With the NCAA Tournament starting in full on Friday, after Thursday's First Four games, and the deadline to get brackets submitted fast approaching, Dick Fain is here to help with the best value picks to place wagers on and possibly pick in your bracket before it's too late! Check them all out here!
First Round Favorites In Order:
1. #12 Winthrop +6 and +215 over #5 Villanova. Villanova is short handed and Winthrop has high major talent in Vaudrin and Burns.
2. #12 UCSB +6.5 vs. #5 Creighton, who shoot three-pointers, and that's the only way they can score. UC Santa Barbara focuses their defense on, you guessed it, stopping the three, and sport the 15th lowest three-point rate in the nation. The wrong team is favored here.
3. #8 Loyola Chicago ML over #9 Georgia Tech. I liked it before we found out Moses Wright was out, and like it more now.
4. #11 Michigan State -2 vs. #11 UCLA. MSU has three wins over top five teams in the last three weeks. How long do you have to go back to find three UCLA wins against top five teams period?
5. #10 VCU +6 vs. #7 Oregon. It's a toss up game, and I'll take the points.
6. #8 Oklahoma -2 over #9 Missouri. OU is my sleeper in this region. They also have a punchers chance against the Zags in the second round.
7. #3 West Virginia -13 vs. #14 Morehead State. Morehead turns the ball over on nearly a quarter of their possessions. That means easy baskets for West Virginia.
8. #11 USU +6 vs. #6 Texas Tech. A low scoring game means the six points is magnified.
9. #6 San Diego State vs. #11 Syracuse- Under 138.5. This will be an ugly, ugly game. The first team to 65 wins.
10. #9 Wisconsin vs. #8 North Carolina- Under 139.5. Ugly, ugly game, part two.
More Tournament Value Bets to Win Their Region (And Entire Tournament):
Texas: 6-1 to win their region (20-1 to win it all)
Oklahoma: 18-1 to win their region (35-1 to win it all)
Michigan State: Do you know any other team that beat three top five teams in the last three weeks? I’ll take that resume at 65-1.