Posted on 1/28/2008 2:54:02 PM

NCAAB Betting - Will Memphis Go Undefeated?

By D.S. Williamson

Since it’s the beginning of February, Becky has taken off her football helmet and has donned her rock chalk Jayhawk like feather costume. She’s all dolled up for the push to March Madness - - the Big Dance - - the whole enchilada, baby!

Okay, I stole that from my man Dick Vitale, but that’s okay, right? The big question this year has to do with Memphis. Funny, because right now, while I compose this article, I am listening to Bob Dylan’s fantastic “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again”. I know there are few people that care of about the “Original Bob” as I call him at this point in American History, but that’s okay too, right?

Okay, so - - will the Memphis Tigers go undefeated? Well, no. They won’t go undefeated. Now, before everybody hovering around Graceland gets pissy with me, let me just tell you that all of you Memphis fans will receive a Patriot’s like thrill as the Tigers go into the Big Dance off no losses. That’s zero. Then, of course, they will have to play perfectly for six straight games to win the NCAAB Betting Championship. Well, guess what? They won’t do it!

Why, you ask? Because there are too many good teams in college basketball this year. I’m going to highlight a few of the dark horses later in this article. Suffice to say that Memphis getting to beat up on UAB and UCF and Southern Mississippi will not set them up well for what they are going to face in the Big Dance. Sure, they have a date with Tennessee coming up soon, but that will be easy for them. Like their other three tough games this year - - against Georgetown, Arizona and USC - - the Tigers face Tennessee at home.

That’s very different then facing, oh, the Duke Blue Devils or UCLA Bruins at a neutral site. Very different. The Tigers will go deep into the NCAA Tournament but they won’t make it the Final Four. I’m calling the upset in the Great Eight - - one game shy of getting to the Dance.

Who knows? Some of the teams below, all of whom have flown under the radar so far this year, could hand Memphis their first loss. BetUS college basketball bettors need to think about these teams as we come down the stretch. These teams will play very well in March.

Florida Gators - - Don’t look now but Florida has won three in a row and are now 18 and 3 straight-up during this season. They just beat the #13 ranked Vanderbilt Commodores by 22 points. It would be just like Billy Donovan and the Florida Gators to upset some hot-shot team in the NCAA Tournament, wouldn’t it? Well, it can happen. These guys are starting to look like the class of the SEC unless of course…

Ole Miss continues their hot streak. Mississippi is off to its best start in eighty-four years. A lot of that has to do with the fact that they are hot. The Rebels should continue their hot streak well into March. They, like Florida, aren’t a good enough team to get one of the top two spots in any of the four regions. That means that they are a great wager to take down a whale in the tournament. They should lose at least three - - even maybe four - - more games this season. That’s a good thing for this team. They are going to sneak up on somebody.

Arizona is another dark horse team. Sure, I keep writing about them. So, BetUS NCAAB bettors should definitely have an idea of how good these guys could be buy March, but to the rest of the nation they should go into the tournament as a real dark horse. No lower then a four seed for these guys. Remember that Arizona stuck with Memphis until their lack of play-making form the point-guard spot, Jeryd Bayless was hurt, got them into deep water in the second half of that game. The Wildcats have great upset potential.

Maryland is 12 and 8 on the year straight-up. They shouldn’t a problem making the NCAA Tournament however as they have a quality win against then #1 North Carolina. So, can they cause waves in the Tournament? Well, they had a nice lead over the Duke Blue Devils going into the second half of their game this past weekend. Duke came back to win big, but yes, I’m going to say that Maryland is a team to watch come March Madness. Their coach knows how to win it all. That means that they will make their presence felt as a 10 or even 11 seed in the Tournament.

Connecticut is the forgotten Big East powerhouse this year. The Memphis Tigers beat them earlier this season by 11 points. I doubt they would beat them by that many right now during the season. Connecticut has wins versus #13 Marquette and #7 Indiana in two of their past 3 games. Jim Calhoun is a master strategist. The Huskies will make the tournament and do some damage in March. This is a very good team who’s beginning to learn how play together. Watch out!

Until next week, good luck!

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