The NCAA Tournament, March Madness, bracket busting bliss, will be upon us sooner rather than later. And as we approach another round of the most wonderful time of the year, it’s time to revisit some of the most important sports betting rules when it comes to wagering on the tourney.
You have the famous #12 over #5 that happens at least once every year. You got to pick the right #11 over #6 upset. One must remember that although double digit seeds often make it to the sweet sixteen, the Final Four is almost always #1 -#3 seeds. Then of course, you got Michigan State being money the first two weekends of the tourney, but always broke on the last weekend.
MSU most likely won’t even make the big dance this time around, so don’t worry about that. Instead we’ll cover three teams that will, and these are sides that we believe you may want to place a wager or two on this March.
Illinois Fighting Illini
They have never pulled off a big upset, a major upset, ever, but that’s irrelevant here as they will be a high seed in the tourney, most likely a #2. Illinois has everything you want when it comes to the half court set, every possession counts kind of ball that you see in the NCAA Tournament.
They have a closer, someone who will step to take, and make the clutch shot, in Ayo Dosunmu. If you need a very high percentage shot in the half court, and you need to go into the low block, the Illini have college hoops Shaq in Kofi Cockburn. Also at a premium this time of year is point guard play, you need a floor general that keep things in flow and handle the pressure.
Illinois has three true point guards in Ayo, Trent Frazier and Andre Curbelo. The Illini have always made deep, long runs when they’ve been a really high seed and this year should be no exception.
Purdue Boilermakers
Of all the local teams that will benefit the most from getting to sleep in their own beds the entire tourney, with the whole competition being staged in central Indiana, it’s Purdue. The Boilermakers are a young team that is getting better as the season goes on and should be peaking at the right time.
If Sasha Stefanovic gets on a hot shooting streak, they could go pretty deep. One of very few schools to reach the past three sweet sixteens, number four should be there for the taking.
Gonzaga Bulldogs
Our real “chalk” pick here, as we take the path of least resistance. Simply put, this is the strangest of seasons, when not a lot makes sense. So many of the traditional blue bloods are down, and a few are REALLY down. Gonzaga is no true mid-major and they’re going to win a national title at some point, why not now?
Mark Few has built a juggernaut with talent, depth, versaility, inside-outside play in 2020-21. The bottom line is this- it’s Gonzaga and Baylor this year, then it’s a considerable drop-off to everyone else and anything goes.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.