS the last four years, with losses by 7-17-7-20 points.
Since 2016, Baylor is 5-1 SU/4-2 ATS in first round games.
Alabama-Birmingham-San Diego State
UAB won its last five games; they’re only in because they won the AAC Tournament. Blazers are 8-6 vs top 100 teams this season.
San Diego State lost the national title game LY, after losing in first round the first two years before that
.
Western Kentucky-Marquette
Hilltoppers play the fastest tempo of any team in country; they won the C-USA Tournament, after losing their last four regular season games. WKU split two games with #95 Louisiana Tech, the best team they played this season.
Marquette’s star G Kolek (oblique) missed the last six games, which Marquette split. Shaka Smart got VCU to the Final Four in 2011; since 2014, he is 1-6 in first round games (beat Vermont 78-61 last year).
Stetson-UConn
Stetson (Jacob deGrom’s alma mater) is in NCAA’s for first time. Over last 10 years, A-SUN teams are 4-6 SU/7-3 ATS in first round games.
UConn won national title last year, after losing in first round the first two years before that. Last six years, #1-seeds are 10-14 ATS in first round games.
New Mexico-Clemson
New Mexico allowed 76+ points in seven of its eight losses. Last eight years, underdogs are 18-14 ATS in first round games between #6-11 seeds.
Clemson lost three of its last four games; since 1998, Tigers are 1-6 SU in first round games.
Yale-Auburn
Yale was down 6 with 0:27 left Sunday, rallied to pull out the win and the Ivy League title. Bulldogs are in NCAA’s for third time in five years; since 2010, Ivy League teams are 9-3 ATS in first round games.
Auburn won its last six games, five of them by 14+ points; in his career, Bruce Pearl is 8-4 SU/5-7 ATS in first round games, 3-7 as a favorite.
Texas A&M-Nebraska
Aggies have #345 eFG% in country; they’re #1 in country on offensive boards. A&M won five of its last six games, after an 0-5 skid.
Nebraska has #15 eFG% defense in country.
This year, SEC teams are 9-4 SU/ATS against Big 14 opponents.
Vermont-Duke
Vermont is in NCAA’s for 5th time in last seven tournaments; they went 2-2 ATS in previous four NCAA games.
Duke is 4-2-1 ATS in its last seven 1st round games. Last five years, #4-seeds are 6-14 ATS in first round games.
Charleston-Alabama
Charleston won its last 12 games; LY, they had won 10 in row before losing 63-57 to San Diego State in first round. CAA teams lost their last 10 first-round games (0-4 ATS last four).
Alabama lost four of its last six games, giving up 100+ points three times.
Early total on this game is 171.5; Alabama plays pace #9, Charleston #59.
Longwood-Houston
Big South teams haven’t won a first round game since 2007 (Winthrop); since 2008, they’re 4-9 ATS in this round. Longwood went 6-10 in Big South this year; they played #344 non-conference schedule.
Houston has #2 eFG% defense in country; they’re #13 team on offensive boards.
James Madison-Wisconsin
Dukes won their last 13 games, longest current win streak in country; they’ve got #24 eFG% defense, #34 eFG%, but that was against schedule #293.
Under Gard, Wisconsin is 4-1 SU/ATS in first round games. Badgers went 3-1 in Big 14 tournament, after losing 8 of last 11 regular season games.
TCU-Utah State
TCU won first round games last two years, 69-42/72-70. Horned Frogs are forcing turnovers 20.8% of time (#22); they’re #20 team on offensive boards.
Utah State won six of its last seven games; they’re 12-1 out of conference, vs schedule #141. Aggies were in three of last four NCAA’s, but lost in first round all three times.
Grand Canyon-Saint Mary’s
Grand Canyon is in NCAA’s for 3rd time in four years; they lost other two games, by 12 points each. Antelopes have #10 eFG% defense in country. WAC teams are 4-2 SU/6-0 ATS against WCC opponents, but none of games were against Gonzaga/Saint Mary’s.
Saint Mary’s is best rebounding team in country; since 2017, Gaels are 3-1 in first round games, winning last two years in first round, by 29-12 points.
Highest-rated teams that missed the NCAA Tournament:
— St John’s
— Wake Forest
— Villanova
— Cincinnati
— Pittsburgh
— Oklahoma
Quote of the Day
“I knew it was going to be hard, especially when we’re building off of not much tradition……I was the most relaxed I’ve ever been. I just tried to enjoy it for the first time in my life.”
Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot; Dukes are in NCAAs for first time since 1977
Monday’s quiz
In the movie Oceans Eleven, what famous actress played George Clooney’s wife?
Sunday’s quiz
NFL teams recovered only one of 31 onside kicks last year; Arizona Cardinals recovered the one onside kick.
Saturday’s quiz
Syracuse-UConn played a 6-overtime game in the Big East tournament, back in 2009.
************************************************
Monday’s Den: Quick thoughts after seeing the brackets…….
