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Sports Interaction betting analyst Frank Doyle is looking forward to the first round of games at the NCAA Tournament and he has his free 2009 NCAA Tournament picks for Gambling911.com readers. Don't forget when placing your bets, Sportsinteraction.com is offering a Free $100 cash when you open a new betting account today (restrictions do apply).
The biggest games in terms of action on any sportsbook's slate are normally one-sided. A big game isn't always one like Duke v North Carolina, where the action breaks down evenly. Normally it's squares and sharpies both piling on a favorite against an opponent that looks especially vulnerable.
Which is what makes the current popularity of the game between No 9 Butler and No 8 LSU at Greensboro so interesting, as the action is considerable but also evenly divided.
Butler is 26-5 for the season, the winner of the Horizon League and an unlucky loser to Cleveland State in the Horizon Tournament. LSU is SEC Champion on a 26-7 record but this has been by no means a red letter year for the once mighty SEC with only three teams going to the Tournament. So why are people betting this game?
Best guess I can make is that people are sentimental in their betting and they're sticking up for Butler because the Cinderella teams got such short shrift from the committee this year. Or else maybe it's just because it's the first on the slate and people are just thrilled that the tourney is here - who knows? LSU -2.5 with Sportsinteraction.com is the pick, giving the Tigers the dubious reward of getting a caning from North Carolina on Saturday.
When considering your 2009 NCAA Tournament Picks it's widely known that fifth seeds have become vulnerable against twelfth seeds in recent years, and nobody looks more vulnerable among the fives than Illinois to my eye. Illinois is a 4.5 point favorite against No 12 Western Kentucky in Portland on Thursday night, and that really looks like a bargain on the Hilltoppers to me.
Some of the finest people in America if not the world were educated at Big Ten schools but that doesn't explain why the Big Ten has seven places at the Dance this year. Illinois was 24-9 for the season overall, 11-7 in the Big Ten, four games behind Michigan State, and now the word is that the Illini guard Chester Frazier is unlikely to see much playing time at all because of a hand injury. Western Kentucky was good enough to beat Louisville back in November, and the Hilltoppers are definitely good enough to cover 4.5 against Illinois. Western Kentucky +4.5 with Sportsinteraction.com is the pick.
The other team I really like for an upset is No 11 Utah State against No 6 Marquette at Boise on Friday. Marquette was in the running for a No 1 seed during the season, enjoying its best season in thirty years, but an injury to Dominic James ended all that. The Golden Eagles limped home in the regular season, and got knocked out by Villanova in the quarters of the Big East tourney. It's all over for the Golden Eagles - Utah State +4.5 with Sports Interaction is the pick.
Frank Doyle, Gambling911.com
