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11/28/03 11:43 PM EST
College Basketball Season Is
Here
Mike Showers
www.surebethandicapping.com
College
hoops season is now under way and it is an important time to begin to gather
information that you will utilize later in the season. What you learn today will
benefit you greatly come conference time.
A quick
glance at the first week shows me that early season tournaments really prove
nothing as we get in to the meat of the season. Highly touted Gonzaga was
knocked off in their first contest by St.Joe’s. Don’t read a whole lot into
this outcome as the two previous National Champs (Maryland and Syracuse) each
lost early in their championship seasons.
If you
are set on locking into some games early in the season, focus on smaller schools
from Mid-Majors with solid returning talent. These teams have generally been
tested and they fare quite well against higher profiles schools with less
experience. Deciding who to wager on in the early college season should revolve
around two fundamental factors, coaching and returning talent.
Solid
coaches always seem to have their clubs ready to begin the season. One has to
look no further than North Carolina to see the effect of solid coaching. Roy
Williams has the TarHeels looking like the Dean Smith teams of old. Unselfish
play with solid defense and rebounding are things you just haven’t seen over the
last couple years in TarHeel country. This team will make a serious run deep
into the tourney and don’t be surprised to see this club in the Final Four.
The
second consideration when wagering on early season college games is talent.
Those clubs who return a large portion of last years’ players have the unique
advantage over their less experienced competitors. This should play a key role
when you sit down and begin evaluating your potential wagers.
The early
college season can be very profitable if you shop lines and do your homework.
Remember another key ingredient to your success is avoiding the hype traps. With
the proliferation of websites and media outlets teams who seem average take on
super team status quite quickly. Don’t let yourself by into the hype. All teams
take some time to gel, but you can bet that the experienced and better coached
clubs always seem to reward you at the window.
As for
this college season I will throw out my early Final Four predictions. Hopefully
we will look back at the end of the season and discover that we were astute in
our early season predictions.
Team #1
Indiana Hoosiers
Club is
loaded with talent and has a tireless mentor at the helm. This is the year that
Mike Davis truly steps out of the shadow of legendary coach Bobby Knight.
Team # 2
Texas Tech Red Raiders
Somewhere
the gods smile down as this would make for the ultimate in homecomings as the
General takes on his former pupil.
Team #3
Duke Blue Devils
Why not
have Coach K and his former boss meet in the Final Four. Duke is loaded at the
guard spot and this is one of the most athletic teams in recent memory.
Team # 4
North Carolina Tar Heels
Coach
Williams comes back home to lead his beloved Heels’ to the promise land. Nothing
better than a Final Four chalk full of talented coaches and great story lines.
I will
leave you with this sound piece of advice. The college season is a long and
winding road, don’t get discouraged or impatient if you or your team stumbles in
the early going. Remember to utilize sound money management, and you will enjoy
this college season to the fullest.
Mike Showers and his
team at
www.surebethandicapping
would love to serve you this college basketball season. Please feel free to
check out the monitored numbers for all sports at
www.freesportsmonitor.com
(Bettorsworld)
Mike Showers offers free and
premium picks at
www.surebethandicapping.com. Mike exclusively endorses
www.MVPsportsbook.com
as the #1 place to play his picks.
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