I’m okay with going 9-7 after a crazy day of hoops yesterday, and really we weren’t too far off from 11-5 because I took Texas Tech and Rutgers to both win… regardless in the NFL my picks might’ve barely missed the playoffs, so let’s fix that today. Today we’ll take a look at the West region with Gonzaga as the number 1 seed.
14 Eastern Washington vs 3 Kansas(-10.5) (146)
Kansas was playing lights out basketball before being derailed by the coco. They might pose the biggest threat to Gonzaga in this region. Nobody is taking eastern Washington in this game, which makes me feel as though this is going to come back to bite me in the ass. I’ll fearlessly take Kansas -10.5.
12 UCSB vs 5 Creighton(-7.5) (137.5)
We got a 12 over 5 upset yesterday, but not the one I predicted. I still think there will be plenty of upsets today, but everyone seems to be in UCSB. It’s me, I’m everyone. I’ll take UCSB +7.5 all day, sprinkle the money line because I see them moving on.
11 Drake vs 6 USC(-6.5) (135.5)
If you’ve read any of my previous blogs, you know how down I am on the PAC-12. But of the PAC-12 teams, I love the matchup problems Evan Mobley of USC causes. I originally picked this as a first round upset, but I’m starting to lean more USC -6.5.
15 Grand Canyon vs 2 Iowa(-14) (145)
I love Iowa overs and this spread feels a bit high. I see GCU potentially covering here, but I like over 145 more.
13 Ohio vs 4 Virginia(-7) (130.5)
The public must be all over Ohio, which scares me because I like the bobcats too. Virginia is coming off a Covid pause and despite wins against Syracuse and Louisville, it feels like they backed into the tourney with losses to NC state and Duke late in the season. I’ll go with an ugly under 130.5 in this one.
9 Mizzou vs 8 Oklahoma(even) (139.5)
So much for my underdog in the8/9 game stat. Both of these teams are pretty evenly matched, so this game might go to 30 overtimes. I’ll take over 139.5.
16 Norfolk State vs 1 Gonzaga(-33) (154)
It’s awesome 2 HBCUs won their play in games in the first four between Norfolk State and Texas Southern. I was foolish for betting on App State when one of my mottos is “what have you done for me lately?”. App State hasn’t done anything, ever, and 15 sees Norfolk State upset 2 seed Mizzou in 2012. 10 year old references aside, I don’t think this one will be close. I like under 154.
10 VCU vs 7 Oregon(-5.5) (137.5)
Oregon feels like the most underseeded team in the tournament. They had a rough loss against a team of destiny in Oregon State, but they feel like the most dangerous PAC-12 team. I love them -5.5 here, and they’ll give Iowa a matchup nightmare on Monday.
The Morning Flush 