While most of the powerhouse conferences close the regular season out this Sunday, many conference tournaments will play out over the course of the next week. The landscape of the upcoming NCAA Tournament will start to take a more concrete shape. With that, time is running out to hit the March Madness futures odds if you haven’t already. We suggested fading a handful of teams whose odds to win it all got shorter last week. This time around, I’ll be targeting teams whose odds also got shorter at BookMaker.eu, but will be giving them the thumbs up instead.
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North Carolina Tar Heels: 19-1
The defending champs look to have rediscovered their groove. Now winners of six straight and managing covers in five of those matchups, the Tar Heels have a shot of claiming the No. 2 seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament should it take care of business against Miami and Duke to finish off the regular season. Comfortably situated as a No. 2 seed in numerous NCAA Tournament mock drafts, a favorable road to the Sweet 16 would exist should Theo Pinson and company hold up their end of the bargain. The key to the winning streak has been the play of the defense which enters the week allowing an average of just 74.7 points. Pair that with a top notch offense when it matters most, and you got yourself a winning recipe.
Wichita State Shockers: 23-1
Say what you will about Gregg Marshall’s defense, the Shockers look to be finding their stride as we enter the most important time of the year. While conceding nearly 74 points per game is nothing to overlook, it helps when the offense more than makes up for it. Landry Shamet has finally started to come into his own, and because of it, the Shockers have been able to offset the poor play of the defense by peppering their opposition with points at the other end of the court. Wichita State was better than 30-1 to win it all at the outset of last week. They entered this week a 23-1 choice, and that number is likely to get shorter should it close the year out with wins over UCF and Cincinnati. Jump on them now or risk losing more value the closer we get to the dance.
Houston Cougars: 155-1
The Cougars own wins over Cincinnati and Wichita State this season. They represent the only other two teams headed to the NCAA Tournament from the AAC regardless of what transpires in next week’s tourney. Kelvin Sampson has done a terrific job raising Texas State, I mean Houston, from the ashes since taking over the program. He’s got an exceptional talent in Rob Gray, and a defense that never stops frustrating its opposition. Those are a couple of intangibles needed for a lesser known team like Houston to come out of nowhere and bust some brackets. Though the team’s lack of experience in this setting is a concern, the return on investment is too enticing to overlook.
Providence Friars: 600-1
The Friars have qualified for the Big Dance each of the last four seasons under Ed Cooley’s watch. The furthest they’ve gone is the Round of 32, once. With Big East teams like Villanova and Xavier certain to be popular choices to make deep runs in this year’s tourney, Providence is being overlooked. This is a team that plays in one of the toughest conferences in the country, and has the experience needed to make a surprising run when it matters most. Rodney Bullock is one of the best players in the country you’ve likely never heard of. If Providence is to make a lucrative run towards a title over the next month, he must be nothing less than consistent and dominant. If not, it will be another quick exit and I’ll look like a fool for suggesting an investment.
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