Sweet Sixteen Odds and Picks: The Trick with Marquette vs UNC
Friday, March 25, 2011
by BetUS.com
The trick to basketball betting on Marquette Golden Eagles’ Sweet 16 odds is knowing when to get off the bandwagon. The Eagles are a solid team through and through, but they’re missing an “it” factor which has carried most other teams in the tournament so far. Nobody knows about how important an impact player is at this level than North Carolina Tar Heels.
That player is none other than Harrison Barnes, a go-to figure that has kept UNC alive in the tournament thus far. He’s perhaps the only reason that UNC is even favored in this game. The North Carolina Tar Heels may keep on winning, but they’re also 0-2 ATS in the tournament thus far, which is built in to a 1-4-1 ATS record over the past 6 games.
For his part, however, Barnes has made sure that the Tar Heels are a worthy Sweet 16 odds buster in picks this weekend. He’s averaging a solid 23.0 points per game and has also taken down 18 rebounds in two games thus far. Marquette doesn’t have anyone that can rightfully defend him, which makes banking on Marquette a tough take. Barnes is huge as a closer.
#11 Marquette Golden Eagles vs. #2 North Carolina Tar Heels
Friday, March 25 --- 7:15pm EST
Sweet 16 Odds: UNC -4.5 (149.5)
Marquette has had much better luck in the BetUS Sportsbook. The Marquette Golden Eagles are 4-1 SU and ATS in their last 5 games which includes two upsets against Xavier and Syracuse as underdogs. The problem is that glaring loss – a 56-81 shellacking at the hands of Louisville to oust them from the Big East tournament.
Considering how porous UNC has been against the book, you’d think that Marquette’s underdog Sweet 16 odds would be the better grab on the board. It’s simple logic. UNC hasn’t covered in the tournament thus far and Marquette has upset as underdogs twice in a row.
The issue I have is that we’ve seen these trends out of Marquette before. In the Big East tournament, they were blasted by Louisville after crushing Providence and West Virginia. The line against Louisville was just -3.5 for the Cardinals and the Golden Eagles lost by 15 points to a much better team.
At this point in the NCAA tournament, you need to have a game changer. BYU has Jimmer, and UConn has Kemba. Both teams are underdogs in Sweet 16 odds and the presence of those guys is making all the difference when it comes to basketball betting. You can’t name Marquette’s top player Jimmy Butler off the top of your head unless you’re forced to watch every college basketball game like I am. It’s just how it is.
Marquette is a complete team but they’re missing that one momentum swinger who can hang from the rafters and crash a defense to make things hell for their opponent. They can keep this game close, but if Barnes takes over the game like he’s supposed to they’ll be so deflated that they won’t know how to get their rhythm back. That’s when you need a leader, and Marquette simply doesn’t have one who can make their Sweet 16 odds a worthy play.
BetUS Sportsbook Furious Sweet 16 Odds & Picks – UNC -4.5 (UNDER)
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basketball betting - harrison barnes - jimmy butler - marquette golden eagles - ncaa tournament - north carolina tar heels