Some quick thoughts on each of the four play-in games, and the 28 first round games where we know the matchups. After this, I’m off to study………Tuesday’s games
Colorado State-Virginia
Since 2019, Virginia has been in the NCAA’s four times:
In 2019, Virginia won the national title.
The other three years, Virginia lost in the first round.
Wagner-Howard
NEC teams are 5-5 in play-in games.
MEAC teams are 4-4 in play-in games.
Wagner went 7-9 in the 2nd-worst league in the country.
Wednesday’s games
Colorado-Boise State
All-time, Boise State is 0-9 in NCAA Tournament games, the most tournament games any team has played without getting a win.
Grambling-Montana State
Montana State is in NCAA’s for 3rd year in a row, but this year, they went 9-9 in Big Sky games. The last two years, Bobcats were 31-7 in Big Sky games.
This is Grambling’s first-ever NCAA Tournament game.
Thursday’s games
South Dakota State-Iowa State
Since 2012, Jackrabbits are 0-6 in NCAA Tournament games, 2-3-1 ATS.
From 2017-19, Iowa State coach Otzelberger went 70-33 coaching South Dakota State.
Saint Peter’s-Tennessee
Since 2003, MAAC teams are 6-13 ATS in first round games, but 3-1 the last four years. Peacocks were in the Elite 8 two years ago, but the coach/players from that team have moved on.
Last five years, Tennessee is 4-1 SU/2-3 ATS in first round games.
Long Beach State-Arizona
From 1983-2007, Lute Olson went 589-187 coaching Arizona, winning a national title in 1997. Olson also coached Long Beach State for a year; he replaced Jerry Tarkanian there in 1973-74, going 24-2; he left after a year to coach Iowa.
Dan Monson has coached Long Beach State for 17 years (275-272), but got fired last week; he made the NCAA’s at Long Beach one other time, in
2012.
Morehead State-Illinois
Illinois coach Underwood has made NCAA’s seven times, for three different schools; he is 4-3 SU/ATS in first round games.
Oakland-Kentucky
Oakland is in NCAA’s for first time since 2011; over last 11 years, Horizon teams are 4-7 ATS in first round games.
Under John Calipari, Kentucky is 5-6 ATS in first round games.
Akron-Creighton
Last seven years, MAC teams are 3-4 SU/6-1 ATS in first round games.
Under McDermott, Creighton is 6-2 SU/4-4 ATS in first round games. This is second time Bluejays have been a #3-seed, tied for best seed Creighton has been under McDermott.
Samford-Kansas
Jayhawks have injury issues: Dickinson/McKullar didn’t play in the Big X tournament. Kansas lost four of its last five games.
14 of the last 15 years, a #4-seed lost in the first round. Is Samford good enough to pull an upset?
McNeese State-Gonzaga
While coaching at VCU/LSU, McNeese coach Will Wade was 3-2 SU in first round games. This season, his first at McNeese, Wade has the Cowboys at 30-3, their first winning season since 2012- they’ve won games at VCU, UAB and Michigan.
Since 2003, Gonzaga is 18-2 SU/9-11 ATS in first round games; last time they lost a first round game was 2008, as a #7-seed, to Seth Curry’s Davidson team.
Duquesne-BYU
Duquesne is in NCAA’s for first time since 1977; their coach is Keith Dambrot, who was Lebron James’ high school coach.
BYU is in NCAA’s for only 2nd time since 2015; they haven’t won an NCAA Tournament game since 2012.
NC State-Texas Tech
Wolfpack won five games in five days to win ACC Tournament, and get to this point; they went 2-7 in their last nine regular season games.
Texas Tech is shooting 36.5% on the arc (#38), getting 33.9% of their points on 3’s (#84).
Oregon-South Carolina
Much like NC State, Ducks were a surprise winner of their conference tournament. Under Dana Altman, Oregon is 7-0 SU in first round games in the NCAA’s.
This is South Carolina’s 2nd NCAA bid since 2004; they made the Final 4 as a #7-seed in 2017, when Frank Martin was coach.
Drake-Washington State
Bulldogs have #27 eFG% in country, they get good shots. Their best player is Tucker DeVries, the coach’s son; he is shooting 36.4% on arc. Drake is #1 team in country on defensive boards.
Washington State is in NCAA’s for first time since 2008; they’ve got the #35 eFG% defense.
Nevada-Dayton
Nevada won 7 of its last 8 games; CBS left them hanging a little when they announced the brackets- they have to be relieved to be in the tournament. In his coaching career, Steve Alford is 7-5 in first round games.
Dayton split its last four games, after a 21-4 start; they’re shooting 40.2% on the arc, #3 in the country.
Michigan State-Mississippi State
Spartans got in tournament despite losing five of their last seven games. Coach Izzo won five of his last six first round games.
Mississippi State also lost five of its last seven games; coach Jans is in NCAA’s for 5th time in last six years. Bulldogs are #21 team in country on the offensive boards.
Friday’s games
Northwestern-Florida Atlantic
Northwestern is in NCAA’s for 2nd year in row, 3rd time in 8 years; they went 10-2 outside the Big 14, with a #355 non-conference strength of schedule.
