The Wiesguy is a newcomer to the handicapping scene. Hailing from Toronto, Canada he is always sweet on the underdogs and you can often find his thoughts, musings and picks at moneydogs.blogspot.com.
The Mets have taken advantage of their schedule to get off to a nice start.
They are just behind the Braves in the National League East standings and if they can get another series win in Philadelphia they will really be pleased with themselves.
I know I am supposed to write about Louisville but I have to throw some love to the Wichita State Shockers here. They pushed the Cardinals more than anybody expected and could easily have won the game.
The Orange were very impressive last week in earning their spot in the Final Four. They put forth two fantastic defensive games holding Indiana and Marquette to an average of just 45 points.
There was a lot of talk this season about how there wasn’t a dominant team in the college game. Louisville is making us second guess all of that rhetoric.
The Pirates failed to use the Chicago Cubs to get off to a good start. The most concerning aspect of dropping two of three to Chicago was the fact that the lineup scored just three runs over the course of the series.
The Phillies have not gotten off to a good start and are looking to salvage a game in this opening series against division rival Atlanta. Starter Roy Halladay gave a confounding performance yesterday, racking up the strikeouts while giving up the long ball.
The Minnesota Twins are usually in the hunt but they have fallen on hard times the last few seasons. Their 2012 lineup had a few nice surprises but the pitching was absolutely miserable.
The Royals have been mired in sub-mediocrity for some time now. They have been trying to get out of it through the draft and prospect development but not enough of their young talent have become solid contributors, let alone the stars they were hoping for.
The White Sox were a legitimate threat to Detroit in the AL Central last year, using a top 10 offense to a better than .500 record. They are the most likely challenger to the Tigers again this season, thought a Wild Card birth is the more reasonable goal.
The Indians were just horrible last season. The team had few high calibre players and the ones they did have turned in poor seasons. This team was especially sparse on pitching and unfortunately it remains so heading into this season.
The final score of Louisville vs. Oregon probably didn’t tell the true story of the game. It looked kind of close but really the Cardinals were in control – no surprise.
NCAA Tournament – Midwest Bracket
#1 Louisville Cardinals (32-5) vs #2 Duke Blue Devils (30-5)
Sunday March 31
Lucas Oil Stadium – Indianapolis, IN
5:05PM
Moneyline: Louisville -175, Duke +155 at GTBets
Spread: Louisville -3.5
O/U: 137
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For bettors it was a disappointment as the Cards failed to cover for the first time in the tournament.
Now they square off against Duke, a team they lost to back in November…when they were missing center Georgui Dieng.
Guard Russ Smith was fantastic once again scoring 31 points even though he made just one three pointer. He made 12 of 14 from the free throw line showing the versatility to his game – I am not sure the Blue Devils have a good counter for him defensively.
It seems like every tournament game a new face steps forward for Louisville. Against the Ducks it was sophomore guard Kevin Ware, who more than doubled his seasonal average with 11 points.
To demonstrate how unlikely that was – it was his first double digit game since the first game of the season.
Louisville continues to roll and the fact that they did not beat Oregon by 20 probably makes them even more valuable in this one. They are playing great but you have to think that there are some who are going to see that loss to Duke and get on the Blue Devils to bring this one down further.
Let’s hope so.
I thought Friday night would be the end of the line for Duke. Michigan State fights you in a way that most teams don’t and I thought Duke wouldn’t be able to respond. I certainly did not see them being able to get the Spartans bigs off their games the way they did, holding them to 30% shooting from the field. [ad-6571516]
If they still have something left in their tank they are going to need it all to beat Louisville one more time and earn a trip to the Final Four.
Guard Seth Curry had a fantastic shooting game in leading the Dookies over MSU but I don’t see that happening against Louisville this time around. He was 3 for 11 in that early season victory, a game where center Mason Plumlee was the top scorer.
Plumlee will definitely find it harder this time around and the Blue Devils will likely need to get at least some production from their bench. In the victory over LU only 3 of 76 points came from subs.
It’s Duke so you can’t run your mouth off and say they can’t win…they almost always do. Still I think it will be much harder for them to do what they did again in this game.
Louisville is looking super hungry and their defense is better now than the last time they played.
It is hard to beat a team that good twice.
Spread Pick: Louisville -3.5
O/U Pick: Under
Score Prediction: Louisville 69 – Duke 62
The Buckeyes win against Arizona followed the same blueprint as their win against Ohio State. They were outplayed by the Wildcats for stretches, let them back into the ball game late, all before hitting a game winning three with almost no time left on the clock.
It is a little bit odd that Duke beat Creighton by a greater margin than they did Albany. I thought the Blue Jays would be able to push Duke but they shot horribly in a very disappointing performance.
Two games in and the Cardinals have won by 31 and 26 points. If that pattern holds than they should beat Oregon by 21 and might not be challenged until the Championship game.
The Buckeyes escaped their third round game against Iowa State with a victory. In my opinion they were outplayed but a win is a win.
It has been a pretty wild ride to get to this point.
A team from the First 4 is still in it, a #15 seed beat a #2 seed, then won again to make the Sweet Sixteen for the first time ever. Even the favourites who won got their by the skin of their teeth – I am looking at you Indiana and Ohio State.
