posted March 11, 2008 at 15:49 in NCAA B Articles

This isn’t the Finals match-up that most expected once this tournament started last week. However, were now in the midst of the “Madness of March” so it makes perfect sense that the Blue Raiders upended the host of this tourney last night (South Alabama). Watching the Jaguars go down in flames certainly had the Hilltoppers grinning from ear-to-ear, and they should administer the deathblow tonight against a Blue Raiders squad that’s playing over their heads simply due to the extra adrenaline racing through their bodies.

MTSU’s road to the Sun Belt Championship started last week when they upended Louisiana Monroe at home 74-69, but failed to cover the 10-point spread. The combined 143 points soared Over the closing ‘total’ of 132.5. Their next game saw them upend the Troy State Trojans 65-59 in Mobile, AL as 6-point neutral court favorites. They pushed ATS, but the combined score fell comfortable Under the ‘total’. Last night’s game against host South Alabama saw them beat the Jaguars outright, 82-73, as 11.5-point underdogs and the combined points soar Over the closing ‘total’ of 131. So, through three games of the SB tournament, MTSU is 2-1 ATS and the Over has cashed in 2 of their 3 games.

Western Kentucky earned the #3 seed for the tournament, so they didn’t have to compete in the First Round. It’s Quarterfinal match-up against North Texas saw them win by an 84-70 final count and knock the Mean Green off for the second time this season. The 14 point win easily took care of their backers that laid 7.5-points and the 154 combined points eclipsed the closing ‘total’ of 144.5. Next up was Arkansas Little-Rock whom they pounded at home by a 71-47 final count at the end of January. The story was quite the same this time around as well as they rolled them by 15-points (70-55), and covered the 10-point spread in the process.

Vegas believes the Hilltoppers are the decided favorite in this match-up since they labeled them as 8.5-point chalks with the ‘total’ set at 135. BetUS.com currently has these exact numbers, so login quickly to get your action in before the lines move against you.

Western Kentucky took each of the match-ups this year (71-66 @ MTSU & 62-51 @ home), but MTSU covered both times (+6.5) & (+15.5). You know what they say about beating a team three straight times in the same season. That said, the underdog is 7-3 ATS the L/10 times these SBC rivals have squared off, but MTSU is 2-5-1 ATS their L/8 neutral site games as an underdog.

Do the Blue Raiders have enough in them to compete after pulling off a shocking win over the #1 seeded Jaguars last night, or will Western Kentucky hold suit and make a bubble team happy? Tune in to ESPN2 at 9:00 ET and find out!

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