2010 NCAA Tournament Upsets West Regional
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
by BetUS.com
In our final look around the NCAA Tournament upset landscape, let’s take a look at a few teams out of the West Regional, which could give some higher seeded teams trouble in the college basketball betting odds.
No. 13 Murray State Racers (30-4, 15-13-1 ATS) vs. No. 4 Vanderbilt (24-8 SU, 16-14 ATS)Thursday: 2:30 p.m.
Opening Line: Vanderbilt -3
Quick, name the first team in college basketball to get to 30 wins this season. It wasn’t Kansas or Kentucky, as they both got there in their conference tournaments over the weekend.
Who was it then? How about the Murray State Racers, who got to the 30 win plateau over a week before either the Jayhawks or Wildcats, when they ran the Ohio Valley Conference and clinched an automatic NCAA Tournament berth.
Simply put, the Racers are one of college basketball’s hottest teams entering the tournament, as they’ve won a staggering 21 of their last 22 games, including nine of their last 10.
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What makes Murray State so effective is that they’re one of the most balanced teams in college basketball. Currently, they’ve got five players averaging in double figures, but nobody averaging 11 or more points a game. In other words, they are getting consistent scoring from all over the floor, every night.
Factor that in with a wishy-washy Vanderbilt team (just 5-5 against the spread in their last 10 games), and we might have ourselves an upset in the betting odds.
Friday, 2:45 p.m.
Speaking of hot teams, there may not be a hotter one entering the 2010 NCAA Tournament than the Golden Grizzlies of Oakland. They finished 17-1 in Summit League, and like Murray State finished the season winning 21 of 22 games, dating back to a loss at Syracuse… Before Christmas!!!
But going to Syracuse wasn’t Oakland’s only challenging game out of conference, as they also visited Kansas, Wisconsin, Memphis and Oregon earlier in the year. While they didn’t beat any of those teams, you can guarantee they won’t be afraid of a Pitt team that comes into this game just 2-3 in the betting odds in their last five games.
Also, look out for Oakland point guard Johnathan Jones. While the name might not be familiar yet, the kid can play, as in 2009 he led all of college basketball in assists, averaging over 8.1 a game. He fell back down to “only,” 6.4 this year, still good for sixth in the nation. And down low, you can’t sleep on center Keith Benson, who at 6’11 will be the tallest player on the court on Friday afternoon.
Couple Benson and Jones against a streaky Pitt team, and we might have another betting odds upset out West.
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