1 Sweet 16 pick

Maybe I'm not doing great on my posted picks so far in the tournament. However, in my last post I did get a 3-team parlay right so I'm not down any money... yet.

In my bracket I still have 3 of my final four (UNC, Duke & Louisville). My best picks so far include NC State upsetting second seeded UConn, Louisville beating first seeded Washington, and UAB (the team nobody thought should have made it) upsetting LSU. Oklahoma St losing last night has been the only bad thing to happen so far.

Anyway, I just noticed that Vegas has (10 seed) NC State giving 2 points to (3 seed) Wisconsin. This is the only game I dare to put money on tonight. Even though NC State recently beat second seeded UConn, I don't think they can keep up the intensity.

I wish I had some more advice, but I'm fresh out at the moment. Making one pick for the day is a little scary because if I get it wrong, then I look like an idiot. Oh well.

The Madness!

The tournament finally begins! I can't wait. I love this tournament. Filling out brackets, watching basketball all day... losing lots of money. What could be better? So anyway, I must warn anybody who reads this... I don't normally do well picking games during this tournament. I'm not going to tell you yet who I picked in the final four or who I have winning it all, but I will list the bets I made for today.

5 team parlay
Penn (+6) over B.C.
W. Virginia (-2) over Creighton
Alabama (-5) over Niagra
Cinn (-3) over Iowa
Pacific (+4) over Pitt.

5 team parlay
Arizona (-5) over Utah St.
Utah (-3) over UTEP
Bucknell (+14) over Kansas
Texas (-1) over Nevada
Minn (-1) over Iowa St.

3 team parlay
Pacific (+4) over Pitt.
Cinn (-3) over Iowa
Utah (-3) over UTEP

3 team parlay
Arizona (-5) over Utah St.
Alabama (-5) over Niagra
Minn (-1) over Iowa St.

3 team parlay
Villanova (-5.5) over New Mexico
Delaware St. (+26) over Duke
Old Dom. (+9) over Michigan St.

Straight bets
Wake Forest (-17.5) over Chatt
Oklahoma (-12) over Niagra
Alabama (-5) over Wisconsin Mil.

Please don't ask me why I have so much riding on Alabama. It's because I'm an idiot.

Last post (1-1)
Overall (8-6)

Big East and ACC

I haven't made many picks lately since I've been kind of busy at work (where I do the bulk of my research). So today I took a couple of minutes to look over the games and picked a couple of matchups that I liked. Here they are:

Syracuse (+2.5) over UConn - Ok, UConn has beated Syracuse twice this year, and the last meeting they won by something like 18 points. So why am I picking Syracuse? Because Syracuse is too good to let a team like UConn run all over them all season. This Big East tournament semi-final should be a fun game to watch.

Viginia Tech (+8) over Georgia Tech - These two teams are basically identical talent wise. However, VT beat GT earlier this year and also had an impressive win over Duke recently. So why is GT favored? That's a good question.

last week (3-1)
Overall (7-5)

Oops

Ok, my last set of picks was a little irresponsible of me. I was taking advice from the guys on Gameday instead of going with stats, streaks and my gut like I usually do. So I picked 1 out of 4 winners and that's unacceptable. For that I apologize. Anyway, back to my own picks. Here are a few Mens NCAA basketball picks for tonight.

Oklahoma (+1.5) over Texas - Oklahoma still has something to play for while the Longhorns are just playing for pride. I have no idea why Texas is favored. Also, Oklahoma is riding a winning streak... never bet against a streak.

BC (-5.5) over Pitt - Pitt has been slumping lately. BC is still fighting for the Big East conference championship. They need to win at least 1 of their next 2 games so look for them to play a little harder than Pitt.

S. Illinois (-6) over Indiana St. - First place in conference against last place in conference. Need I say more? Southern Ill. will blow this game away just to avoid embarrassment.

Drake (+6) over Bradley - This is my random pick of the week. Both teams have the same conference record so I'm betting on a close game. Take the points.

Overall NCAA record: 4-4

Mens NCAA basketball picks

Hmmm, apparently what I meant by "bet the farm!", I actually meant "Don't listen to me on this pick!". So now that I've cleared that up, here are a couple more NCAA basketball picks for today.

Viginia Tech (+11) over N.C.State - Ok, NCS is home this game, but I don't think that makes them an 11 point favorite. I mean, VT is 4th in the ACC and NCS is 8th.

