The sports picks used by professional gamblers are doing very well in March Madness betting.
If you go by RPI ratings, the Big 12 – and not the Big East – is the best conference in the country this year, yet no one expects anyone but national No. 1 and regular-season Big 12 champion Kansas to win this tournament in Kansas City – bet on the Big 12 Tournament with Bodog's NCAA Basketball Odds
And while Kansas did win its sixth straight regular-season title, the Jayhawks were big favorites going into last year's Big 12 tourney and were knocked off with Missouri taking home the crown and automatic NCAA bid. KU is still a huge Bodog favorite at 1/3 this year because it closed the regular season with 15 wins in 16 games, including final week routs of very good Kansas State and Mizzou teams. KU's next win will be the 2,000th in program history, making it the third school to hit that mark. The lone Big 12 team to get the Jayhawks this season was Oklahoma State.
Remember when Texas was 17-0 and ranked No. 1 in the country? The wheels have fallen off the Longhorns (13/2 to win this tournament), who are unranked after going 6-8 in their final 14 games. Poor play at the point guard position and the inconsistency of center Dexter Pittman have been the major issues, but the Horns are now looking at a No. 7 seed or so in the NCAA Tournament without a nice run in the Big 12. That slide cost UT a first-round bye, and it now opens against Iowa State on Wednesday. The Horns won the other meeting at ISU, 90-83, back on Jan. 13 – but that was a very different Texas team.
Kansas State (7/2 to win at Bodog) is having one of the best seasons in school history, but it didn't end the season well, getting crushed by Kansas and then losing at home to Iowa State. Still, the Wildcats' No. 2 seed in this tournament is their highest ever and means they can avoid Kansas until the final.
If you are going to bet on someone other than Kansas to win the Big 12 Tournament, your best value is probably Baylor at 5/1. The Bears closed the season with seven wins in eight games and slammed Texas in the regular-season finale. Baylor, which reached double-digit conference wins for the first time, also gave Kansas its hardest home test of the year, losing by just six after being deadlocked with about three minutes left. Baylor is just 2-15 all-time vs. Kansas, and those two wouldn't meet until the championship game.
Here is the schedule for the first two rounds, all times Eastern:
Wednesday's first round
No. 8 Colorado vs. No. 9 Texas Tech, 12:30 p.m.
No. 5 Missouri vs. No. 12 Nebraska, 3 p.m.
No. 7 Oklahoma State vs. No. 10 Oklahoma, 7 p.m.
No. 6 Texas vs. No. 11 Iowa State, 9:30 p.m.
Thursday's quarterfinals
No. 1 Kansas vs. CU/TTU winner, 12:30 p.m.
No. 4 Texas A&M vs. MU/NU winner, 3 p.m.
No. 2 Kansas State vs. OU/OSU winner, 7 p.m.
No. 3 Baylor vs. ISU/UT winner, 9:30 p.m.
For more information: It must be March. GodsTips sweeps college basketball Wise Guys: St. John's, Pennsylvania, and the A-10 Game of the Year on St. Joseph's.
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