Sweet 16

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Let’s dive in…

Developing Stories 📰

The second group of Sweet 16 teams will battle it out today for a spot in the Elite 8 over the weekend. The difference in this slate and Thursday's is that we have some sizable favorites in Alabama, Creighton and Houston. Outside of one game, we also have some very low totals. What all this means is I expect a lot of ownership on the Texas and Xavier game with the closest spread and highest total. The Crimson Tide are involved in the first game of the evening as they take on San Diego State, while Houston battles Miami with that matchup starting 45 minutes later. Which teams will advance to the Elite Eight. The first of our March Madness games for tonight’s Sweet 16 games sees Alabama doing their job against San Diego State. The Crimson Tide looked dominant in wins over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Maryland, while San Diego State seemed to struggle at times when getting past Charleston and Furman.

Miami should keep things close against Houston. Despite being tournament favorites, the Cougars haven’t looked like it so far. They were involved in a close game against Northern Kentucky before being given a scare by Auburn, where they were down by ten at halftime. Houston has struggled to put together a complete game so far, and they could be in for another tough game against Miami. The Cougars are heavily reliant on the health of Marcus Sasser, and although he has been on the court, he still doesn’t seem to be back to 100%. Miami put in one of the best performances of the tournament so far in their heavy victory over Indiana. Isaiah Wong looked terrific in that victory and if he puts in a similar effort against Houston, he could give the Cougars all they can handle.

The Princeton Tigers have mad a fantastic Cinderella run in this years dance. As a 15-seed they took the two seeded Arizona 59-55. They shot 40.6% from the field, while only going 16% from three-point territory. Limiting themselves to only 11 turnovers but only grabbing 38 rebounds. In their second matchup they took on the Missouri Tigers. Creighton first went through North Carolina State 72-63, lead by Ryan Kalkbrenner with 31 points. The Bluejays shot 46.4% from the field, going 15% from deep. They also had minimal turnovers with only eight. Next up for Creighton was Baylor who they took down 85-76. This game was taken over by their very Ryan Nembhard who scored 30 points. Princeton stands a chance is if they play the absolute perfect game on their end and hope Creighton messes up big time on their end as well. Take the Bluejays giving the nine and a half points.

The amazing Texas defense has no problems blaming down on teams that live on high-octane scoring power. It's good at guarding the three, excellent at getting back in transition, and it has a way to keep scores relatively low. Texas led the Big 12 in shooting, scoring, and free throws but it's stronger when the D is doing their job. After beating Penn State 71-66 to get here, Texas is 23-0 when keeping teams to 72 points or fewer. It has a way of coming through late and when it turns up the intensity on D. Who will punch their ticket to the Elite Eight in these las Sweet 16 games?

Headlines 🚨

Florida Atlantic makes first Elite Eight after defeating Tennessee 62-55

Markquis Nowell broke the NCAA Tournament record for assists in a game with 19 and Kansas State beat Michigan State 98-93 in a Sweet 16 thriller at Madison Square Garden

Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins needs surgery for a torn ACL after injuring his left knee while fielding a grounder in a spring training game

Barcelona is facing a new legal threat from UEFA because of its payments of millions of dollars to a company linked to a Spanish refereeing official

Notre Dame is finalizing a deal to make Penn State’s Micah Shrewsberry its new men’s basketball coach

Houston Astros star Jose Altuve has had surgery on his broken right thumb

Trends 📈📉 via Oddsshark

🏀 Pacers at Celtics

• Indiana is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Boston

• The total has gone OVER in 4 of Indiana's last 5 games when playing Boston

• Boston is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games when playing at home against Indiana

🏀 Spurs at Wizards

• San Antonio is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Washington

• The total has gone OVER in 5 of Washington's last 5 games when playing at home against San Antonio

• The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Washington's last 7 games

🏀 Pistons at Raptors

• The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Detroit's last 5 games

• Detroit is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Toronto

• Toronto is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games at home

• Toronto is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games at home

🏀 Rockets at Grizzlies

• The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Houston's last 6 games

• The total has gone OVER in 4 of Houston's last 5 games on the road

• Memphis is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home

• Memphis is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games when playing Houston

🏀 Hornets at Mavericks

• The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Charlotte's last 5 games on the road

