SPORTS WAGERS
West Virginia +4/+162 over Kentucky
All those games against all those strong Big East teams really paid dividends for the Mountaineers in their first round matchup against Clemson. WVU was so impressive. Joe Mazzulla, the Mountaineers floor general, is fearless, physical and intense. When he has to score, he usually does and the guy had that “refuse to lose” look in his eye and bounce in his step against the Tigers. St. John's received all the love for knocking off the top-ranked teams but the Mountaineers knocked off five top-16 teams themselves. The starters are all upperclassmen and contributed to the Final Four run last year and of all the teams we saw in the first two days nobody looked hungrier than the Mountaineers. The Wildcats beat Princeton by two points. Nothing would surprise about John Calipari's second edition of the Wildcats. They could lose to anyone, as they almost did against Princeton, or go all the way to the Final Four. Kentucky doesn't have much depth. Calipari has relied on just six players most of the season and thus, foul trouble or even a minor injury can render Calipari's rotation. His starters can falter from physical exhaustion late in games and we saw West Virginia wear down Clemson on Thursday. Expect them to do the same to the Wildcats here. Play: West Virginia +4 (Risking 1.06 units to win 2) Play: West Virginia +162 (Risking 1 unit).
Temple +6 over San Diego St.
The Aztecs opened the tourney with a 68-50 win over Northern Colorado but the win wasn’t as easy as the score suggests. The Aztecs had their hands full with the 15th-seeded Bears of the Big Sky early and looked to be in trouble when Devon Beitzel hit 3-pointers in rapid succession to open the second half and the Bears were within three with 14 minutes to go. During the regular season, BYU whipped SDSU twice before Brandon Davies was suspended and against the other tournament team in their conference, UNLV, the Aztecs won both games, one by two points and the other by six points against a Rebel team that got destroyed by Illinois in the first round. The point is, the Mountain West lost some credibility in the first two days. Despite the veteran makeup of this team, the Aztecs have a tendency to become too jump-shot oriented and they don't get a lot of second-chance points. SDSU is not going to shoot its way to a big win either from the 3-point or free-throw lines and that’s a concern when laying points against a quality team like Temple. The Owls fought hard in their two-point win over a game Nittany Lion squad and their will was tested from start to finish. The Owls have the luxury of a solid inside-outside punch. The backcourt of Ramon Moore and Juan Fernandez is as solid and exciting as any you will find in college basketball. The loss of a couple of key contributors off the bench has hurt their depth but this is still a very good team that can not only win this game but stay well within this range. Play: Temple +6 (Risking 2.2 units to win 2).