FAU was in the Final Four LY, as a #9-seed; they have wins this year over Arizona, Texas A&M and Virginia Tech- they lost 98-89 to Illinois.
Colgate-Baylor
Last 10 years, Patriot League teams are 4-6 ATS in first round games; Colgate went 2-2 ATS the last four years, with losses by 7-17-7-20 points.
Since 2016, Baylor is 5-1 SU/4-2 ATS in first round games.
Alabama-Birmingham-San Diego State
UAB won its last five games; they’re only in because they won the AAC Tournament. Blazers are 8-6 vs top 100 teams this season.
San Diego State lost the national title game LY, after losing in first round the first two years before that
.
Western Kentucky-Marquette
Hilltoppers play the fastest tempo of any team in country; they won the C-USA Tournament, after losing their last four regular season games. WKU split two games with #95 Louisiana Tech, the best team they played this season.
Marquette’s star G Kolek (oblique) missed the last six games, which Marquette split. Shaka Smart got VCU to the Final Four in 2011; since 2014, he is 1-6 in first round games (beat Vermont 78-61 last year).
Stetson-UConn
Stetson (Jacob deGrom’s alma mater) is in NCAA’s for first time. Over last 10 years, A-SUN teams are 4-6 SU/7-3 ATS in first round games.
UConn won national title last year, after losing in first round the first two years before that. Last six years, #1-seeds are 10-14 ATS in first round games.
New Mexico-Clemson
New Mexico allowed 76+ points in seven of its eight losses. Last eight years, underdogs are 18-14 ATS in first round games between #6-11 seeds.
Clemson lost three of its last four games; since 1998, Tigers are 1-6 SU in first round games.
Yale-Auburn
Yale was down 6 with 0:27 left Sunday, rallied to pull out the win and the Ivy League title. Bulldogs are in NCAA’s for third time in five years; since 2010, Ivy League teams are 9-3 ATS in first round games.
Auburn won its last six games, five of them by 14+ points; in his career, Bruce Pearl is 8-4 SU/5-7 ATS in first round games, 3-7 as a favorite.
Texas A&M-Nebraska
Aggies have #345 eFG% in country; they’re #1 in country on offensive boards. A&M won five of its last six games, after an 0-5 skid.
Nebraska has #15 eFG% defense in country.
This year, SEC teams are 9-4 SU/ATS against Big 14 opponents.
Vermont-Duke
Vermont is in NCAA’s for 5th time in last seven tournaments; they went 2-2 ATS in previous four NCAA games.
Duke is 4-2-1 ATS in its last seven 1st round games. Last five years, #4-seeds are 6-14 ATS in first round games.
Charleston-Alabama
Charleston won its last 12 games; LY, they had won 10 in row before losing 63-57 to San Diego State in first round. CAA teams lost their last 10 first-round games (0-4 ATS last four).
Alabama lost four of its last six games, giving up 100+ points three times.
Early total on this game is 171.5; Alabama plays pace #9, Charleston #59.
Longwood-Houston
Big South teams haven’t won a first round game since 2007 (Winthrop); since 2008, they’re 4-9 ATS in this round. Longwood went 6-10 in Big South this year; they played #344 non-conference schedule.
Houston has #2 eFG% defense in country; they’re #13 team on offensive boards.
James Madison-Wisconsin
Dukes won their last 13 games, longest current win streak in country; they’ve got #24 eFG% defense, #34 eFG%, but that was against schedule #293.
Under Gard, Wisconsin is 4-1 SU/ATS in first round games. Badgers went 3-1 in Big 14 tournament, after losing 8 of last 11 regular season games.
TCU-Utah State
TCU won first round games last two years, 69-42/72-70. Horned Frogs are forcing turnovers 20.8% of time (#22); they’re #20 team on offensive boards.
Utah State won six of its last seven games; they’re 12-1 out of conference, vs schedule #141. Aggies were in three of last four NCAA’s, but lost in first round all three times.
Grand Canyon-Saint Mary’s
Grand Canyon is in NCAA’s for 3rd time in four years; they lost other two games, by 12 points each. Antelopes have #10 eFG% defense in country. WAC teams are 4-2 SU/6-0 ATS against WCC opponents, but none of games were against Gonzaga/Saint Mary’s.
Saint Mary’s is best rebounding team in country; since 2017, Gaels are 3-1 in first round games, winning last two years in first round, by 29-12 points.
PLAY-IN GAMES
Tuesday
WAGNER is 1-11 ATS (-11.1 Units) after covering 3 of their last 4 against the spread in the last 3 seasons.
COLORADO ST is 8-19 ATS (-12.9 Units) after having won 2 of their last 3 games in the last 3 seasons.
NCAAB
Armadillo's Write-Up
Tuesday, March 19
Tuesday’s play-in games (@ Dayton, OH)
Last seven years, favorites are 18-9-1 ATS in these play-in games; 8-6 in the 16-seed games, 10-3-1 in the 11-seed games.
