North Texas and UAB will meet for fourth time this tonight in the NIT championship. The Mean Green have the season edge with two wins but the Blazers won the most important and more recent matchup in their conference tournament. North Texas may have two victories over power five schools in Wisconsin and Oklahoma State, but UAB knows how to attack their top rated defense. Look for the Blazers to finish off the task Wisconsin blew. Take the Blazers. 

The Miami Hurricanes are back to the Sweet 16 for a second consecutive year, as they face top seeded Houston. The Hurricanes have experience but have found themselves as only a basket favorite against Drake and were a small underdog to a twelve loss Indiana team.  After needing to comeback to defeat Auburn look for Houston’s focus to be much higher as they get back to the Elite 8. Take Houston and purchase the hook.

This is the year that Gonzaga does not have the attention of years past. They had a few losses in the West Coast Conference and do not have the same caliber NBA talent. Yet, March Madness is all about draws and Gonzaga gets another solid matchup against UCLA. An under the radar Zags team takes down many people’s favorites to cut the nets in UCLA. Grab Gonzaga. 

Getting by ugly in March Madness is one of the best carry over value angles. TCU did not deserve to get past Arizona State as they were outplayed by a wide margin. They fought and with new life they draw a Gonzaga team that suits their style better. The Zags lack the athleticism of Arizona State and will have issues handling the spurts of TCU on the defensive end of the floor. Tail TCU.

Baylor has the name of the past three seasons and still possesses key talent. But Creighton is a team all season that underachieved largely due to injuries and a tough Big East. They are rounding into shape at the perfect time and have the will to win after last year’s tough exit against Kansas. This time they get by a Big 12 opponent. 

I’m on another underdog in March Madness for today and it is Michigan State. There are teams that get in with double digit losses that are much stronger than their record reflects. Coach Izzo’s Spartans are not the sharpest on the offensive end but play high level defense. It should give the Golden Eagles problems and look for the Spartans to cary over the momentum offensively they exhibited in the second half against USC. Play Michigan State.

Year over year we have seen the success of play-in eleven seeds, but a seed line that also does well is power five eight-nine seeds. In the round of thirty two they have done surprisingly well. Arkansas fits the mold as a young team that can play far better than their seed. Anthony Black will be a matchup nightmare for Kansas and this should come down to the wire. Grab the points here with Arkansas.