NCAA First Round

Smitty

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not that i'm superstitious or anything, but when my tailspin began at the beginning of the conference tournaments, i decided to take a break from posting. sadly, it didn't help. (side note... have you even known a gambler who wasn't superstitious?) i'm still ice cold. but, knock on wood (there's that superstition again), i normally do well in the first round of the tourney, before crapping the bed the rest of the way. so here goes...

ODU (+1.5) 1 unit. hard to believe, after the start to the season butler had, they they'd lose in the first round. but i think that's exactly what's going to happen. ODU has the talent and the experience to win this game. the top of the colonial has some talent, as the country found out last year with george mason.

davidson (+7.5) 1 unit. you can beat davidson by slowing down the game. but i don't see maryland doing that. especially with a freshman point guard. the wildcats will get the tempo they want, and this game should come right down to the wire.

michigan state (-2) 1 unit. with mcneil out and james still not shooting straight, it's hard to see where marquette will get any points. michigan state is not as talented as they've been in recent years, but neitzel has had a great year, and they have enough to win this game.

stanford (+5.5) 1 unit. maybe this is backlash against everybody picking louisville to advance a few rounds in the tournament. stanford is not great, and maybe shouldn't even be here. but i think the pac 10 was better than the big east this year, and louisville is not that good. the twins should clog up the middle enough to make louisville shoot from the outside, and louisville only made 33% of their 3-pointers this year. not a great number for a rick pitino team.

texas a&m (-13) 1 unit. unlike a lot of major conference teams, a&m will guard you for 35 seconds. i don't think the slow tempo will hurt them that much. and this is not a very good penn team.

oral roberts (+6.5) 1 unit. wazzou seems to have lost a little bit of the spark they had earlier in the pac 10 schedule. caleb green can flat out play, and i wouldn't be shocked at an outright upset here. besides, how many times can you yell "C'MON, ORAL!!!" in a bar without getting thrown out? tomorrow will be one such day.
 

stwoody

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Good Reasoning on those picks....looks solid! I like that Over in the Maryland game for that very reason. Nice to see a well thought out reason, I think Stanford may surprise.
 

Smitty

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thanks, fellas.

morris, last i checked, you were doing a decent job of turning around your season. hopefully that has continued.

stwoody, nice to know you like a few of those. i agree 100% on that over, but totals have REALLY killed me the last few weeks. so i think i'm gonna do the 'smart' thing and stick with the sides.

really gettin' excited for my favorite 2-day stretch of the year. :)
 

Smitty

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Thursday Night

Thursday Night

I AM ON FIRE!!! I HAVE HIT ONE GAME IN A ROW!!! i'm still a little shocked that a&m came back to cover. figured for sure i was starting the day an amazing 0-5.

well, since i'm hot, i may as well press it... adding one play...

indiana (-1.5) 1 unit. as much as i respect mark few, i don't buy it when he says they are a better team without heytvelt (sp?). that guy was a heck of a ballplayer and was their only true inside scoring threat. hoosiers take care of business tonight.
 

Smitty

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thanks, morris. gl to you, too. yeah, i knew we were in trouble a few weeks ago, when dick cheney declared this winter was in its last throes.

i'm actually kinda hoping the snow continues into saturday afternoon. i'm supposed to head down to the ecac hockey tournament, but i'd really rather stay home and watch hoops. oh, did i mention my gf is involved? she's a big hockey fan, but i can't believe i agreed to go watch college hockey while the tourney is going on. i must really like her or something. :)
 

rusty

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Didnt really do much today cause of work(work outside).These games are tuff cause better conf usually wins ,but will they cover?

Thrse chaulk results wont last IMO.

Leaning towards VCU,but undecidedf.

GL Smitty.

*&^%$ the Hockey,Its tourney time!!
 

Smitty

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Friday Afternoon

Friday Afternoon

figured i'd better post my early friday plays now, while i'm hot. oh, did i mention i'm just about finished with a nice martini? right now, i don't even care that i'm getting my ass kicked. :)

unlv (+2) 2 units. crap, yet another dog. oh well, i like the runnin' rebs far too much, considering how little i know about them. haven't seen 'em play once this year. but georgia tech, although talented, is too damn young to win this game. unlv gets it done. heck, i have them beating wisconsin in most of my brackets, so they'd BETTER get it done.

winthrop (+4) 2 units. kinda nervous about this one. i liked the eagles back before it was cool. when i researched their bracket buster game against missouri state, i really liked what i saw. now everybody loves 'em. crap. well, gotta stick with my gut. i've been going against nd ever since they lost their starting point guard. now their freshman point guard, jackson (who, in all fairness, has been improving), leads them against the mightly winthrop eagles. everybody knows the eagles' only four losses were against excellent teams (they led at halftime at north carolina). but they have won a few decent road games, too. at mississippi state, at old dominion, and at missouri state. not bad. i like them to get the win here. if only a 'dog can cover a single game this weekend....
 

Smitty

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Thrse chaulk results wont last IMO.

agree 100%

[/QUOTE]Leaning towards VCU,but undecided.[/QUOTE]

yeah, i liked the rams myself. the more i think about it, the more i know i should just stay off the game. getting a feeling duke may surprise some people.


[/QUOTE]*&^%$ the Hockey,Its tourney time!![/QUOTE]
again, agree 100%. :) as much as i love college hoops though, i also love having sex.
 

