Tips on Winning Your NCAA Tournament Pool

Written March 16, 2009 by Jack Jones

bracket-contest If you are looking for a great bracket contest to get into this March, then take a look at the Million Dollar Bracket Contest at BetUS. If you pick all the games right then you will win a cool one million dollars from BetUS! Of course if you are going to do any college basketball betting on the games, you also get a hefty $500 bonus on your $500 deposit if you tell them BetFirms sent you.

Here are a few quick tips for you to consider when filling out your NCAA basketball picks for the BetUS contest bracket or any other office pool you might be entered in.

Take Higher Seeds – Teams that have been successful during the season tend to carry over that success to the tournament. You won’t see a high percentage of upsets, but when a team like Davidson makes it to the Elite Eight like they did last year, people remember it and over do their upset selections the following year.

Look at Guard Play – If you are going to win in March then you need to have solid guards that can limit turnovers, hit outside shots, and get the ball to the big men. A team like Oklahoma that relies on Blake Griffin can only go so far before a hot shooting three-point team takes them down.

Ride the Streaks – Good teams that have been playing well continue that success into the tournament. One team to watch this year is Duke, who has gained momentum to end the season and shouldn’t have any problems making the Sweet 16. Missouri has been rolling recently as well, but teams like Syracuse and Mississippi State might be over-valued at this point since they didn’t have great seasons, just solid tournament runs.

Pick Long Shots That Can Win – This seems pretty basic, but too many people start picking against teams that can lose instead of on teams that can win. Marquette has struggled and so has Oklahoma but don’t pick them to get upset just because they haven’t been winning, pick the team they are playing because you think that team looks good on paper.

When in Doubt, Take Quality Coaches – If a head coach has found a way to win in the tournament before, chances are he can do it again. Who do we like? A lot of the top seeds this year as in Duke (Mike Kryezwski), Michigan State (Tom Izzo), North Carolina (Roy Williams), Memphis (John Calipari), Kansas (Bill Self), UCLA (Ben Howland), and Louisville (Rick Pitinio). Sure there are others, but this is a quality list to start with.

Remember to check out the latest NCAA tournament odds on all of the games being played right here at BetFirms and download our 2009 NCAA tournament bracket!

If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:

No comments yet, but your thoughts are welcome!

Comments

Got something to say?