Tourney Time

Bracket season is officially here ladies and gentlemen, and if you’re anything like me, the past couple days has been an extensive crash course into all 68 teams with a shot at the title. This year’s Selection Sunday once again produced a tournament field full of intrigue, and here are some of the biggest headlines 👇

• Alabama (South), Houston (Midwest), Kansas (West) and Purdue (East) are this year's incredibly deserving one-seeds. It's all subjective, but more than a handful of experts have dubbed the Jayhawks the unluckiest of the bunch as part of the annual "Region of Death" 😬

You can’t have a tournament field without a fair share of snubs, and while I think the committee mostly got it right, there's certainly a compelling case to be made for teams like Rutgers, Vanderbilt, Clemson and Oklahoma State 🤔

• Looking for this year’s Saint Peter’s? Some of the trendiest double-digit seeds with upset potential include #12 Charleston (South), #12 Oral Roberts (East) and #13 Furman (South) 😳

Everyone loves a good Cinderella run, but in order for there to be a David, there has to be a Goliath. Without further adieu, here are this year’s official favorites to cut down the nets on April 4th 👇

Odds to Win 2023 Men's National Championship

• Houston Cougars: +500 (bet $100 to win $500)

• Alabama Crimson Tide: +800

• Kansas Jayhawks: +1200

• Purdue Boilermakers: +1200

• UCLA Bruins: +1200

• Gonzaga Bulldogs: +1500

• Arizona Wildcats: +1500

• Marquette Golden Eagles: +1500

Can Kansas become the first back-to-back champs since Florida in '06-07? After years of coming up just short, can either Houston or Gonzaga capture their elusive first title? Only time will tell, but no matter what happens, this tournament promises to be a good one 😎

First Four Action

Shoutout to the committee for stacking the first round with a plethora of exciting matchups, and we’ll try to dive into as many of them as possible this week. But today, I gotta give the First Four some due diligence. Check out the schedule of play-in games at Dayton over the next two days, all on truTV👇

• #16 SE Missouri St vs. #16 Texas A&M-CC (3/14, 6:40PM)

• #11 Pittsburgh vs. #11 Mississippi State (3/14, 9:10PM)

• #16 Fairleigh Dickinson vs. #16 Texas Southern (3/15, 6:40PM)

• #11 Nevada vs. #11 Arizona State (3/15, 9:10PM)

You may think of First Four teams as tournament afterthoughts, but think again. Since the field expanded to 68 teams in 2011, a First Four team has gone on to win at least one more game every year except 2019 😳

No offense to the 16-seeds duking it out, but if the trend of First Four success is going to continue, chances are it’ll be one of the 11-seeds. Here’s a quick look at each of those two matchups 👇

📍 Pittsburgh vs. Mississippi State Betting Preview (subject to change)

• Spread: Mississippi State -2.5

• Moneyline: Mississippi State -132, Pittsburgh +110

• O/U: 133.5

The Jeff Capel era in Pittsburgh hasn't been especially successful through five seasons, but this year has undoubtedly been his most impressive coaching performance yet 

• Picked to finish second-to-last in the ACC preseason poll, the Panthers instead finished tied for third in the conference en route to their first tournament appearance since 2016 🙌

Mississippi State has had some very impressive stretches this season, but although they're favorites tonight, their streakiness along with their struggles from outside the arc (just 26.6% from three this year, worst in the country) makes them difficult to trust 🤷🏻‍♂️

📍 Nevada vs. Arizona State Betting Preview

• Spread: Arizona State -2.5

• Moneyline: Arizona State -128, Nevada +106

• O/U: 133.5

The Sun Devils are quite familiar with taking a detour to Dayton; this is their third tournament appearance in the last six years, and each time they've played in the First Four 🤯

• With Bobby Hurley's crew finding a way to sneak into the field once again, this miracle shot from a couple weeks ago is all the more noteworthy ⬇️

While some big wins down the stretch boosted ASU into the field, Nevada has been trending in the opposite direction. They ended their season with three straight disappointing losses, and in a tournament that's all about momentum, the Sun Devils have the edge on that front 📈

For My Parlay Gurus

Buckle up, folks — we've got 67 games of win-or-go-home action to wager on over the next three weeks. To kick things off, I'm going with Pittsburgh and Arizona State to both extend their seasons by at least one more game. Check it out 👇

• Pittsburgh ML vs. Mississippi State: +110

• Arizona State ML vs. Nevada: -128

$100 on this bet would win you $274 — if we hit, make sure you email [email protected] for a chance to win up to $100*. Many will enter, only some will win 😉

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