It's time to place your bets. Let's talk to the pros.
Welcome in everybody to betting pros.
It is b Joey p Joe Pisapia and it's March, and you know what that means.
It's time for some madness. That's right.
The tournament is back and we are excited to have Mike Randall, our betting pros host, to help me, help you break it all down. Mike knows what he's talking about when it comes to the NCAA World and he's gonna give you some of his takes on the early look at some of these regions. We just a few hours ago got all the brackets released and we are very excited to talk basketball with you at Mike Randall. This is the better paradise, isn't it. This is what
people wait for. They wait for March, They wait for Saint Patrick's Day, have a few drinks and then go out there and put some money on some fantastic wagers going out there for the tournament.
There is nothing better than this week, Joe. We have the brackets tonight, Saint Patrick's Day kicks off the tourney on Thursday. There is nothing better. I can't wait to dive in best time of the year. Well, if you're going.
To dive in, I highly suggest first of all, make sure that you drink responsibly and second of all, make sure you bet responsibly with us over at bettingpros dot com. Head over to bettingpros dot com right now, and we have got our bracket optimizer for you. And obviously you know we've talked so much about the tools here at
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Thurring a chair.
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Mike Randall, I know this is what you live for, so I want to get your your take first.
Overall, before we start to dive into the regions.
I want to know what your overall bracket reaction was when you saw how it all shook out.
Overall reaction was, they did a pretty good job the committee. Sometimes there's been some teams that are way oversea and understated. Only a couple I have an issue with this year. The big one for me that I was disappointed. My heart wanted them in, but my head said no was Dayton Love when Anthony Grint has done Joe with Dayton, the absolute youngest team in Division one college basketball, did
a great job this year in conference. However, three count in three Quad four losses to UMass Low, Austin p and Limpscum at home to start the year. They were beating Richmond by fifteen points in the second half of the tournament in the semi finals yesterday until freshman starting point guard Malachai Smith turned his ankle. After that, Richmond
goes on a run. They closed the fifteen point gap and they actually won today, beating Davidson to steal one of those bids there could have likely been from Dayton, to be honest, because Dayton was really high there, but can't have the bad losses. Joe youngest team in college hoops. They were fourteen and four in the A ten, tied there with Davidson, so they will be back now. Dayton fans are going to complain that Rutgers got in here
in New Jersey. But the difference is Joe Dayton three and two verse quad one, Rutgers six and six in quad one only one quad four loss. Rutgers Scarlet and Knites are dancing and Dayton is not. No.
There you have it, and obviously you know when it comes to the betting world, we always want to look at trends. Mike and typically speaking you know, sometimes they can be overrated, but I think it's important at least to acknowledge them. And maybe there's a few trends that you know of or think irrelevant. Here is we kind of head into the tournament opening week here.
Yeah, they're just some things, Joe, that you have to think about when you fill out your brackets. And we'll have great articles here at Betting Pros Podcast live streams to help you pick your winners, but things you have
to think about. First off, the play in game winner usually gets hot, with the exception of twenty nineteen, remember no tournament last year because of COVID, One of those play in games, those early games on Tuesday, one of those teams have always gotten hot and advanced well beyond the first round. VCU made the final four in twenty eleven. UCLA made the final four last year coming from the
first first four teams. And last year UCLA was losing the Michigan State in that first game by ten and a halftime, and then they just went off South Florida round to thirty two and twenty twelve, Wichita State round of thirty two and twenty sixteen. USC same thing in twenty seventeen, and we've had three Sweet sixteen teams LaSalle twenty thirteen, Tennessee twenty fourteen, and Syracuse in twenty eighteen.
So when you look at those games that are playing early against each other to set up for Thursday and Friday, I'm talking about Rutgers versus Notre Dame. I'm talking about Wyoming versus Indiana, pick one and have them advanced more than one round. That's my recommendation. People like to pick upsets two number five verse number twelve. Number twelve's win about thirty six percent of the time, and we've had
Joe three times since twenty thirteen. Three twelve seeds has advance, so you can't just put one throw, you can put two through same number four verse number thirteen Seeds win twenty one percent of the time they get upset fourteen seeds fifteen percent, and seven verse ten is a very important one because it's happened partner every year since twenty ten, every darn year five in the last two years. So people like that seven to ten game because then that
team can often beat the number two seeds. So things you want to think about in my last one number elevens have beaten a number six sixteen straight years in a row.
Wow, that is stunning. Look at Mike Randall bringing the heat the percentages today. I love this the seven to ten split though, that's the one.
I love that one always in bowling and otherwise. Yep, bowling and otherwise.
But clearly you have a much better chance of hitting this than you do the seven ten split and bowling thirty nine percent. That is a that's an incredible number of their. Great job by Mike Ranill. See that's why we have Mike here to give you all this kind of information. So that's a little overview in terms of some of the seeding where there might be some opportunities with those percentages and those trends. But I know what you only want to talk about. Everybody really wants to
talk about the teams. So let's get at it, and let's start with the Western region here. So in the West we have Gonzaga is the one seed, no surprise there. Duke pulls away with the two seed, so you know, it's kind of what we thought it would be. And as far as the West, clearly, you know every one of these brackets can have a lot of talent.
