Sweet 16 Preview - Midwest Region Power Poll

COLLEGE BASKETBALL BETTING – NCAA Tournament Midwest Region Sports Betting Power Poll

The only region to have a “Cinderella” put on its dancing shoes was the Midwest at BetUS Sportsbook, and this is how it stacks up against one another in the Sweet 16.

(click here for your printable March Madness bracket)

1) Kansas Jayhawks (27-7 SU, 20-7 ATS, 2-0 ATS in NCAA Tournament) Rock Chalk! The Jayhawks may have been facing a #14 seed in North Dakota State, but the Bison proved to be a significantly harder challenge than their seeding suggested. After disposing of NDSU in one of the highest scoring games in the first round of the tournament (84-74), Kansas turned around and romped Dayton in one of the lowest scoring games in the second round of the tournament (60-43). The Jayhawks are 15-3-1 ATS since January 13th. The team that they lost to right before Big XII play kicked off? You guessed it: These same Spartans that are on deck.

Up Next: Michigan State (+1.5)

2) Louisville Cardinals (30-5 SU, 21-14 ATS, 0-2 ATS in NCAA Tournament) Many people looked at Louisville’s draw in the Midwest Bracket and cringed at how easy it looked. Yes, truth be told, facing a #9, then a #12 isn’t normally the most difficult path in the world for a #1 seed, but these aren’t any ordinary 9s and 12s we’re talking about. Siena gave the Cards all they could handle and then some on Sunday night, but in the end, the pressure defense and overall talent was enough to get them through to the Sweet 16. F Terrence Williams has been unstoppable so far in this tournament, as he has filled up the stat sheet as usual, scoring 37 points, hauling in 24 rebounds, and dishing out seven assists. Save perhaps Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin, no one has been a more difficult individual match-up in this tournament. Arizona is a squad that can score in bunches, but one would like to think that the power of the Big East champs on the defensive end of the court can knock Cinderella out of the ball in the next round.

Up Next: Arizona (-9)

3) Arizona Wildcats (21-13 SU, 20-13 ATS, 2-0 ATS in NCAA Tournament) To answer the question of whether Arizona deserved a spot in this year’s NCAA Tournament in one word: Yep. The Cats have been one of the tournament’s most impressive teams after being one of the final teams (and likely the final team) to get in the field. They made short work of Utah (84-71) and even shorter work of a Cleveland State (71-57) team that seemed to run out of gas after blowing out Wake Forest. The biggest problem Arizona is going to have going forward is lack of depth. Its starting five is as good as any other five in the nation, but there really isn’t much coming off the bench. The starters played all but 28 minutes in the opening round game against Utah, and all but 18 minutes in the second game. That’s a really bad sign against Louisville’s up-tempo style of play.

Up Next: Louisville (+9)

4) Michigan State Spartans (28-6 SU, 18-12 ATS, 2-0 ATS in NCAA Tournament) It’s really rough when you’re six games over .500 ATS and are still sitting at the foot of a online betting power poll. But much like they did over the entire regular season, the Spartans are just sort of lurking around going unnoticed. For HC Tom Izzo, that’s probably just fine. His Spartans took out a scrappy bunch of Trojans 74-69 for a slender cover after beating Robert Morris on the betting line by the hook. The key for Michigan State has been rebounding, as it has hauled in a whopping 76 rebounds in two games, and is +27 on the glass. Sparty has the psychological advantage in its Sweet 16 match-up with the Jayhawks, as it beat Rock Chalk by 13 in East Lansing earlier this season.

Up Next: Kansas (-1.5)