March Madness Handicapping Tips
Written March 18, 2009 by Jack Jones
If you plan on doing any betting on college basketball to finish out the season, then you are going to have a lot more fun if you are winning your games instead of losing money. The best way to ensure your success would be to sign up for the NCAA basketball picks offered by our handicappers, but if you want to go at it alone then here are three March Madness handicapping tips everyone breaking down the games should think about. It’s also important to find a quality sportsbook and at BetUS you can get a $500 bonus on a $500 initial deposit, giving you extra money to use for your bets!
Guards Rule – One golden rule that has been preached over and over again yet still holds true is that a team that has better guards will fare better than a team relying on a big man. It used to be that bettors would look for senior leadership from this position, but after playing 30+ games even freshman have been tested by this point, so look for talent over age. The guys in the backcourt run the team and that can mean keeping everyone calm and controlling the pace or if they get flustered, turning the ball over, pressing things too much, and taking their team out of the game. I like Ty Lawson of North Carolina, Levance Fields of Pittsburgh, Ben Woodside of North Dakota State, and Eric Maynor of Virginia Commonwealth.
Play on Good Road Teams – You have to pay attention to a team’s road record because there are no home games in March. Teams that did a good job of hitting the road during the regular season will be more likely to win away from home now. There are also going to be teams that didn’t fare so well as a visitor this season, at least against quality opponents. If you can find those teams then fading them against the NCAA basketball spreads should be pretty profitable. Another consideration is how far the teams are playing from home. Just a slight different in how far the location is from campus can be the different between a small following and a large number of fans in the stands, and that extra support could be the difference needed to push a team over the edge. Teams to watch that played well on the road this season are Memphis, Michigan State, and Connecticut. It’s probably best avoid these teams that struggled away from home: Syracuse, Purdue, Duke, Missouri, and Florida State.
Good Free Throw Shooting Teams Win Close Games - And in the tournament a lot of games are close, coming down to the wire. This is also important in terms of small favorites covering games. If a team is down by three or four points then they will start fouling, which can lead the favorite to cover that five to seven point spread even if they wouldn’t have if the game would have just played out. Of course if that team can’t convert from the line they the opposite is true, they could be in trouble of even holding on for the win. Also think free throws in terms of totals. During the first half teams might be tight due to nerves, but in the second half teams will be fouling and the OVER is the play.
If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:
- March Madness Tips: Did You Know?
- 2009 March Madness Tournament Preview
- March Madness Picks & Predictions: An Early Look
- 2009 March Madness Betting Preview
- 2009 March Madness Predictions
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