But what do you think about Gonzaga's first draw here.
I think Gonzaga has a hard draw as opposed to last year, Mark few and the Bulldogs no longer the mid major folks. They are one of the powerhouses college basketball. They've made two final games, one with North Carolina. If Kennedy Meeks is correctly called out of bounds with two minutes left, they may have won that game. And last year, of course they ran into the juggernaut that is Baylor, but they had an easy draw last year. This year, I think it's very difficult that they played Boise State
in the second round. Boise State is a lockdown, hard nosed defensive team that could give Gonzaga a lot of trouble, who again has played in the West Coast Conference, so not the same level of talent and Joe. Their non conference schedule not nearly as tough as last year, so
I think that's a disadvantage for them. I'm not a Connecticut guy, but they certainly could beat Gonzaga, and please, Gonzaga does not want to see Arkansas, So right off the bat, my first reaction that is a very very tough region and the bottom part of this bracket was so difficult for me, partner. I'm excited. I can't wait to figure it out. I couldn't plug anything in right away because I really have to mull it over. The one thing I will say to you, Duke is not
making the final four. They couldn't beat Ta tar Heels on Coach K's last home game, blew that game. They couldn't beat Virginia Tech and give the guy an ACC Tournament championship. I believe would have been at seventeenth. So why would they all of a sudden rally in a bracket with Arkansas, Gonzaga and some really tough teams.
I just don't see it. So is it Arkansas for you? Coming out of the West.
You know Arkansas is gonna have a lot of trouble with Vermont. That line is dropping right now. I think it opened Joe at six and a half. Now it's down to five and a half quickly. Vermont head coach John Becker has been such a tough team. They've dominated the America East. They almost beat Purdue. They are a tremendous team in years past that no one wants to see.
That is a contrast in styles. So if I had to pick right now, in the bottom of that bracket, Duke is not getting by Davidson, who I think will beat Michigan State, and then Texas Tech, which is a blue collar, tough team, and then potentially Arkansas and Gonzaga. So if I had to pick one right now, it would probably be t Tech to move on because they
are so good defensively. I think they can dominate that part of the bracket and then pull an upset over either Gonzaga or wherever comes out of the top.
That would be my lean right now.
All right in, Texas Tech is ranked third here in the Western bracket, So let's move over to the next one here and take a look at the Southern region. So I know, on paper it looks a little chalky. Is that true? Is that a good thing? Is that a bad thing?
Is this like the biggest trap? Potentially? Obviously we have Villanova in this when they are the two seed. They have that going for them.
Arizona up there at the one not surprising that they came away with the one seed. But looking overall in this South bracket, do you think it is going to be those two teams at the end or is there something else is gonna surprise us.
Yeah, as we talked about in the West, that to me is the blow up bracket. There's always one that goes crazy. This one is going to be, in my opinion, the chalkiest one. Arizona could be the best team in the country right now. They have great bigs inside in there. Win over UCLA last night, three blocks in the last thirty seconds, and they have Bendic Mathrin twelve Player of the Year, a fantastic guard who can light it up from three. Tommy Lloyd came over from Gonzaga. He was
a Mark Few assistant for twenty years two decades. Has come over and Sean Miller is an afterthought. So the Wildcats are not getting tripped up here in the bottom of the bracket. It's the only one where I have two versus three. In the Sweet sixteen, Joe Villanova is following the schematic of their last two titles under Jay Wright. Veteran team doesn't turn the ball over, makes two pointers
at a ridiculous rate, tremendous on defense and rebounding. That's what you have here with a veteran team in Villanova that had no recruits coming in this year because everyone came back and they wanted a championship, so Nova Tennessee in the bottom Tennessee is very underrated. They beat Arizona. I have no idea how Duke is a two seed and Tennessee is a three seed. Look at every single
metric that you want. Tennessee is better and they also beat Arizona, so they wouldn't be intimidated in this bracket. I'm going with the Wildcats. I think Tennessee could give them every thing they could possibly handle. But the one time Arizona lost it was at Tennessee. A fuel for
thought here. Illinois is in a tough spot. They play a good Chattanooga team and then potentially UAB with one of my favorite players in the entire tournament, five eleven guard Jordan Jelly Walker Peanut Butter and Jelly twenty points per game, forty pointsingg into middle Tennessee in the Tennessee State in the semifinals in a three overtime game. Absolutely think they could be up to the challenge against Illinois.
So to me, this is chalk.
I like Arizona, and I like Villanova and Tennessee in the bottom part of the bracket.
See my good nicknames aren't dead.
After all in sports, Helly Walker, Jelly, that's it because just jam don't shake.
All right.
Let's move on to the next region here, and it is the Midwest resion. So we have Kansas in the Midwest. And look, they are the one seed here Kansas University. Number two is Auburn, three is Wisconsin's so those are the big dogs here. But we all know that there's opportunities here for some upsets too in the Midwest. So walk me through this bracket. What's your take on this? Who emerges from this bracket in your opinion, and maybe who might be targeted for an upset or two.
