NCAA Basketball Tips

The Atlantic 10 has added Virginia Commonwealth to its ranks and thereby they have further solidified its position as the premier non-BCS college basketball conference. The move was announced at a press conference Tuesday by VCU president Michael Rao and it will be effective for in the upcoming academic year. VCU announced leaving the Colonial Athletic Association for the Atlantic 10.

The A-10 is a league that does not sponsor football but boasts solid basketball programs in the ever-changing landscape of conference realignment. It is driven, primarily, by college football, which is another significant addition for the A-10.

VCU is a year removed from its unprecedented First Four-to-Final Four run in the NCAA Tournament, while four of its teams earned bids to the NCAA tourney in 2012. VCU and Coach Shaka Smart hope that by moving to the Atlantic 10, they will get a chance to keep building off that momentum as up-and-comers on the national stage. Butler joined the A-10 on May 2. Last year, it defeated VCU in the national semifinals. However, VCU is all-in come July 1, although Butler will not come aboard until the 2013-14 school year.

But the key for VCU, Rao said, is they will increase the visibility of the school and expect to be able to attract better athletes and better students with the step up in competition and they will retain the opportunity to compete for championships in the coming season.

VCU is in the Atlantic 10 is because of Shaka Smart. Than any two young head coaches in college basketball right now, Smart and Butler’s Brad Stevens move the needle more. You would rather be the A-10′s Bernadette McGlade, if you were a conference commissioner and would welcome Smart and Stevens and their combined three Final Four appearances in the last three years to the fold.

The Atlantic 10 would not have been clamoring to grab Butler or VCU, five years ago. Now it is as if Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have been added to your dinner party invite list.

Minnesota President Eric Kaler was on a lookout to inject new life into the football and men’s basketball programs and for a dynamic new leader to change the face of a moribund athletic program. He chose VCU athletic director Norwood Teague as the lone finalist for the job. During the NCAA men’s tournament, Teague helped turn tiny Virginia Commonwealth University into a household name, but also headed a department that does not have a football program.

Currently, Teague is the director of athletics for Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). He has held that position since July 2006. Working in intercollegiate athletics throughout the nation, he has more than 20 years of experience. Teague, 46, is a native of Raleigh, N.C and graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1988. He passed with a degree in political science. Teague earned a master’s degree in sports administration from Ohio University in 1992.

Teague will visit the campus today and he will interview with President Kaler and the search advisory committee and will meet up with coaches, faculty and senior leaders from 1 to 2 p.m. at Morrill Hall, where length of contract and salary are expected to be finalized. The interviews are the final steps of a two-month national search co-chaired by Kane and R. Timothy Mulcahy, vice president for research at the university. Teague is expected to receive a contract in the $400,000 range, which is nearly double his VCU salary. The contract is for at least five years.

Kane said that they had cast a very wide net to make sure we are talking to people who have known him for a very long time. At VCU, in 2009, Teague hired 32-year-old Shaka Smart as men’s basketball coach. In 2011, Smart took the school to the NCAA Final Four. Following the 2011-12 season, Teague then was able to retain Smart.

Teague led a $10 million fundraising effort for a practice facility for men’s and women’s basketball at VCU. Since Teague arrived on campus five years ago, Gophers men’s basketball coach Tubby Smith has sought a practice facility. However, fundraising for a facility has been challenging.

At 2:45 p.m. Monday, the official hiring of Teague is expected to be announced in the Gophers football locker room at TCF Bank Stadium.

At present, March Madness is in full effect and as we head into day two of the NCAA basketball action, there is absolutely no reason to slow down on giving college hoops some love. Today though, to make sure that you make some money when betting on the NCAA Tournament, we are going to look at some strategy and tips.

Unfortunately, there is still quite a bit of research that has to be done on each game, although, we would love to say that it’s as easy as going off of your bracket and betting on one team over the other, as there are a TON of games to bet on throughout the opening few days of the tournament itself. Let us get into some strategy that includes the round of 32, sweet 16, and so on as well, not just day two of the first round.

Stop Thursday’s Influence on Friday
What this means, is that since there were not many upsets on Thursday, do not assume that there will not be any once again or that there are massive numbers coming on Friday. These are completely different teams, playing in completely different places, in completely different mindsets. Do not let Thursday of the NCAA Tournament factor in to what is about to happen on Friday, do your research on each game like normal.

Don’t Constantly Believe That a Team Won’t Straighten Up
A common assumption by people is that if a team is a slow-starter in round one, they are going to repeat the same performance in round two and bow out early. One needs to keep in mind that even this does happen from time to time; good teams know how to bounce back from not being fully prepared or having off days. Just because a top three seed did not put up an impressive win and struggled a bit, you have to keep in mind that the team that they were up in opposition to is not a bunch of slouches. These teams definitely have solid and strong players as well. Do not frown upon a team just because they did not blow someone out, as no game in the NCAA Tournament is ever a walk.

