March Madness Betting Round of 64 Upset Picks

Posted by Eric Williams on Monday,March 14, 2016 5:42, EDT in

Not one, not two, not three, not….oh hell you get the idea! Those former words once spoken by the Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James, perfectly sums up the trio of chances you’re going to have to cash in with winning March Madness wagers. You see, three college hoops teams all have a chance of winning outright or covering the spread in their respective March Madness betting openers. Now, you need to know who they are!

NCAAB Tournament Round of 64 Upset Picks

Midwest Region

No. 7 Dayton +1 over No. 10 Syracuse

When: March 18, 1:15 PM
Where: Scottrade Center
Analysis: The seventh-seeded Dayton Flyers (25-7 SU, 13-17 ATS) are being given an impressive 52 percent chance of beating No. 10 Syracuse (19-13 SU, 16-15 ATS) but I’m thinking that figure should be a bit higher seeing the recent play of both ball clubs.

Syracuse has dropped its last three games and four of five overall and probably shouldn’t have gotten an invitation to the big dance while Dayton had won three straight until falling against St. Joe’s by three points in the A-10 conference tourney on Saturday.

The Flyers have the better offense and a virtually identical defense as far as points allowed. With the spread set for this game at just one point, I like the Flyers to get the outright win and ATS cover!

The Pick: Dayton 73 Syracuse 70

No. 14 Fresno State +8 over No. 3 Utah

When: March 17, 8:27 PM
Where: Pepsi Center
Analysis: The Utah Utes (26-8 SU, 16-15-1 ATS) may be seeded third in the Midwest Region, but they’re also a prime pick to get upset by the explosive Fresno State Bulldogs (25-9 SU, 18-11 ATS) despite the fact that some analytics have the Dogs as having just a 13 percent chance of winning this affair. Utah had won nine straight until getting beat by elite Oregon by almost 30 points in the Pac-12 tournament on Saturday.

Conversely, Fresno State has won nine consecutive games including its 68-63 win over San Diego State in the Mountain West finals on Saturday. The Bulldogs have the edge in rebounding, turnovers and bench play and look like an absolute lock to cover the spread as 8-point underdogs

The Pick: Fresno State 72 Utah 70

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No. 6 Seton Hall +1.5 over No. 11 Gonzaga

When: March 17, 10:57 PM
Where: Pepsi Center
Analysis: Despite being seeded sixth, Seton Hall (25-18 SU, 23-9 ATS) isn’t getting the respect they deserve from odds makers that have installed Gonzaga (26-7 SU, 15-15 ATS) as the slight favorite in this intriguing match up.

I know Gonzaga has won five straight games and upset St. Mary’s in their West Coast Conference match up last Tuesday, but Seton Hall has won four straight and eight of its last nine games overall, including fantastic wins over nationally-ranked title contenders in Xavier and Villanova in their last two games. Hell, seeing as how the Pirates have beaten Xavier twice in their last six games tells me that Seton hall can literally beat any team in the country on any given day.

Seton Hall is being given a 40 percent chance of winning outright, but I say it should be more like 60 percent minimum. 52 percent of the betting public likes the Pirates to cover and I say they’re right on the mark with Seton Hall going 6-1 ATS over their last seven games.

The Pick: Seton Hall 81 Gonzaga 77