RIGHT SIDE

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You're not alone bro....I'm a nice 0-4 to start today also. Had those pricks Stanford too....oh and can't forget about that awsome team GW! They were a LOCK!!! Hope the night games treat me better......GL to ya!
 

Smitty

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thanks, rightside. it's gotta turn around at some point. doesn't it? i almost played gw. i did, however, have them advancing in a lot of my brackets.

so far, i think the most surprising fact about this tournament... is the complete lack of any surprises. i really wonder if all 8 favs have ever covered the afternoon games the first day.

HOLY CRAP, IT JUST HIT ME!!! ya know what all this is building up to???? a number one seed is going down tonight or tomorrow. nothing else makes sense.
 

Smitty

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Friday Night

Friday Night

holy crap, i've now hit 5 in a row. am i one streaky mutha f---er or what?

holy cross (+8) 1 unit. two teams that play great defense. this is a lot of points for this matchup. amazingly enough, a few weeks ago i was wondering what would happen if these two teams played. guess i'm gonna find out. if only the jackasses in charge of the local cbs affiliate would put this game on instead of florida/jackson state. anyways, the other thing i wondered about this matchup... was what the total would be. which brings me to...

holy cross/southern ill under (112) 1 unit.

villanova (-1) 1 unit. scottie reynolds is in a ridiculous zone right now. sumpter still has plenty of talent, if not the spring in his step he used to. i haven't seen any update on nardi's health (feel free to drop some knowledge on me), but i have to believe almost a week off has done him some good. too much wildcats tonight. oh, wait a minute... forget that last statement. :)

nova/uk under (135) 1 unit. the rims at the united center are notoriously tight.

purdue (+3) 1 unit. very tough to go against this wildcat team. they have a ton of talent. but wow, have they underacheived. obviously, if they start playing up to their ability, they can make a serious run in the tournament. however, i will go with a purdue team that will flat-out outscrap arizona. if the wildcats finally decide to come play some basketball, i will tip my cap to them.

new mexico state (+8) 1 unit. more an anti-texas play than anything else. it cracks me up that every time texas needs a big basket, they go to durant in the low post. and he forces a bad shot and misses. his strength is on the perimeter. anyways... all these freshmen... gotta take the points.

wow, i really hope the 'dogs start barking. still not much in the early games today.
 

stwoody

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Its funny how things change....Smitty! Congrats....keep the faith! I know many gamblers and can't recall one that wasn't superstitious....its the nature of the business. I'm looking hard at Purdue, simply two teams moving in different directions. Purdue looked good in that Big 10 tourna. Arizona lost their mojo awhile ago! Good Luck.
 

Smitty

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thanks, stwoody. it had to turn around. knock on wood, but, as i said before, this round has always been good to me.

yeah, if arizona actually shows up tonight, it could get very ugly very fast. but my money will be guessing they don't. when's the last time they showed up for a game?

morris, you out there? how you handling the snow? this is only the beginning... the heavy stuff is tonight/tomorrow, right? :)
 

stwoody

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thanks, stwoody. it had to turn around. knock on wood, but, as i said before, this round has always been good to me.

yeah, if arizona actually shows up tonight, it could get very ugly very fast. but my money will be guessing they don't. when's the last time they showed up for a game?

morris, you out there? how you handling the snow? this is only the beginning... the heavy stuff is tonight/tomorrow, right? :)

SNOW??:142smilie It is 82 here right now, just worked up a sweat picking up dog crap:mj07:
 

Morris

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Hey Smitty, Snow's coming down pretty good right now. Went out and stocked up on food and beer this morning. I'll be watching hoops all weekend. You going down to the hockey tourny? Better do what the GF wants. May tail your Vill play, was kind of surprised to see them favored, but then thought about it and realized they know more about it than me. (the lines makers). I need a game to watch tonite and Fla line is too big for me so I'm probably tailin' GL
 

Smitty

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stwoody, i think i prefer this snow to dog crap duty. or doody. :)

morris, i'm not heading down tonight, but my gf is there with her mom. they are freakin' nuts about hockey. they are from way up north, and they love st lawrence and clarkson. i'm supposed to go tomorrow, but i am really, really hoping this snow stays heavy right through about 8:00 tomorrow night.

my biggest concern on 'nova is the same reason i played the under. college games in the united center have been almost an automatic under play for me because of those rims. (i obtained that awesome bit of knowledge right here on this website a few years ago) 'nova relies a little too much on the 3-pointer for my taste. if those rims tighten up on those jumper shots... well, i still think 'nova is the better team, but i'm hedging with that under play.
 

Morris

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stwoody, i think i prefer this snow to dog crap duty. or doody. :)

morris, i'm not heading down tonight, but my gf is there with her mom. they are freakin' nuts about hockey. they are from way up north, and they love st lawrence and clarkson. i'm supposed to go tomorrow, but i am really, really hoping this snow stays heavy right through about 8:00 tomorrow night.

my biggest concern on 'nova is the same reason i played the under. college games in the united center have been almost an automatic under play for me because of those rims. (i obtained that awesome bit of knowledge right here on this website a few years ago) 'nova relies a little too much on the 3-pointer for my taste. if those rims tighten up on those jumper shots... well, i still think 'nova is the better team, but i'm hedging with that under play.

Hmmmm under too. I like it and why not? GL tonite.
 
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