Watching Creighton and Gonzaga struggle mightily from 3, Iowa smashing the spread against Southeastern Louisiana, Mississippi State hitting everything it threw at the basket, Miami coming back from a 17-point deficit and James Madison giving Ohio State all it could handle is a good reminder that anything can happen in March. Trends and stats gleaned from the regular season don’t always translate in March.
My overall record (picks are based against the spread, not straight-up winners) from the first round is 19-13. I underestimated Notre Dame to cover the spread, overestimated South Carolina’s ability to achieve a near 50-point margin, and should have trusted my gut with FGCU. But that’s part of the madness, right?
On to the second round.
If you’re unfamiliar with betting numbers, the general idea is you subtract whatever the number is from the score, and that should make it even. So “South Carolina -25.5” basically means the Gamecocks should win by 26 points against South Florida. The .5 allows you to pick a side, so there are no ties. In short, the team with the “-” number next to it is giving the other team that much of a lead in this figurative world. If “PK” is listed, it means the teams are rated even strength and it’s a straight win or loss…