Arizona (+5) over Washington - Maybe Arizona screwed me the other day, but that doesn't mean they aren't a good team. They are still ranked higher than Washington and if Salim Stoudemire has a good game, then there is no stopping them.

UCONN (+1.5) over Pitt - Two of the guys from College Gameday picked UCONN to win this game. So since they've got the points, I'm going with the experts.

Purdue (-2) over Minnesota - Let me think. Purdue is 7-17 this year. Minnesota is 18-9. How is Purdue giving points to Minnesota??? This just blows my mind.... wait, did I pick Purdue? What am I thinking? Oh yeah, College Gameday again. Damn you guys. You better get this one right.

Overall Record: 3-1

I'm back!

Hello again! It's been a while since I posted here, but since I believe I am only writing to myself, it doesn't really make any difference. Anyway, if anybody does read this, you may have noticed that I didn't make a Super Bowl prediction. Well, if you know me at all, you should have known I was picking the Pats to cover (as I picked the Pats to cover every game during the season). I didn't post the pick because I didn't want to take the chance of jinxing them.

So, football season is over (and has been for almost a month), so now it's time to concentrate on Basketball. Especially the NCAA. I've been doing a little bit of betting and doing quite well so far. I had 4 winners last night when I bet on Villanova, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and Illinois. Tonight I'm going for a repeat performance. Here are my picks:

Arizona U.(-7) over Washington St - Come on. We've got a top 10 team here playing a team with a losing record! Why is this spread so low? I'll tell you why. It's becaus Washington St. beat Arizona earlier this year. Guess what... Arizona is pissed, and not to mention they've won their last 6 games and 12 of their last 13.

Arizona St. (+14.5) over Washington U. - It's a good night for Arizona schools. Remember how I said the last spread was too low, well this one is too high. Plus Arizona St. is a much stronger underdog than Washington St. Just check out the Pac-10 standings. I think Vegas got the spreads on these two games mixed up.

Gonzaga (-7) over Portland - Portland is second to last in the West Coast Conference while Gonzaga is first. Portland has lost 4 of their last 5 while Gonzaga has won their last 8. Is this spread for real??? Bet the farm! Bet the farm!

Michigan St. (-7.5) over Wisconsin - The only reason I'm betting on this game is because it's on ESPN tonight and I can watch it. This one is really a toss up. I was close to picking Wisconsin because of the points and I think the two teams are evenly matched. However, Mich St. has won their last 5 games and 9 of their last 10, while Wisconsin has been struggling lately. Plus Mich St is the home team.

I guess I'll keep track on how I do throughout the rest of the NCAA season. I've won 5 of my last 6 bets, but I can't prove it since I didn't post them. So I'll start keeping track starting.... now!

NFL Playoffs: Week 3

Only 3 games left in this NFL season and every one of them should be a good game. The Pat’s win last week over Indy was awesome. They completely dominated the game as opposed to the Steelers who got extremely lucky and squeaked by the Jets. Anyway, this weekend should be interesting due to the forecast. It looks like we could be getting lots of snow, especially in Philly. Should be a lot of fun to watch.

Championship Picks

Patriots (-3) over Steelers - I took this next quote straight out of the NY Times yesterday morning "Brady, after all, has proven himself in the playoffs, and Roethlisberger has not. Pittsburgh Coach Bill Cowher has lost three A.F.C. championship games at home, and New England's Bill Belichick has won two Super Bowls." That is why I'm picking the Pats. Not because the Pats are my team (I keep telling myself this). One interesting stat to look at is that Roethlisberger has never lost an N.F.L. start (14-0), and Brady has never lost an N.F.L. playoff game (7-0). I love football!

Eagles (-5) over Falcons - I had a tough time with this one, seriously. I was very close to picking the Falcons on this one. On one hand, we've got an Eagles team who've lost their last 3 NFC Championship games, and on the other hand we've got a team run by Michael Vick who can be amazing or very, very subpar (week 13: QB rating 29). Part of me says that the Eagles are going to choke like the 2004 Yankees (hahaha, I love saying that), but another part of me says Vick is to unpredictable to bet on. In the end it came down to the weather. It’s supposed to snow like crazy this weekend and the Falcons are a dome team. McNabb grew up in Chicago so he’ll be fine in the cold.

Last week: 3-1
Playoff Total: 5-3