Wagner vs Howard (-3.5)
Wagner (16-15)
KenPom rating: 293
Tempo: 361
Experience: 320
Continuity: 254
Wagner went 7-9 in NEC, 2nd-worst league in country.
Seahawks are in NCAAs for first time since 2003.
Wagner is shooting 42.8% inside arc (#358)
Seahawks are 13-10 vs teams ranked outside top 200.
Wagner is 4-6 in its D-I non-league games.
NEC teams are 5-5 in play-in games.
Howard (18-16)
KenPom rating: 276
Tempo: 163
Experience: 299
Continuity: 225
Howard won seven of its last eight games.
Bison is 4-10 in its D-I non-league games.
Howard is turning ball over 21.7% of time (#354)
Bison is shooting 37.5% on the arc (#19).
Howard is 15-10 vs teams ranked outside top 200.
MEAC teams are 4-4 in play-in games.
Colorado State (-1.5) vs Virginia
Colorado State (24-10)
KenPom rating: 38
Tempo: 270
Experience: 67
Continuity: 127
Colorado State won four of its last five games.
Rams are 10-1 in their D-I non-league games.
CSU is shooting 57.6% inside arc (#9).
Rams are 11-9 vs top 100 teams.
CSU is in NCAA’s for 2nd time in last 10 years.
Rams (+1.5) lost 75-63 to Michigan in ’22, as a #6-seed.
Virginia (26-7)
KenPom rating: 69
Tempo: 362
Experience: 102
Continuity: 223
Virginia is 4-5 in its last nine games.
Both their games in ACC Tournament went to overtime.
Cavaliers are shooting 46.8% inside arc (#310)
Virginia has #14 eFG% defense in country.
Cavaliers are 4-5 vs top 50 teams.
Virginia lost 3 of its last 4 first round games; the other year, they won the national championship.
ACC teams are 3-2 SU/ATS against Mountain West opponents this year.
Favorites covered all five games.
NCAAB
Long Sheet
Tuesday, March 19
Tuesday
WAGNER is 1-11 ATS (-11.1 Units) after covering 3 of their last 4 against the spread in the last 3 seasons.
COLORADO ST is 8-19 ATS (-12.9 Units) after having won 2 of their last 3 games in the last 3 seasons.
NCAAB
Armadillo's Write-Up
Tuesday, March 19
Tuesday’s play-in games (@ Dayton, OH)
Last seven years, favorites are 18-9-1 ATS in these play-in games; 8-6 in the 16-seed games, 10-3-1 in the 11-seed games.
Wagner vs Howard (-3.5)
Wagner (16-15)
KenPom rating: 293
Tempo: 361
Experience: 320
Continuity: 254
Wagner went 7-9 in NEC, 2nd-worst league in country.
Seahawks are in NCAAs for first time since 2003.
Wagner is shooting 42.8% inside arc (#358)
Seahawks are 13-10 vs teams ranked outside top 200.
Wagner is 4-6 in its D-I non-league games.
NEC teams are 5-5 in play-in games.
Howard (18-16)
KenPom rating: 276
Tempo: 163
Experience: 299
Continuity: 225
Howard won seven of its last eight games.
Bison is 4-10 in its D-I non-league games.
Howard is turning ball over 21.7% of time (#354)
Bison is shooting 37.5% on the arc (#19).
Howard is 15-10 vs teams ranked outside top 200.
MEAC teams are 4-4 in play-in games.
Colorado State (-1.5) vs Virginia
Colorado State (24-10)
KenPom rating: 38
Tempo: 270
Experience: 67
Continuity: 127
Colorado State won four of its last five games.
Rams are 10-1 in their D-I non-league games.
CSU is shooting 57.6% inside arc (#9).
Rams are 11-9 vs top 100 teams.
CSU is in NCAA’s for 2nd time in last 10 years.
Rams (+1.5) lost 75-63 to Michigan in ’22, as a #6-seed.
Virginia (26-7)
KenPom rating: 69
Tempo: 362
Experience: 102
Continuity: 223
Virginia is 4-5 in its last nine games.
Both their games in ACC Tournament went to overtime.
Cavaliers are shooting 46.8% inside arc (#310)
Virginia has #14 eFG% defense in country.
Cavaliers are 4-5 vs top 50 teams.
Virginia lost 3 of its last 4 first round games; the other year, they won the national championship.
ACC teams are 3-2 SU/ATS against Mountain West opponents this year.
Favorites covered all five games.
NCAAB
Long Sheet
Tuesday, March 19
PLAY-IN GAMES
Wednesday
MONTANA ST is 7-1 ATS (5.9 Units) after covering 3 of their last 4 against the spread in the current season.
BOISE ST is 8-1 ATS (6.9 Units) versus bad pressure defensive teams - forcing <=12 turnovers/game in the current season.
NCAAB
Dunkel
Wednesday, March 20
NCAAB
Armadillo's Write-up
Wednesday, March 20
Wednesday’s play-in games
Grambling vs Montana State (-3.5) (@ Dayton, OH)
Grambling (20-14)
KenPom rating: 267
Tempo: 314
Experience: 210
Continuity: 188
Grambling won SWAC regular season, going 14-4.
