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The New Mexico State vs. Auburn game featured a line of -5.5 or -5 favoring the Tigers depending on the book.
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The trending has been duplicated across most books with a line that opened as high as -8 and has drifted down to -5. Typically this would be an indication that the dog, in this case New Mexico State, is being embraced by the public. That's still the case, with 87% of the spread bets coming in on the Aggies.
So is the line too high on a team that made number two-ranked Tennessee look amateur the other day?
The answer is a very firm NO. Sagarin indicates a line of -8. That's where this one opened.
ESPN.com writes of Auburn: "Bruce Pearl's team has been up and down, but if Jared Harper, Bryce Brown and Chuma Okeke shoot the ball well, Auburn is a tough team to beat. The big question is whether Auburn can turn people over in the tournament. Auburn is No. 1 in the nation in forcing turnovers, with a 25 percent turnover percentage."
The Aggies have dominated the WAC, over the years, winning seven of the past eight tournament titles and nine in 14 years. That is impressive but they are yet to win an NCAA tournament game dating all the way back to 1992.
This year's squad is the best yet and it's one of the deepest teams. Thirteen different Aggies play at least 11 minutes per game and they have had nine different leading scorers this season.
Over 46 percent of the Aggies' field goal attempts come from beyond the 3-point line, 20th-highest in the nation, and they are only making a little over 34 percent of those.
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- Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com