Money Management and Bet Sizing
No matter what sport that you are betting on, money management and bet sizing in sports betting is incredibly important. However, when it comes to March Madness it is very important, mainly because on the board, there are so many games played consistently, and it can unquestionably be a bit overwhelming on occasions. For each game, you have to be prepared with a specific bet sizing, or at least a way to put specific amounts on each level of your rankings and to rank your picks. It can be tough to stay on track with your plan, with the fact that there is action throughout the entire weekend and there are double digit numbers of games on each of the first two days of the tournament. Make sure that at the end of the weekend you stick with the plan and grind out results to bring home a big profit.

The Big 12 is known for the Kansas Jayhawks and an occasional run by the Kansas State Jayhawks or the Oklahoma State Cowboys but this season there are several teams that can burst on the scene and out of the shadows of the Jayhawks.

UNLV Runnin Rebels head coach Lon Kruger picked up stakes and joined the Oklahoma Sooners this season and his record with rapidly turning around a team will help the Sooners get on track quicker than most experts expect. The following are the five teams from the Big 12 that will make the NCAA Tournament acording to most college basketball handicappers.

No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks
The Kansas Jayhawks are still going to win the Big 12 but they are ripe for the picking this season. The Jayhawks lost six of their best eight shooters since their disappointing exit in the NCAA Tournament. Tyshawn Taylor, a 6-3 senior, is the only returning starter and he will need to lead this team from the outset.

No. 2 Texas A&M Aggies
Khris Middleton who averages 14.4 points per game and David Loubeau who is next best on the team averaging 11.8 points per game give the Texas A&M Aggies an edge over teams like the Missouri Tigers and the Kansas Jayhawks but they need to play better in the clutch.

No. 3 Missouri Tigers
Senior Marcus Denmon will lead the Missouri Tigers this season and may consider him the best scorer in the Big 12.

No. 4 Baylor Bears
The Baylor Bears are a wild card. Sophomore, Perry Jones III is a player who can develop into a top five player in the country if the Bears rise to national prominence early in 2012.

No. 5 Oklahoma Sooners
Lon Kruger resurrected the UNLV Runnin Rebels and now he is looking to do the same with the once proud Oklahoma Sooners program. Look for the Sooners to surprise many of their rivals this season.

On November 11, 2011, North Carolina and Michigan State will play the first ever college basketball game on the deck of an aircraft carrier positioned in the San Diego harbor. This will be the 2009 NCAA basketball title game rematch.

There will be seating arrangements for about 7,000 viewers. In the event of rain the game will be played below the flight deck. So far no tickets are being sold. The game will be played within a makeshift, stadium seating arena constructed on the deck of an as yet undetermined ship, dubbed the Carrier Classic.

What could get really interesting is if there’s rain on the day in question, as in fact, as far as gimmicks go, this one ranks pretty high. The game will be played below the flight deck, presumably in front of some much smaller crowd in the event of inclement weather.

Thursday, ESPN announced that, it will televise the game on Veterans Day. It will be the first men’s college basketball game to be played on the deck of a U.S. military aircraft carrier, what the network said.

No tickets will be on sale to the public as the current proposal only allocates seating for approximately 7,000 audience topside. Considering the location and the specific date, we imagine that the crowd will be mostly of veterans and military personnel.

Connecticut beat Butler 53-41 and Kemba Walker scored 16 points to give Jim Calhoun his third national championship. This was a huge achievement as something of this sort was possible by only four other coaches. In the sports betting odds too, Connecticut were the favorites to win.

To a Final Four-record low 18.8 shooting percentage (12 for 64), the Huskies did it with defense holding the Bulldogs. After winning five games in as many days to win the Big East title, Connecticut capped one of college basketball’s best postseason runs, winning six games in the NCAA tournament.

In the final seconds for Arizona, Derrick Williams and Jamelle Horne missed 3-pointers, allowing the third-seeded Huskies (30-9) to hang on for their ninth victory in 19 days. It also allowed them a trip to Houston next week. Last year, after missing the NCAA tournament entirely, coach Jim Calhoun’s tireless team is headed to UConn’s fourth Final Four.

While battling foul trouble for the fifth-seeded Wildcats (30-8), Williams had 20 points. Before six points by Lamb, the Wildcats led with 6 minutes to play.

In the NCAA title game, Butler set a woeful 19 percent record, which was the worst shooting percentage and in its 53-41 loss to Connecticut, he had managed just 12 field goals.

Shelvin Mack was held to 13 points. In the first five games, he averaged almost 22 points and leading scorer Matt Howard had seven on 1-of-13 shooting.

Butler moved on with a 70-62 victory against Virginia Commonwealth, while the Huskies reached the championship game by beating fourth-seeded Kentucky 56-55.

The 11th seeded Virginia Commonwealth Rams will take on the 8th seeded Butler Bulldogs.

Butler is a 2.5-point favorite and the over/under total is 133.5 in NCAAB Odds.