Tigers are 0-10 SU in their D-I non-conference games.
Grambling did play the #4 non-conference schedule.
Grambling is turning ball over 20.6% of time (#341)
Tigers are #334 team on defensive boards.
Grambling is 17-6 vs teams ranked outside top 200.
This is Grambling’s first-ever NCAA tourney game.
SWAC teams are 4-10 in play-in games.
Montana State (17-17)
KenPom rating: 213
Tempo: 96
Experience: 208
Continuity: 257
Montana State is in NCAA’s for 3rd year in a row.
TY, they went 9-9 in Big Sky; last two years, Bobcats were 31-7 in Big Sky.
Bobcats are 3-7 SU in their D-I non-conference games.
Opponents are shooting 54.1% inside arc (#333)
Montana State has #45 eFG% in country.
Bobcats are 9-7 vs teams ranked outside top 200.
Colorado (-2.5) vs Boise State
Colorado (24-10)
KenPom rating: 26
Tempo: 165
Experience: 178
Continuity: 61
Colorado won eight of its last nine games.
Buffs are 9-2 in non-conference games TY.
Colorado has #18 eFG% in the country.
Buffs are #15 team in country on defensive boards.
Colorado is 11-8 vs teams in top 100.
Colorado is in NCAA’s for 2nd time in four years.
Boise State (22-10)
KenPom rating: 39
Tempo: 221
Experience: 128
Continuity: 66
Boise State won six of its last eight games.
Broncos are 7-4 SU in their D-I non-conference games.
Opponents are shooting 52.1% inside arc (#258)
Boise State is #5 team in country on defensive boards.
Boise State is 6-7 vs top 50 teams.
All-time, Boise State is 0-9 in NCAA Tournament games.
Mountain West teams are 6-1 vs Pac-12 this season.
Only loss was Colorado’s 88-83 loss at Colorado State.
NCAAB
Long Sheet
Wednesday, March 20
Wednesday
MONTANA ST is 7-1 ATS (5.9 Units) after covering 3 of their last 4 against the spread in the current season.
BOISE ST is 8-1 ATS (6.9 Units) versus bad pressure defensive teams - forcing <=12 turnovers/game in the current season.
NCAAB
Dunkel
Wednesday, March 20
NCAAB
Armadillo's Write-up
Wednesday, March 20
Wednesday’s play-in games
Grambling vs Montana State (-3.5) (@ Dayton, OH)
Grambling (20-14)
KenPom rating: 267
Tempo: 314
Experience: 210
Continuity: 188
Grambling won SWAC regular season, going 14-4.
Tigers are 0-10 SU in their D-I non-conference games.
Grambling did play the #4 non-conference schedule.
Grambling is turning ball over 20.6% of time (#341)
Tigers are #334 team on defensive boards.
Grambling is 17-6 vs teams ranked outside top 200.
This is Grambling’s first-ever NCAA tourney game.
SWAC teams are 4-10 in play-in games.
Montana State (17-17)
KenPom rating: 213
Tempo: 96
Experience: 208
Continuity: 257
Montana State is in NCAA’s for 3rd year in a row.
TY, they went 9-9 in Big Sky; last two years, Bobcats were 31-7 in Big Sky.
Bobcats are 3-7 SU in their D-I non-conference games.
Opponents are shooting 54.1% inside arc (#333)
Montana State has #45 eFG% in country.
Bobcats are 9-7 vs teams ranked outside top 200.
Colorado (-2.5) vs Boise State
Colorado (24-10)
KenPom rating: 26
Tempo: 165
Experience: 178
Continuity: 61
Colorado won eight of its last nine games.
Buffs are 9-2 in non-conference games TY.
Colorado has #18 eFG% in the country.
Buffs are #15 team in country on defensive boards.
Colorado is 11-8 vs teams in top 100.
Colorado is in NCAA’s for 2nd time in four years.
Boise State (22-10)
KenPom rating: 39
Tempo: 221
Experience: 128
Continuity: 66
Boise State won six of its last eight games.
Broncos are 7-4 SU in their D-I non-conference games.
Opponents are shooting 52.1% inside arc (#258)
Boise State is #5 team in country on defensive boards.
Boise State is 6-7 vs top 50 teams.
All-time, Boise State is 0-9 in NCAA Tournament games.
Mountain West teams are 6-1 vs Pac-12 this season.
Only loss was Colorado’s 88-83 loss at Colorado State.
NCAAB
Long Sheet
Wednesday, March 20
Armadillo Sports
Tuesday’s 6-pack:
Interesting first round games in the NIT:
— South Florida-Central Florida
— Kansas State-Iowa
— North Texas-LSU
— Cornell-Ohio State
— Richmond-Virginia Tech
— Cal Irvine-Utah
Quote of the Day
“It’s like riding with Helen Keller!!!”
Overheard at lunch Monday, an older woman complaining about her husband’s driving
Tuesday’s quiz
Rangers’ manager Bruce Bochy has led three teams to a World Series; Texas and what other two teams?
