By Chris Marler and Jacob Hester
We are back again with the second weekend of March Madness which means we are also back for the second weekend of our picks and best bets.
It wasn’t the greatest opening weekend, and for Marler, the biggest struggles came on the Thursday and Saturday games going 3-9. The Friday and Sunday games were much different however with a 9-5 record. The bounce back from the 1-5 start was at least good, and finished in the black at 10-9.
That’s a lot of word salad to try and convince you to not avoid tailing my bets, but here we are nonetheless. Hester’s picks were much better and way more consistent going 10-6 on the weekend including 3-1 on the first and last day of opening weekend. Here are our best bets for the first four games of the Sweet 16. ‘
Jake’s Picks
Purdue -7.5
Iowa/Nebraska Under 131.5
Arkansas +7.5
Houston -2.5
Jake’s Takes
Purdue and Texas is an interesting matchup. I like the size and half court execution edge from Purdue though because they can control the paint and tempo of the game. Expect the two historically proud Big Ten football programs to play a similarly slow pace in their Sweet 16 basketball game tonight. Nerves will slow the game down even more and both teams feel comfortable grinding. In the later games, I think Arkansas’s athleticism can bother Arizona. The Wildcats have multiple double digit wins over SEC teams this season, but this feels closer to the number than those non-conference games from December. Finally, Houston’s defense and toughness in March is tough to fade in spots like this. I think it’s a tight game, but Houston makes more winning plays and closes it out.
Marler’s Picks
Illinois +4
Nebraska ML
Fletcher Loyer Under 15.5 points
Matas Vokietaitis Under 15.5 points
Trevon Brazile Over 10.5 points
Maleek Thomas Over 1.5 assists
Marler’s Takes
Once again we will not be explaining why we are making any of these picks. The one thing we’ve learned this NCAA Tournament is that favorites are dominating the tourney and research has not been my friend nor has it done me any favors. Respect the process.
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