Posted on
3/18/2008 2:38:30 PM
Endzone NCAA March Madness Basketball - West Region
By Eric Williams
With the tip-off of the 2008 NCAA Basketball Championship Tournament just two days away, this college basketball article focusing on the tournament’s West region, will give the BetUS.com NCAA Basketball Betting Community the insight to make winning wagers in the BetUS.com Sportsbook on many of the teams in the west region by separating the cream of the crop from the flotsam and jetsam teams that are part of the regional matchups in the west bracket.
Let’s get started by looking at the No. 1 seed in the West, the UCLA Bruins, (31-3 SU, 19-12-2 ATS, 17-16 O/U).
I’ll start by saying that half of the tournament’s selection committee members must be UCLA alumni after placing the Bruins in almost perfect position to advance to the Final Four by making the West Region the easiest of all four regions this year.
The Bruins will easily dispatch their first round opponents, Mississippi Valley State, (17-15 SU, 1-3 ATS, 1-3 O/U), before moving on to the second round nearly fully rested.
Before the second round can kick off however, eighth-seeded BYU, (27-7 SU, 16-11-3 ATS, 12-18 O/U), plays No. 9 Texas A&M, (24-10 SU, 15-13 ATS, 10-18 O/U), in a contest that should be the best of the region’s first round.
Though Texas A&M is the more athletic team by far, I say BYU outsmarts them in route to victory in this matchup.
Bettors and fans can say what they want about fifth-seeded Drake’s, (28-4 SU, 17-12 ATS, 13-15 O/U), level of competition this season as they prepare to take on No. 12 Western Kentucky, (27-6 SU, 17-12 ATS, 12-17 O/U), I say the Bulldogs win this game handily before moving on to the second round.
Fourth-seed UConn, 24-8 SU, 13-14-1 ATS, 16-12 O/U), takes on one of the nation’s best ATS teams in No. 13 San Diego, (21-13 SU, 21-9 ATS, 12-17-1 O/U). Bettors should check the spread on this contest thoroughly as the Toreros could cover against the often-inconsistent Huskies.
No. six seed Purdue, (24-8 SU, 17-11-1 ATS, 15-14 O/U), takes on No. 11 Baylor, (21-10 SU, 13-10 ATS, 17-6 O/U), in a matchup that should be the best first round contest in the region. With both teams losing their last contests prior to this meeting in their respective conference tournaments, both clubs will be desperate to win this game and advance and not end their seasons with a two-game losing streak. In the end, I say the 18th-ranked Boilermakers survive in a close one.
No. 7 West Virginia, (24-10 SU, 14-13-1 ATS, 13-15 O/U), will undoubtedly have their hands full with a tenth-seeded Arizona, (19-14 SU, 16-14-1 ATS, 16-15 O/U), team that may also have a few of its alumni members on the selection committee.
Though the Wildcats are an athletic bunch that could actually win this game, I like West Virginia’s mental toughness to prevail in the end.
No. 3 Xavier, (27-7 SU, 13-16 ATS, 13-16 O/U) faces No. 14 Georgia, (17-16 SU, 16-13 ATS, 11-17-1 O/U), in a contest that will feature one of the most watched teams in the entire tournament in the Georgia Bulldogs, an underachieving team all season that caught fire in the Southeast Conference Tournament, winning four consecutive games, to win the championship and punch their ticket to the big dance. Despite their wonderful Cinderella-like story, I fully expect a well-balanced Xavier team to win this matchup.
Finally, No. 2 Duke, (27-5 SU, 16-13-2 ATS, 15-16 O/U), should cakewalk all over No. 15 Belmont, (25-8 SU, 4-2 ATS, 5-1 O/U). Despite the Bruins’ solid straight up record this season, they are unequivocally not in the same class as the Blue Devils.
I expect the UCLA Bruins to eventually meet up with UConn in the regional semifinals while Xavier and Duke meet in the other semifinal regional with the Bruins eventually coming out of the bracket by beating the Blue Devils in the regional final.
First round upsets could include Arizona over West Virginia, Georgia over Xavier and Texas A&M over BYU. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see Drake win two games though they will have a tall task ahead of them if the face UConn in the second round.
My dark horse selection to come out of the bracket is the UConn Huskies, who can beat any team in the country on any given day and have more athleticism on their roster than any team in the region besides UCLA and Xavier.
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