Monday’s quiz
In the movie Oceans Eleven, Julia Roberts played George Clooney’s wife.
Sunday’s quiz
NFL teams recovered only one of 31 onside kicks last year; Arizona Cardinals recovered the one onside kick.
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— Late Monday night, Giants signed P Blake Snell for two years, $62M. Snell has won two Cy Young awards; he was 14-9, 2.25 for the Padres last year.
Here’s the thing about Snell; 32 starts last year, only 180 IP, 17 outs per game. You pay a guy $31M a year, you expect him to finish the 6th inning. At least.
In 2022, he threw 128 IP in 24 starts, 16 outs/start. He doesn’t give the bullpen a night off.
— A few weeks ago, 3B JD Davis won his salary arbitration case with the Giants, was set to bank $6.9M this year, but contracts won in arbitration aren’t guaranteed. Giants dumped Davis and signed free agent Matt Chapman, paying Davis $1.1M to take a hike.
Davis then signed with the Oakland A’s for $2.5M, meaning he lost $3.3M and is now on a much worse team, although he’ll play every day now.
— Tampa Bay Rays’ over/under win total this year is 84.5; over the last five years, Tampa Bay has averaged 95.4 wins/season, despite having a small budget.
— In the NBA, Indiana Pacers have scored 120+ points in 45 games, the most times an NBA team has done that in a season since the Denver Nuggets, 40 years ago.
— In the NHL, the Pittsburgh Penguins were supposed to have a Jaromir Jagr bobblehead giveaway last week, but had to cancel when the shipment of bobbleheads got stolen. People who had tickets for the giveaway night got vouchers to get the bobbleheads, when they re-appear.
Some of the vouchers have already surfaced on E-Bay.
— NHL rule I never heard of: If teams are in overtime/shootout, the losing team gets a point, but if a team were to pull its goalie in overtime to try and win the game, they don’t get the point if they don’t win.
— Alabama gave its new football coach Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer a contract worth $10.875M a year. Good luck replacing Nick Saban, maybe the greatest college football coach ever.
— Movie of the Day: Autumn in New York (2000)- An aging playboy falls for a sweet, but terminally ill young woman.
Excellent cast: Richard Gere is the playboy, Winona Ryder is the young woman, JK Simmons is the surgeon who tries to save her. Anthony LaPaglia, Jill Hennessy, Sherry Stringfield are also in the movie, which is a sad movie, but a very good one.
— Famous birthdays for March 19:
Glenn Close, 77
Bruce Willis, 69
Mike Norris, 69
Andre Miller 48
Casey Jacobsen, 43
Clayton Kershaw, 36
— On the Hoops page of this blog, we have write-ups on all the NCAA games for the play-in games, plus all of Thursday’s games. I’ll post write-ups on Friday’s games late Wednesday night.
Some other college basketball notes:
— Some prominent college hoop programs passed on playing in the NIT; truth is, no one gives a rat’s ass about the NIT, but there’s another reason, a new reason.
The college basketball transfer portal opened Monday; fact of the matter is, coaches have to make the NCAA’s to keep their jobs, and the transfer portal is a hell of a lot more important to a program than playing in the obscurity of the NIT.
Improving your roster now means that a team can play in next year’s NCAA Tournament, which will help the coach’s job security.
— Tennessee coach Rick Barnes is 8-18-1 against the spread in first round NCAA games.
— The four #10-seeds who are in the play-in games Tuesday/Wednesday are Colorado State, Boise State, Colorado and Virginia.
There have been two teams who won play-in games and then made it to the Final Four: VCU in 2011 and UCLA three years ago.
— 2008 is the only time all four teams in the Final Four were #1-seeds; the last two years, only one #1-seed made the Final Four.
— Last three years, not only did a #15-seed upset a #2-seed, the #15-seed also won their next games and made it to the Sweet 16.
— Last six defending national champs missed the Sweet 16; if UConn gets beat this year, by Stetson, FAU or Northwestern, it would be a huge upset.
— Last time Gonzaga missed the NCAA Tournament was 1998; last time they lost a first round game was 2008, when Davidson beat them- they had a pretty good guard, Steph Curry.
— Last three years, the team that won the Big 14 Tournament went 1-3 in the NCAA’s; overall, Big 14 teams went 17-7 in first round, 4-13 in 2nd round, 1-3 in Sweet 16, 0-1 in Elite 8.
Last Big 14 team to make the Final Four was Michigan State in 2019. Last Big 14 team to win the national title? Also the Spartans, in 2000.
— Last Pac-12 team to win the national title? Arizona, in 1997.
— November 2018, Vanderbilt was off to a 4-0 start, but then their star player Darius Garland got hurt, missed the rest of the season and Vandy finished 9-23. Vanderbilt fired Bryce Drew, who had made the NCAA’s two years earlier, and hired former NBA star Jerry Stackhouse.
Five years later, Garland is a solid NBA player, Vanderbilt just fired Stackhouse, who went 70-92 in five years with the Commodores, with no NCAA bids.
