When the 34 at-large teams were announced for the NCAA tournament, the most controversial bid went to Arizona which extended Wildcat\u2019s NCAA-leading streak of tournament appearances to 25 in a row. Arizona was just 19-13 straight-up and many felt that a non-BCS team such as San Diego State, St. Mary\u2019s-CA, or Creighton should have been dancing.Arizona received the bid due to their tough schedule of Pac-10 opponents which included wins versus UCLA, USC, and Washington, and also impressive non-conference wins versus Kansas, Gonzaga, and San Diego State.<\/p>\n
Check out Steve Merril\u2019s Online Sports Betting + Handicapping Page Today \u2014-><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Cinderella or not?<\/strong><\/p>\n Arizona has quieted their critics by advancing to the Sweet Sixteen round, however the first two wins came against Utah (+1) and Cleveland State (-3), so the Wildcats have benefited from an extremely favorable schedule in the tournament. Arizona (#12 seed) and Purdue (#5 seed) are the only teams that were not a Top 4 seed to advance to the Round of 16 this year. Normally, a #12 seed off back-to-back wins would be considered a Cinderella story, however the fact Arizona has been to 25 straight tournaments and has won a national title makes this a hotly debated topic.<\/p>\n Technically speaking, Arizona is a Cinderella story as they were not considered a serious national title contender with odds as high as 250-to-1 last week. Just like when #8 seed Villanova won the national title in 1985, it does not matter if you are a big name team as those Wildcats were definitely a Cinderella squad.<\/p>\n The difference is that Villanova defeated a #1 ranked Georgetown in the finals. The fact that Arizona has only been a 1-point underdog and a 3-point favorite in their first two wins is what leaves many doubting the \u2018Cats. Arizona will get their chance at true Cinderella stardom on Friday night when they face #1 ranked Louisville.<\/p>\n Offense first<\/strong><\/p>\n The strength of this Arizona squad is a strong offense that averages 72.5 points per game and 47.7% FG (versus opponents that allow just 65.5 ppg and 43.1%). Arizona\u2019s weakness has been a lack of depth and a mediocre defense that has been particularly poor down low as the Wildcats allow 49.4% from two-point range which ranks only 228th in the nation and is above the national average of just 48.0%.<\/p>\n Bottom Line<\/strong><\/p>\n Arizona deserved to make the NCAA tournament as they were one of the top 34 remaining at-large teams, however two wins versus a pair of mediocre opponents (Utah and Cleveland State) does not suddenly make Arizona a national title contender.<\/p>\n The Wildcats will now face a tough Louisville pressure defense which could wear down a thin Arizona lineup which gets 82% of their total minutes from starters and only 18% from their reserves (ranks 340th out of 344).<\/p>\n According to the oddsmakers, Louisville has an 82% change of winning Friday\u2019s game straight-up which means Arizona\u2019s run will likely end. Arizona is not for real from a championship perspective and for this reason they should be considered a Cinderella story if they continue to win. Perhaps the biggest Cinderella story is the success of Arizona interim head coach Russ Pennell who is not even a candidate for the head coaching job next season.<\/p>\n ——————————————————–<\/p>\n When the 34 at-large teams were announced for the NCAA tournament, the most controversial bid went to Arizona which extended Wildcat\u2019s NCAA-leading streak of tournament appearances to 25 in a row…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[83,12192,12187,3646,3790,66513,12191,12190,1143,10702,10706,10705,10704,10703,12188,12086,12189,2136],"class_list":["post-9744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gambling","tag-arizona","tag-arizona-gambling","tag-arizona-sweet-16-handicapping","tag-arizona-wildcats","tag-gambling-preview","tag-handicapping","tag-ncaa-preview","tag-ncaa-selections","tag-sports-betting","tag-steve-merril","tag-steve-merril-articles","tag-steve-merril-free-pick","tag-steve-merril-handicapping","tag-steve-merril-picks","tag-sweet-16-gambling","tag-sweet-16-handicapping","tag-sweet-sixteen-gambling","tag-wildcats-vs-cardinals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9744"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9746,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9744\/revisions\/9746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/banners.betdsi.com\/images\/bball-dsi_230_150_1.jpg?cmpid=3051_1212\")
<\/a> Arizona gets 75% of their points from two-point range, but they are still a strong three-point shooting club as they average 39.4% from beyond the arc (versus opponents that allow just 34.8%). The Wildcats also average a fantastic 73.9% from the free throw line.<\/p>\nMake your picks count & Purchase Steve’s 3-Game Thursday NCAA Special For $55 Right here at Capperspicks.com!!!! >>><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"