The Sweet 16 is set for the 2015 NCAA Tournament, and the
biggest Cinderella team left in the field is the 11th-seeded UCLA Bruins, who
many thought did not belong in the 68-team field to begin with. Of course the
Bruins got the lucky break of a controversial goaltending call on a 3-pointer
in their favor to upset the sixth-seeded SMU Mustangs in the Round of 64 and
then another by getting to play the 14th-seeded UAB Blazers in their next game.
But that is obviously why this time is known as March Madness.
UCLA still has an extremely difficult path to the Final
Four, sitting as a 9-point underdog at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook for
Friday's South Region matchup with the second-seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs. The
winner of that game will take on the winner between the top-seeded Duke Blue
Devils (-4.5) and fifth-seeded Utah Utes.
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Duke is one of three No. 1 seeds remaining in the Big Dance
along with the unbeaten Kentucky Wildcats (Midwest) and Wisconsin Badgers
(West), who squared off against each other in the Final Four last year. The top-seeded
Villanova Wildcats were upset by the eighth-seeded North Carolina State
Wolfpack 71-68 as 10-point favorites in an East Region Round of 32 game on
Saturday.
North Carolina State will be an underdog again on Friday
against the fourth-seeded Louisville Cardinals, who knocked out the
fifth-seeded Northern Iowa Panthers 66-53 as 2.5-point dogs on Sunday. The
other East Sweet 16 matchup features the third-seeded Oklahoma Sooners against
the seventh-seeded Michigan State Spartans. The Sooners are small underdogs at
the SuperBook despite being the higher seed.
The West Region is the only one with three of the top four
seeds left, led by the Badgers and second-seeded Arizona Wildcats. Wisconsin
faces the fourth-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels as 4.5-point favorites in the West's
first Sweet 16 game on Thursday followed by Arizona taking on the sixth-seeded
Xavier Musketeers as 11-point chalk.
The Midwest Region lost the second-seeded Kansas Jayhawks to
an upset loss on Sunday, as the seventh-seeded Wichita State Shockers beat them
78-65 in a Pick'em matchup. That leaves the third-seeded Notre Dame Fighting
Irish as the top challenger remaining in the region for Kentucky. The Fighting
Irish are 1.5-point dogs against the Shockers for Thursday's Sweet 16 game at the
SuperBook while the Wildcats are 13.5-point favorites playing the fifth-seeded
West Virginia Mountaineers.
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for college basketball picks from the Don Best handicappers.