March Madness: Round 3 Day 2: Wichita State Kentucky Pick ATS

Unfortunately for yours truly, a busy Saturday of work and preschool fundraisers had me checking scores on my phone more than watching them on TV. Fortunately, it turns out I missed the sanest day of madness so far, with 6 higher seeds moving on, five of them covering, and only one really big surprise in the 11th seeded Dayton Flyers advancing past the Syracuse Orange. Sorry UConn, although I envisioned you getting trounced by Villanova today, the storied rivalry between you and the Wildcats makes any outcome completely unsurprising. Especially when Napier is channeling the ghost of Kemba Walker. 

No thanks to Nova or the Oregon Ducks who appeared (on my crappy-ass phone) to just implode at the end of their game with Wisconsin, including a spread-losing technical and free throws with one second left on the clock, TSZ had it's first sub-par day of the tournament (1-2 ATS), while leaving our overall total at a respectable 6-3 ATS. Let's get right to today's action with another edition of One Tall (favorite), One Small (dog), and One Bell of the Ball (a low-seeded dog as long as they exist). 

One Tall

#1 Virginia Caveliers (-6) over #8 Memphis Tigers: We believe the Virginia Caveliers got just the wake up call they needed on Friday when Coastal Carolina scored 35 points on their stingy defense in the first half and went into the locker room with the lead. The Cavs proceeded to hold the Chanticleers (what is that???) to 24 points in the second half and win the game easily by 11. In this match-up, the Cavs will not take Memphis lightly, will come out with the defensive switch on, and the Tigers will struggle to produce in the half court offense. Virginia doesn't blow teams out, but they wear them down enough to force fouls late and get the cover here. 

One Small

#6 Baylor Bears (+3.5) over #3 Creighton Blue Jays: There are a ton of dogs to choose from today, anywhere from Stanford early to Kentucky to Mercer to SF Austin. We, however, are going to roll with a Baylor squad that has really hit their stride of late. The Bears come into this match-up having won 11 of 13 games, and we believe they will give Creighton a run for their money. I honestly have no idea which team will win this game, which is why the points are so attractive. 

One Bell of the Ball

#14 Mercer Bears (+7.5) over Tennessee Volunteers: We're taking another Bears squad, this time the senior-led team from Mercer University that knocked off the Duke Blue Devils Friday morning and still aren't getting any respect from the odds makers. We wouldn't be surprised at all to see a #14 seed playing in the Sweet Sixteen.

Enjoy your Sundays, everyone. These games should be dandies. Yes - I said dandies. 

May the Spreads Be With You,

Vinny and Marco