Posted on 3/25/2008 6:51:23 PM

XBOX NCAA TOURNAMENT ATS SPORTS BETTING SIMULATIONS SOUTH BRACKET

By Mike Rose

South Regional Semifinals @ Reliant Stadium, Houston, TX

(3) Stanford vs. (2) Texas: The PAC 10 and Big 12 butt heads in tonight’s first semifinal game in Houston giving the Longhorns the decisive home court advantage. Stanford rolled past first round opponent Cornell, but struggled in its Round 2 match-up with Marquette eventually winning by a point in overtime. Texas didn’t even break a sweat against Austin Peay, but their confidence almost got the best of them in Round 2 against Miami where they almost lost after holding a double-digit lead at the break. This was a match-up between Texas’ fantastic guard play and Stanford’s twin towers. At first, the Longhorns seemingly had their way after getting out to a fast start. A.J. Abrams, Damion James, and D.J. Augustin all got off to blazing starts hitting every one of their attempts from the field to give Texas a 22-13 lead at the 10-minute mark. To make matters worse for the Cardinal, Brook Lopez got called with his third foul with 7 minutes remaining in the half, forcing Head Coach Trent Johnson to look to his bench. Texas continued to build upon its lead for the remainder of the first half, and ultimately led 37-26 at the break. Much like they did against Miami, the Longhorns got to comfortable with their lead and came out too lackadaisical in the second half. Stanford forced back-to-back turnovers right out of the gate, and made good on the other end to cut the lead to 7 with less than 40 seconds coming off the clock. Then Robin Lopez stuffed Connor Atchley in the paint allowing Anthony Goods to streak the other way for another two points. Before you knew it, this game was tied and HC Johnson finally brought Brook Lopez and his three fouls back into the game. Stanford took its first lead since the 16-minute mark of the first half when the aforementioned Lopez threw down an alley-oop pass from Mitch Johnson leaving the pro-Texas crowd in a frenzy. The Horns lost all their composure by then and played like the team that barely escaped Miami in the second half. Only this time, Stanford made them pay for it. The Cardinal stretched its lead to 10 points with less than two minutes remaining in the game, and not even Augustin’s heroics from beyond the arc were enough to get them closer. Stanford battled through its environment and foul trouble the entire game, but was rewarded with the victory and a trip to the Elite 8 for their efforts.

Final Score: Stanford 72 Texas 65

BetUS March Madness Odds: Texas (-3.5) 135

(5) Michigan State vs. (1) Memphis: Michigan State managed to win and cover against both of its opponents last week (Temple, Pittsburgh), while Memphis won both if its games but failed to cover in both. Head Coach John Calipari must have run this team into the ground throughout practice, or said something to really inspire his club because this game was over from the opening tip. Memphis bolted out to a 17-2 lead before the first media timeout, and Head Coach Tom Izzo’s club couldn’t do anything to climb back in it. Chris Douglas-Roberts had 15 points before Spartans star, Drew Neitzel, registered his first FG with only three minutes left in the half. Memphis just didn’t hold back and continued to sprint the ball up and down the court offensively, and then clamp down hard on Sparty after every made basket. When it was all said and done, the scoreboard read Memphis 54 Michigan State 28, and the worst part about it for Spartan fans was the fact that there were 20 minutes yet to be played. MSU tried its hardest to come back, but Memphis was just simply unconscious from beyond the arc converting on 7 of 9 attempts overall, and they increased their lead to 35 before the Spartans started eating away at it with less than five minutes to play. To firmly cement the idea that this was Memphis’ night, they converted 12 of the 14 free throw attempts they made to add insult to injury. It was most definitely the Tigers night! Michigan State seemingly threw in the towel in with under 5 minutes to play as HC Izzo elected to empty his bench and allow the hometown fans to applaud their starters for the season they put forth. Even in a bloody defeat, Izzo’s still a class act.

Final Score: Memphis 86 Michigan State 61

BetUS March Madness Odds: Memphis (-4.5) 134

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