Meanwhile, Bryce Drew is in the NCAA’s with his Grand Canyon team; it is the third time in four years the Antelopes are in the NCAA’s.
Bottom line is, lot of college administrators are over-educated morons.
Tuesday’s 6-pack:
Interesting first round games in the NIT:
— South Florida-Central Florida
— Kansas State-Iowa
— North Texas-LSU
— Cornell-Ohio State
— Richmond-Virginia Tech
— Cal Irvine-Utah
Quote of the Day
“It’s like riding with Helen Keller!!!”
Overheard at lunch Monday, an older woman complaining about her husband’s driving
Tuesday’s quiz
Rangers’ manager Bruce Bochy has led three teams to a World Series; Texas and what other two teams?
Monday’s quiz
In the movie Oceans Eleven, Julia Roberts played George Clooney’s wife.
Sunday’s quiz
NFL teams recovered only one of 31 onside kicks last year; Arizona Cardinals recovered the one onside kick.
*****************************************
Tuesday’s Den: Nobody asked me, but…….
— Late Monday night, Giants signed P Blake Snell for two years, $62M. Snell has won two Cy Young awards; he was 14-9, 2.25 for the Padres last year.
Here’s the thing about Snell; 32 starts last year, only 180 IP, 17 outs per game. You pay a guy $31M a year, you expect him to finish the 6th inning. At least.
In 2022, he threw 128 IP in 24 starts, 16 outs/start. He doesn’t give the bullpen a night off.
— A few weeks ago, 3B JD Davis won his salary arbitration case with the Giants, was set to bank $6.9M this year, but contracts won in arbitration aren’t guaranteed. Giants dumped Davis and signed free agent Matt Chapman, paying Davis $1.1M to take a hike.
Davis then signed with the Oakland A’s for $2.5M, meaning he lost $3.3M and is now on a much worse team, although he’ll play every day now.
— Tampa Bay Rays’ over/under win total this year is 84.5; over the last five years, Tampa Bay has averaged 95.4 wins/season, despite having a small budget.
— In the NBA, Indiana Pacers have scored 120+ points in 45 games, the most times an NBA team has done that in a season since the Denver Nuggets, 40 years ago.
— In the NHL, the Pittsburgh Penguins were supposed to have a Jaromir Jagr bobblehead giveaway last week, but had to cancel when the shipment of bobbleheads got stolen. People who had tickets for the giveaway night got vouchers to get the bobbleheads, when they re-appear.
Some of the vouchers have already surfaced on E-Bay.
— NHL rule I never heard of: If teams are in overtime/shootout, the losing team gets a point, but if a team were to pull its goalie in overtime to try and win the game, they don’t get the point if they don’t win.
— Alabama gave its new football coach Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer a contract worth $10.875M a year. Good luck replacing Nick Saban, maybe the greatest college football coach ever.
— Movie of the Day: Autumn in New York (2000)- An aging playboy falls for a sweet, but terminally ill young woman.
Excellent cast: Richard Gere is the playboy, Winona Ryder is the young woman, JK Simmons is the surgeon who tries to save her. Anthony LaPaglia, Jill Hennessy, Sherry Stringfield are also in the movie, which is a sad movie, but a very good one.
— Famous birthdays for March 19:
Glenn Close, 77
Bruce Willis, 69
Mike Norris, 69
Andre Miller 48
Casey Jacobsen, 43
Clayton Kershaw, 36
— On the Hoops page of this blog, we have write-ups on all the NCAA games for the play-in games, plus all of Thursday’s games. I’ll post write-ups on Friday’s games late Wednesday night.
Some other college basketball notes:
— Some prominent college hoop programs passed on playing in the NIT; truth is, no one gives a rat’s ass about the NIT, but there’s another reason, a new reason.
The college basketball transfer portal opened Monday; fact of the matter is, coaches have to make the NCAA’s to keep their jobs, and the transfer portal is a hell of a lot more important to a program than playing in the obscurity of the NIT.
Improving your roster now means that a team can play in next year’s NCAA Tournament, which will help the coach’s job security.
— Tennessee coach Rick Barnes is 8-18-1 against the spread in first round NCAA games.
— The four #10-seeds who are in the play-in games Tuesday/Wednesday are Colorado State, Boise State, Colorado and Virginia.
There have been two teams who won play-in games and then made it to the Final Four: VCU in 2011 and UCLA three years ago.
— 2008 is the only time all four teams in the Final Four were #1-seeds; the last two years, only one #1-seed made the Final Four.
— Last three years, not only did a #15-seed upset a #2-seed, the #15-seed also won their next games and made it to the Sweet 16.
— Last six defending national champs missed the Sweet 16; if UConn gets beat this year, by Stetson, FAU or Northwestern, it would be a huge upset.
— Last time Gonzaga missed the NCAA Tournament was 1998; last time they lost a first round game was 2008, when Davidson beat them- they had a pretty good guard, Steph Curry.
— Last three years, the team that won the Big 14 Tournament went 1-3 in the NCAA’s; overall, Big 14 teams went 17-7 in first round, 4-13 in 2nd round, 1-3 in Sweet 16, 0-1 in Elite 8.
