2009 NCAA Tournament Trends
Written March 16, 2009 by Jack Jones
With this article I’m going to provide some statistics and trends that you may find useful in betting on the tournament or in filling out your bracket this season. Remember that these trends come from the regular season, which can sometimes be deceiving coming into the first round of the tournament. You can bet on the NCAA Tournament with BetUS this season.
Poor Offensive Teams: There are twelve teams in this year’s tournament that scored less than 68 points per game during the regular season. At the top of that list is Wisconsin, who averaged just 64.4 points per game this season. Keep in mind that the Badgers play a little slower paced game and they do play well defensively, but scoring under 65 points per game is very low for a tournament team. Here are the other eleven teams that averaged under 68 points during the regular season: American (64.5), Illinois (65.0), Cleveland State (66.1), Minnesota (66.5), Morgan State (66.5), Ohio State (66.6), Akron (66.9), Dayton (67.0), Butler (67.6), Northern Iowa (67.7).
Bad Road Teams: There are 13 teams in the NCAA tournament this year that failed to have a winning record on the road. These teams usually don’t fair well in the tournament because they have problems away from their home court. Keep this in mind when filling out those brackets! NCAA tournament teams with a losing road record: Arizona (2-9), USC (2-8), Maryland (2-6), Michigan (3-8), Morehead State (4-12), Wisconsin (4-7), Texas (4-6), Minnesota (4-6), Oklahoma State (4-6), Ohio State (4-6), Chattanooga (5-10), Dayton (5-6), Utah (6-7).
Freshman Point Guards: Historically teams with freshman point guards don’t fair well in the tournament. The lack of experience for the player that is usually considered the leader on the court usually hurts teams. There are always exceptions to that rule (think Derrick Rose for Memphis last year), but in general teams with freshman at the point don’t go very far. Here are the teams with Freshman point guards in 2009: Mississippi State (Dee Bost), Purdue (Lewis Jackson), Washington (Isaiah Thomas).
Hopefully some of these trends will help you make your picks for your bracket this year, or help you win a little money if you bet on the tournament. Keep in mind that there are always exceptions to these rules, but that you always want to fill out your bracket with the odds on your side.
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If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:
- NCAA Basketball Betting on First Tournament Round
- Teams to Avoid with 2009 NCAA Tournament Brackets
- 2009 NCAA Tournament Upset Predictions
- 2009 NCAA Basketball Tournament Bracket
- 2009 NCAA Tournament Recap: First Two Rounds
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