The Bulldogs and Rams have both had dream runs through the NCAA Tournament and one of them will advance to the finals to take on the winner of the Kentucky vs. Connecticut game.

Very few people would have ever believed that these teams could make a run like this through the tournament. The Rams have already taken out the USC Trojans, Georgetown Hoyas, Purdue Boilermakers, Florida State Seminoles and the Kansas Jayhawks en route to their final 4 appearance. While many people believe that VCU has already fulfilled their dreams by making the tournament, the Rams continue to say that they are not done yet.

While the Rams have had a tough road to the final 4, the Bulldogs have not had a road that is any easier. Butler started out by beating Old Dominion and then proceeded to beat the top seeded Pittsburgh team. They continued by taking out Wisconsin and most recently beat Florida in Overtime. To this point in the tournament Butler has only managed one win by more than 3 points.

Butler was the Cinderella story of last year and they have a chance to make history by being a Cinderella type of team two years in a row. They will be forgotten if they lose however, as VCU will be the talk of the tournament in qualifying for the finals as an 11th seed that needed a play-in game to make the main part of the tournament.

The Duke Blue Devils will play against the Arizona Wildcats on Thursday. These teams have both had close encounters in the NCAA Tournament already, but they have now qualified for the Sweet 16. These teams both have had success in the NCAA Tournament historically and they have high expectations for the tournament this year.

In basketball betting odds and NCAA Basketball Picks have Duke as an 8.5-point favorite.

The Wildcats are led by Derrick Williams. Williams is one of the most efficient players in the nation. He was the leading scorer for the Wildcats with 19 points per game and also chipped in 8 rebounds per game. While those are great numbers, the most impressive thing about Williams is his shooting percentage. Williams has shot 60 percent from the field overall this season and he has shot an amazing 58 percent from the 3-pt line. If Williams is able to find a rhythm the Blue Devils will be in trouble.

The thing about Williams is that he is not always as aggressive offensively as the Wildcats would want him to be.

The Blue Devils have one of the most talented teams in the NCAA and it is reasonable to believe could win the whole tournament if they are able to get past the Wildcats.

The Blue Devils have Nolan Smith and Kyrie Irving as their guards and they may be the best combo of guards in the nation. Irving is coming off of an injury and it is unclear whether or not he will step in and contribute, but if the Blue Devils can find a way to involve him they will be tough to beat.

The Penn State Nittany Lions will take on the Temple Owls this Thursday. These teams will be participating in the NCAA tournament. The Nittany Lions are labeled as a 10 seed and the Owls are a 7 seed. These teams are scheduled to play at 2:10 eastern time in Tucson, Arizona.

The Owls are a -145 moneyline, 2.5-point favorite with the over/under total at 121.5 in College Basketball Odds.

The Nittany Lions made the tournament despite losing 14 games on the season. While they had some rough points in the season, they enter the tournament playing the best basketball that they’ve played all season. They won 4 consecutive games against Minnesota, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan State before losing to Ohio State.

The Temple Owls have been excellent this season, posting a 25-7 record on the season.

The Owls will rely on an offense with great ball movement to beat the Nittany Lions. The Owls are 33rd in the nation in assists per game with an average of 15.3. They depend a lot on Moore for their scoring. Moore led the team in scoring with 15 points per game and was a solid 3-pt shooter at 39 percent.

The Nittany Lions have a rather inefficient offense, but they manage to win game one way or another. They averaged just 63 points per game on the season, the 298th best average in the nation. They are also a poor rebounding team at 31.6 rebounds per game. Battle is the leading scorer for Penn State. Battle averages 20 points per game and shoots 42 percent from the field. He has the potential to take this game over and win it for the Nittany Lions.

The No.19 Villanova Wildcats take the short trip to Pittsburgh to take on the No. 5 Panthers in their final Big East regular season game. Both teams are coming off losses to ranked Big East teams. The Panthers are coming off a devastating loss to Rick Pitino and the Louisville Cardinals and Villanova is fresh off a shellacking by the No.7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

The Pittsburgh Panthers are ranked No.5 this week after dropping their close game to Louisville. They have also lost to the hottest team in the Big East, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Pittsburgh beat the Villanova Wildcats in their first meeting on the Panthers home court, 57-54 without their leading scorer Ashton Gibbs. Now Gibbs is back and the Wildcats will be hard pressed to keep him under wraps.

The Wildcats were a 3-point road favorite in March Madness betting odds in their first encounter with Pitt and lost by three.

This game will be much different from the first round. Pittsburgh will enter the Peterson Events Center with vengeance on their mind and a chip on their shoulder. Pitt’s loss to Louisville cost them a No.1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and a win over No.19 Villanova will get them right back in the hunt.

Corey Fisher and Corey Stokes have been a two man wrecking crew for Villanova but can two Corey’s beat one Ashton Gibbs? Aside from the scoring battle between those three the key to this game will be the battle on the boards. Pittsburgh has a huge advantage in the rebounding department.