Did anyone in your March Madness pool get any of the
Final Four teams right? Only a smattering of brackets are still alive in this
year's NCAA men's basketball Tournament – even President Obama has gone bust
after picking all four No. 1 seeds to advance. But we still have two big-name
programs in the mix who are no strangers to the national championship. They'll
collide on Saturday night in our first stop on this week's sports betting tour.
All times are Eastern, and Bodog Sports is your source for all the odds and
props.
1. NCAAB: No. 4
Kentucky vs. No. 3 Connecticut (Saturday, 8:49 p.m.)
It's been a
while since Rick Pitino (1996) and Tubby Smith (1998) led Kentucky to the
national championship. But John Calipari has the Wildcats (29-8 SU, 16-15-1 ATS)
back in the Final Four, and the NCAAB odds have UK pegged at +140 to win the
title, followed by the Huskies (30-9 SU, 21-12 ATS) at +225. Jim Calhoun was at
the helm for both of UConn's championships in 1999 and 2004. His team is a
2-point underdog in this matchup with a total of 140; the UNDER is a combined
6-1-1 for these two teams at this Tournament.
2. NBA: Boston at
Atlanta (Friday, 8:00 p.m.)
With under 10 games left to go in
the regular season, both the Celtics (51-22 SU, 33-38-2 ATS) and the Hawks
(42-32 SU, 34-40-0 ATS) have already clinched playoff spots in the Eastern
Conference. The Hawks are very likely to end up with the No. 5 seed, but Boston
is in a dogfight for first place in the East with the Chicago Bulls and Miami
Heat. Rajon Rondo returned to the Celtics rotation on Monday with 22 points and
eight assists, but the injury-thin Boston frontcourt got exposed in a 107-100
loss to the Indiana Pacers (+1.5 at home). The Celtics are just 4-5 SU and 3-6
ATS in Atlanta since the start of the 2008 playoffs.
3. MLB: Detroit at N.Y.
Yankees (Thursday, 1:05 p.m.)
Opening Day has finally arrived for
baseball betting fans. The very first game of the 2011 season features two of
the ancient franchises of the American League. The Yankees (94-67, –5.61 units
in 2010) once again have the highest payroll in the majors at $206.7 million;
the Tigers (81-81, –2.29 units) are sixth at $122.9 million, although the
franchise has been to the playoffs just once since 1988. CC Sabathia (3.18 ERA,
1.19 WHIP last year) is scheduled to start for the Yankees against Justin
Verlander (3.37 ERA, 1.16 WHIP).
4. Soccer: Sunderland
at Manchester City (Sunday, 11:00 a.m.)
City supporters should be
very happy considering the Blues (15 wins, seven losses, eight draws) are in
fourth place in the Premiership. But there's still a sense of disappointment
hovering over Eastlands after City were eliminated from the Europa League by
Dynamo Kiev on March 17, followed swiftly by a 2-0 defeat at Chelsea (–140).
Sunderland (nine wins, 10 losses, 11 draws) have dropped from to ninth place on
the EPL table with one draw and five losses in their last six games. The Black
Cats took this matchup 1-0 back in August as +350 home dogs, courtesy of a
Darren Bent penalty late in injury time.
Honorable Mentions
NCAAB:
No. 11 Virginia Commonwealth vs. No. 8 Butler (Saturday, 6:09 p.m.)
NBA: Denver at
L.A. Lakers (Sunday, 3:30 p.m.)
MLB: San
Francisco at L.A. Dodgers (Thursday, 8:00 p.m.)
NHL: N.Y. Rangers
at Buffalo (Wednesday, 7:00 p.m.)
MLS: FC Dallas
at Columbus (Friday, 7:30 p.m.)
| Kyle Hunter | |
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