Last Big 14 team to make the Final Four was Michigan State in 2019. Last Big 14 team to win the national title? Also the Spartans, in 2000.
— Last Pac-12 team to win the national title? Arizona, in 1997.
— November 2018, Vanderbilt was off to a 4-0 start, but then their star player Darius Garland got hurt, missed the rest of the season and Vandy finished 9-23. Vanderbilt fired Bryce Drew, who had made the NCAA’s two years earlier, and hired former NBA star Jerry Stackhouse.
Five years later, Garland is a solid NBA player, Vanderbilt just fired Stackhouse, who went 70-92 in five years with the Commodores, with no NCAA bids.
Meanwhile, Bryce Drew is in the NCAA’s with his Grand Canyon team; it is the third time in four years the Antelopes are in the NCAA’s.
Bottom line is, lot of college administrators are over-educated morons.
NCAAB
Tuesday, March 19
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Trend Report
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Tuesday, March 19
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Trend Report
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TUESDAY, MARCH 19
| Game | Time(ET) | Pick | Units |
|---|---|---|---|
| WAG at HOW | 06:40 PM | WAG +3.0 O 128.5 | +500 +500 |
| COR at OSU | 07:00 PM | COR +10.5 U 156.5 | +500 +500 |
| XAV at UGA | 07:00 PM | UGA -1.5 U 155.0 | +500 +500 |
| UNT at LSU | 07:00 PM | UNT +2.5 U 135.5 | +500 +500 |
| BC at PROV | 07:00 PM | BC +3.0 O 137.0 | +500 +500 |
| KSU at IOWA | 09:00 PM | KSU +5.5 U 157.0 | +500 +500 |
| RICH at VT | 09:00 PM | VT -5.5 U 143.5 | +500 +500 |
| USF at UCF | 09:00 PM | USF +5.0 O 140.0 | +500 +500 |
| MINN at BUT | 09:00 PM | BUT -4.5 U 150.0 | +500 +500 |
| CSU at UVA | 09:10 PM | UVA +2.5 O 121.0 | +500 +500 |
| UCI at UTAH | 11:00 PM | UCI +7.5 U 148.5 | +500 +500 |
MONTANA ST is 7-1 ATS (5.9 Units) after covering 3 of their last 4 against the spread in the current season.
SETON HALL is 19-8 Under (10.2 Units) versus poor foul drawing teams - attempting <=18 free throws/game after 15+ games in the las...
SMU is 15-34 ATS (-22.4 Units) after a game where they failed to cover the spread in the last 3 seasons.
BRADLEY is 7-0 Under (7 Units) in home games after 4 straight games forcing opponent to commit 14 or less turnovers in the last 3 ...
IUPU-FT WAYNE is 7-1 ATS (5.9 Units) in road games after 2 straight games giving up 9 or less offensive rebounds in the current se...
PRINCETON is 43-22 ATS (18.8 Units) in home games after 2 straight games committing 11 or less turnovers since 1997.
WAKE FOREST is 9-1 ATS (7.9 Units) after failing to cover 4 or 5 of their last 6 against the spread over the last 2 seasons.
AUSTIN PEAY is 6-0 ATS (6 Units) in home games after 2 straight games giving up 9 or less offensive rebounds in the current season...
CINCINNATI is 8-1 ATS (6.9 Units) after scoring 60 points or less over the last 2 seasons.
VA COMMONWEALTH is 9-2 ATS (6.8 Units) in road games after 1 or more consecutive unders in the current season.
BOISE ST is 8-1 ATS (6.9 Units) versus bad pressure defensive teams - forcing <=12 turnovers/game in the current season.
SETON HALL is 19-8 Under (10.2 Units) versus poor foul drawing teams - attempting <=18 free throws/game after 15+ games in the las...
SMU is 15-34 ATS (-22.4 Units) after a game where they failed to cover the spread in the last 3 seasons.
BRADLEY is 7-0 Under (7 Units) in home games after 4 straight games forcing opponent to commit 14 or less turnovers in the last 3 ...
IUPU-FT WAYNE is 7-1 ATS (5.9 Units) in road games after 2 straight games giving up 9 or less offensive rebounds in the current se...
PRINCETON is 43-22 ATS (18.8 Units) in home games after 2 straight games committing 11 or less turnovers since 1997.
WAKE FOREST is 9-1 ATS (7.9 Units) after failing to cover 4 or 5 of their last 6 against the spread over the last 2 seasons.
AUSTIN PEAY is 6-0 ATS (6 Units) in home games after 2 straight games giving up 9 or less offensive rebounds in the current season...
CINCINNATI is 8-1 ATS (6.9 Units) after scoring 60 points or less over the last 2 seasons.
VA COMMONWEALTH is 9-2 ATS (6.8 Units) in road games after 1 or more consecutive unders in the current season.
BOISE ST is 8-1 ATS (6.9 Units) versus bad pressure defensive teams - forcing <=12 turnovers/game in the current season.
