R-E-S-P-E-C-T! Dynamic Duo of Underdog Teams in Opening Matchups

Posted by Eric Williams on Tuesday,March 15, 2016 7:54, EDT in

Two teams might as well make Aretha Franklin’s legendary hit song their March Madness mantra as they look to get the respect they deserve while making deep March Madness tournament runs that could upset the entire apple cart. While neither ballclub is considered a ‘real’ threat to actually win this year’s national championship, either one or both ballclubs could be primed for a couple of upsets before bowing out against a legitimate title NCAAB betting favorite. Now, let’s get started.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T! Find Out What It Means to Dynamic Duo of Underdog Teams in Opening Round Matchups

R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Find out what it means to me
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Take care, TCB
– Aretha Franklin

South Region

No. 9 UConn

UConn needed a desperation heave just to get into the national championship tournament, but they’re hot at just the right time and will likely give any team they face, big time trouble, starting with No. 9 Colorado. The Huskies have recorded quality wins over Cincinnati, SMU, Temple and Memphis over their last 10 games and has a well-balanced offense that feature four players averaging between 12.0 and 12.8 points per game.

UConn also has a seven-foot monster center in Amida Brimah (6.9 ppg, 2.8 bpg) that anchors their defense and one of the best head coaches in all o college basketball in former NBA performer Kevin Ollie. More importantly, UConn ranks third in the nation in field goal defense (38.2%) UConn is 4-0 ATS over their last four games and 5-2 ATS over their last seven games overall. At this point, is there anything you’d put past any UConn team?

Didn’t think so!

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No. 8 St. Joe’s

60 percent of public bettors like St. Joe’s to beat No. 9 Cincinnati as a 2-point underdog and I can see why. The Hawks have a sweet-shooting team leader in 6-7 senior forward Isaiah Miles (18 ppg, 8 rpg), not to mention the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year in forward DeAndre Bembry (17.3 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 4.5 apg).

St. Joe’s also has quality depth with eight players averaging at least 16 minutes of playing time per game, not to mention one of my favorite coaches in all of college basketball in Phil Martelli.

Martelli has a way of coaxing the very best out of his hard-nosed Philadelphia-based ballclub and they could present big problems for not only Cincinnati in their opener, but any team they face should they get past the Bearcats. St. Joe’s is 3-0 ATS over their last trio of games and 6-4 ATS over their last 10 games overall.