March
Madness 2021 News and Notes
It’s called
madness for a reason. With last year’s NCAA tournament cancelled because of the
coronavirus, this year’s event has given us everything we have craved and then
some.
The only
seed to not win a game in this year’s tournament was No. 16. At least one of
every other seed won at least one game. Some won two. This is a crazy stat for
anyone betting
the NCAA Tournament.
No. 15
Oral Roberts to Sweet 16
Kevin
Obanor scored 30 points and Oral Roberts took second-seeded Ohio State to
overtime where the Golden Eagles recorded the first big upset of March
Madness 2021.
As if that
wasn’t enough, ORU fell behind No. 7 Florida by 11 points in its second round
game. The Golden Eagles erased that lead with a 25-11 run to close the game and
upset the Gators 81-78.
Oral Robert’s
becomes just the second No. 15 seed to advance to a Sweet Sixteen. Florida Gulf
Coast aka “Dunk City” was the first to do so in 2015.
We picked
Florida State to win in our Spartans
vs. Seminoles betting preview this past weekend. Go take
a look.
PAC-12
Dominance
Remember
that conference that was going to dominate this year’s tourney? No, not the Big
Ten. Not the ACC or SEC either.
So far in
this year’s tournament, it’s the PAC-12 that is in control. Five teams from the
conference won first round games and Oregon, Oregon State, USC, and UCLA
punched their tickets to the Sweet Sixteen.
Not bad for
a conference that had just two teams ranked in the last AP top 25 poll.
Colorado was No. 22 and USC tied for No. 23.
The State
of Texas
Texas
finished the regular season ranked No. 9 in the country. It was an outstanding
season for head coach Shaka Smart and company. The Longhorns beat Kansas twice
in a season for the first time since the Big 12 went to a round-robin schedule.
It all
ended when another Texas school, Abilene Christian, beat the Longhorns 53-52.
The best defensive team in the country frustrated Texas all game long to claim
the first round upset.
No. 13 seed
North Texas shot 41.3 percent from three-point range and took the fourth seed
Purdue to overtime. The Mean Green would win 78-69 covering as 7.5- point
underdogs.
MUST READ
> RECENT
NBA BETTING TRENDS
Back the
Orange
Jim Boeheim
and Syracuse are nearly unstoppable in the NCAA tournament when they are a
double digit seed. As a No.11 seed this year, the Orange knocked off San Diego
State in the first round then proceeded to beat West Virginia 75-72 as a
four-point underdog.
Syracuse is
now 10-1 ATS all-time in March Madness as a double-digit seed. They will face
No. 2 seed Houston next Saturday in a Midwest regional semifinal.
Big Ten
Flop
It was
supposed to be the toughest conference in the nation. On Selection Sunday, nine
Big Ten teams were selected to the NCAA tournament. Eight short days later only
one is still standing.
Ohio State,
a No. 2 seed, became just the ninth second-seeded team to lose its first
tournament game when they fell to Oral Roberts. Illinois earned a No. 1 seed
thanks to its stellar play down the stretch. They were outclassed by Loyola in
the second round and Oregon embarrassed No. 2 Iowa 95-80 in a second round
game.
Only
Michigan, the No. 1 seed in the East Region, remains from the Big Ten.
