March Madness: Round 3 Picks ATS

Another epic day of The Madness as we bid farewell to Coach K(KK) and the Duke Blue Devils. I'm not sure why I'm so vehemently opposed to Duke as a franchise, especially considering Manny (our bracket busting leader) had Mercer today - I guess it's just another example of me rooting against greatness. On Saturday I'll root against (not bet against) Florida, Syracuse, and Michigan. For some reason the State schools of Michigan and San Diego are exempt from my high-seed targeting and anyone coached my George Clooney is okay by me. Where does he find the time? A doctor, an actor, an now this...



No other huge surprises today unless you thought you were in a time machine and Shaka Smart was going to take you and your office pool to the Final Four again. That game had a pretty epic comeback by Stephen F. Austin, capped by a four point play to send the game to overtime where the 12th seeded Lumberjacks moved on to the next round.

And then there were thirty-two...

Thanks to the aforementioned Lumberjacks and the high-flying Iowa State Cyclones and no thanks to the Kansas State Wildcats for missing the cover by one, our two day total at TSZ is a respectable 83%. If only our bracket looked that good...

Round 2 Record: 5-1 ATS

Let's get to Saturday's action with yet another round of One Tall (favorite), One Small (dog), and One Bell of the Ball.

One Tall

Villanova Wildcats (-3.5) over UConn Huskies: The Wildcats were fortunate to escape their own mental unpreparedness on Thursday, and it likely served as a wake-up call. Nova, as much as a 29-4 team can be, is kind of a sleeper in this tournament, not getting nearly the attention on the national stage that Florida, Arizona, Michigan State, or Louisville are getting. Once again, Jay Wright has a team built for the post-season. They come into this game with a 15-3 ATS record in their last 18 Saturday games whatever that means, and we believe they'll take care of their weekend business again with UConn. Go Nova and if you're feeling bold, take the OVER 132.



One Small

Dayton Flyers (+6.5) over Syracuse Orange: The Orange have been erratic at best since losing their first game of the season a few weeks back. They are 1-6-1 ATS in their last 8, and their defense appears to be the culprit as their last four games have all gone OVER the total. Dayton, on the other hand, is playing like they were early in the year and are rolling into the third round with a 4-1 ATS record in their last five games. Take the points, and if you like parlays, take the OVER 128.



One Bell of the Ball

Oregon Ducks (+5) over Wisconsin: Harvard gets honorable mention, but Michigan State looked more impressive to me in their first game than Wisconsin. Both of these teams are coming into this game on a roll, with Wisconsin racking up four ATS covers in their past 5 games while the Ducks are 8-1-1 in their last 10 neutral site games and 5-1 ATS in their last 6 overall. To us, this comes down to conference strength, and this year we're backing Pac 12 teams big time. Take the points in a shootout and watch the Ducks waddle into the Sweet Sixteen.


Best of luck, everyone.

Vinny and Marco