Getting past the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament is quite an accomplishment. Moving beyond the second weekend gets you to the Final Four. In the middle is where it all takes place. Three of the top four seeded teams in each of the four regions, including all No. 1 seeds, advanced to the Sweet 16 setting up some quality matchups in which to build a college basketball parlay. The highest seed remaining is No. 11 North Carolina State, which upset Texas Tech in the first round then outlasted No. 14 Oakland in overtime in the second round to earn a date with second-seed Marquette on Friday, March 29. The Wolf Pack opened as a 6.5-point underdog.
The biggest spread on the opening line belongs to Connecticut in a rematch of last year’s title game against San Diego State. The Huskies prevailed in that game 76-59 covering the 6.5-point line. UConn won its first two games this year by an average of 28 points and has won eight straight Tournament games getting the cash in every one. The national championship favorite is laying 10.5-points on the opening line for Thursday’s contest. Top-seeded North Carolina takes on Alabama on Thursday as a 4-point favorite. The other No. 1 seeds take the court on Friday with Purdue laying 5-points to Gonzaga and Houston favored by four points over Duke.
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NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 Parlay Picks
North Carolina -4 vs. Alabama
Duke vs. Houston OVER 134.5
Purdue -5 vs. Gonzaga
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I have to say I was excited for the first and second rounds of the Tournament and I became ecstatic when my four-team college basketball parlay cashed out. If you don’t think a half point matters I have news for you. I bought Long Beach State at +20.5 for its matchup with Arizona and the line dropped to +20. That .5 made me a winner in Arizona’s 85-65 triumph. I wasn’t sold on Kansas so I backed Samford +7.5 in their first round matchup. Like I expected the Bulldogs hung close falling 93-89 to stay within the line. I also backed Gonzaga -6 in its tilt with McNeese State and bet the UNDER in the Nevada/Dayton game. Both came through making my Tournament weekend kinda special.
On to the Sweet 16 we go with some good matchups in store. I really like North Carolina and their duo of Armando Bacot and RJ Davis. They combined for 38 points in the second round win and cover over Michigan State pulling away after a sluggish start. Add Harrison Ingram to the mix and the Heels have a dynamic threesome that puts pressure on opposing defenses. Valuing the basketball is also a big deal, especially at Tournament time and the Heels are one of the best. They committed just five turnovers against Sparty and hit 19 of 23 free throws. UNC gets to the line and converting will allow them to cover the 4-point spread.
Houston’s defense was exposed by a gritty Texas AM squad that played aggressively getting to the line 45 times in the second round matchup. The Cougars went off as well in the 100-95 overtime victory. I do see a much cleaner game between Duke and Houston and I don’t anticipate 75 combined free throw attempts. However, I can see Duke doing enough offensively with Kyle Filipowski and Jared McCain lighting it up to help get over the relatively low total of 134.5. Duke averaged more than 80 points during the season and the Cougars can fill it up as well.
Even though they advanced to the Sweet 16 again this isn’t the star-studded Gonzaga Bulldogs roster we’ve seen in the past. The Zags may have had the easiest path to the Sweet 16 beating overmatched McNeese St. and a damaged Kansas squad. Running into a buzzsaw that is Purdue isn’t the best matchup for the Zags. The Boilermakers are playing with a chip on their shoulder after last year’s first round upset and they took out their frustrations against Grambling and Utah State winning those games by an average of 34.5 points. Zach Edey is carrying the team scoring 53 points with 35 rebounds while shooting 68 percent from the field. I’m backing the Boilers -5 on the line.
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