• The total has gone UNDER in 12 of Charlotte's last 15 games

• Dallas is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games

• The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Dallas's last 5 games when playing at home against Charlotte

🏀 Bucks at Jazz

• Milwaukee is 11-1 SU in its last 12 games on the road

• Milwaukee is 22-3 SU in its last 25 games

• The total has gone OVER in 5 of Utah's last 5 games

• Utah is 19-1 SU in its last 20 games when playing at home against Milwaukee

🏀 Suns at Kings

• The total has gone OVER in 5 of Phoenix's last 5 games on the road

• The total has gone OVER in 8 of Phoenix's last 9 games

• The total has gone OVER in 7 of Sacramento's last 9 games at home

• Sacramento is 11-4 SU in its last 15 games

🏀 Thunder at Lakers

• Oklahoma City is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games when playing on the road against LA Lakers

• Oklahoma City is 8-3 ATS in its last 11 games

• The total has gone UNDER in 9 of LA Lakers's last 11 games at home

• The total has gone UNDER in 11 of LA Lakers's last 15 games

Public Money 🤑 via VSiN at 9AMCT

🏀 NBA

58% of bets and 75% of money is on OVER 234.5 IND at BOS

55% of bets and 73% of money is on WSH -7.5

42% of bets and 73% of money is on TOR -14

39% of bets and 55% of money is on DAL -13.5

56% of bets and 72% of money is on OVER 236.5 MIL at UTA

🎓🏀 NCAAB

48% of bets and 62% of money is on TEX 4.5

44% of bets and 61% of money is on OVER 149 XAV vs TEX

Future Odds 🔮 via Bovada Sportsbook

Injury Report 🏥 via ESPN

BOS (PG) Payton Pritchard | Doubtful - Heel

CHI (SF) Javonte Green | Probable - Knee

CHI (SG) Alex Caruso | Questionable - Foot

CHI (SF) DeMar DeRozan | Questionable - Quadriceps

DAL (SF) Tim Hardaway Jr | Questionable - Illness

DAL (PG) Kyrie Irving | Questionable - Foot

DET (G) Rodney McGruder | Out - Foot

DET (SG) Alec Burks | Out - Foot

DET (SF) Bojan Bogdanovic | Out - Achilles

DET (PF) Isaiah Livers | Probable - Hip

HOU (SF) Jae’Sean Tate | Out - Knee

IND (PG) Tyrese Haliburton | Questionable - Knee

IND (SG) Chris Duarte | Questionable - Ankle

LAL (PF) Anthony Davis | Probable 

MEM (G) Vince Williams Jr | Out - Shoulder

MEM (F) Zaire Williams | Out - Foot

MIL (SF) Khris Middleton | Out - Knee

MIL (C) Meyers Leonard | Out - Calf

MIL (PG) Goran Dragic | Out - Knee

MIL (PF) Jae Crowder | Out - Calf

PHI (PF) Jalen McDaniels | Questionable - Hip

PHI (C) Joel Embiid | Questionable - Calf

PHI (SG) James Harden | Questionable - Achilles

PHX (C) Deandre Ayton | Out - Hip

POR (SF) Jerami Grant | Out - Quadriceps

POR (C) Jusuf Nurkic | Questionable - Knee

POR (SF) Nassir Little | Questionable - Concussion

POR (PG) Damian Lillard | Probable - Calf

SAC (SG) Kevin Huerter | Questionable - Knee

TOR (SF) Scottie Barnes | Questionable - Wrist

UTA (SF) Rudy Gay | Out - Back

UTA (PF) Lauri Markkanen | Out - Hand

UTA (PG) Jordan Clarkson | Out - Finger

WSH (SG) Bradley Beal | Out - Knee

WSH (SF) Kyle Kuzma | Out - Ankle

Weekend Picks 🔒

Sacramento Kings 18/1 Western Conference | The West is wide open with nearly every team being banged up and missing key players. The Kings have been able to win games against these teams all year long. I think it’s worth taking the big odds here that a solid Kings team can make a run in the West this postseason.

Texas -4.5 | The Longhorns will win and cover as spread favorites, taking advantage of the Musketeers' below-average defense. They'll thrive on the defensive end, from behind the three-point line and around the bucket. Texas has allowed just 58.2 points per game over its last six games.

SDSU +8 | Posted Wednesday

Miami +7 | Posted Wednesday