In some ways, Joe Kansas is a sleeper. That's crazy to think. But Bill self has had some interesting tournaments. The ghost of Ali Farrukmanesh when they were a nine seed knocking off Kansas in Kansas City, which Sharon Collins still looms large for them.
When he was with Northern Iowa and I.
Remember when Kansas won their one title under self, they beat Memphis in overtime, and I talk about this all the time. What did Bill self do? As soon as they wanted He wiped his brow because he could feel the pressure that he had to win. He may get another one here because this is an easy bracket for Kansas, Iowa, South Dakota State, going against Providence. These are all teams that they can handle and they can get things together. Oh Chaia Bogy one of the best players in the country.
I think it's an easy draft for Kansas in the bottom part of the bracket. How about the Wisconsin Badgers playing in five Serve Forum in Milwaukee for the first two games. Huge advantage for a Wisconsin team that most thought would take a year to develop with the lot of young players. But I think they're easily through to the sweet sixteen because of the location. One of the teams I think the committee got wrong is Miami. Miami is a ten seed.
What does that even mean?
They won at Duke, at Wake Forest, and at Virginia Tech. So at Duke, at the ACC champion and at wake Forest, which was not easy this year. Head coach Jim Larnega had the magic from Mason years ago. They are number one the Hurricanes in fewest offensive turnovers in the ACC and most defensive turnovers. That's a nice combination for the tournament. I think Kansas versus Auburn would be amazing I'd love to see that as a final here. The Jayhawks here, though,
I think get through. I think they're not being thought of as their normal self. But no one is consistent this year. And wouldn't it be amazing for Bill self to sneak back into yet another Final four and potentially a second national championship with Kansas when people thought they weren't playing their best.
All right, let's move on to the final bracket here and let's go over to the East. Now, obviously, in the Eastern bracket here you've got, you know, use your ules suspects here that you know, unc is here. You know some big name teams Texas in this one too, Kentucky's in this one.
So how do you see the East breaking down? Here?
First thing I'll mention to you is you have one of these playing games right here, the twelve seed Wyoming first, Indiana, whoever you like, Joe winning that game is going to beat Saint Mary's. I don't know how Saint Mary's got a five seed. I know they beat Gonzaga, but what else have they done that's been impressive this year? I just can't think of anything. So to me, the winner of that game is going to go very very far and win a couple of games, possibly knock off Baylor
as well. The one thing that broke my heart is that Murray State, the thirty and two Murray State Racers are in the same section as Kentucky. You know that Cala Parry gets this team going. They're shooting threes at a better rate, rebounding, inside defense. Kentucky looks every bit of a national champion. They could lose to the Racers. I just wish Murray State was in another bracket against anyone else. I would like them, Gonzaga, you name it.
But against Kentucky, I think that's a bad matchup. So in this bracket, I don't think Baylor is going back to the Final four back to back years. They lost a lot last year. Good job for Scott Drew, really impressed with what he's done. I don't think they're going back. I think it's Kentucky's to lose, and I would not be surprised if you saw a huge upset with someone like in Indiana or Wyoming getting hot and actually getting through all the way to the Elite eight against the Wildcats.
All right, let's talk big picture here, Mike, So we already broke down the regions. Right now, we've gone through everything, the things that you like, the things that you don't. So let's talk a little long term here. When we're starting to look at the big picture. Now's the time to kind of put some money down on some bigger wagers, whether it be Final four, whether it be someone to win it all. Do you have any instincts right now for some of those bets that you want to put on.
If you're going to take a future bet to win the national title, why would you take Kansas at plus eighteen hundred. You look at our betting pros consensus. When you can get Auburn at plus sixteen hundred in the same region if they meet, I'm getting double the value there.
Other bets I like Arizona plus six hundred. You're getting six to one on a Wildcats team that may be number one right now in the country, that has a pretty decent draw and probably will not, like I said, play Illinois in that top half to get to the elite eight. Other long shots that I'm looking at, I'm usually Joe for some reason on.
Futures A year early.
I loved Tennessee. Last year Tennessee was picked to be the SEC champ last year in the preseason polls and they finished fourth. They were terrible this year. They have everything going for them and I like styles. Tennessee plays, lockdown defense, they have athletes Interchile. You can get them on our Betting Pros consensus plus twenty five hundred, definitely worth a look. And some long shots if you really want to get nuts and go crazy, some of the
ones that I'm looking at here. How about Wisconsin at plus sixty six hundred. That's sixty six to one for a team that's going to be playing in the Confines under the nice, warm Afghan blanket of Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the first two rounds. So I like that Midwest region. I think you're going to be battle tested coming out of that. And there are some great future odds there if you want to grab any one of them.
And you can view the consensus bracket over at Bettingpros dot com. And again, I just all you gotta do, folks, is just click on that NCAA Basketball tab. You'll see all the props, you'll see all the bracket optimizer, you'll see the leader boards, you'll see contests you can enter or we just mentioned one before, so everything is laid out here for you. So if you are getting involved in March Madness.
This is your one stop shop.
This is your opportunity, and it's all brought to you by the FanDuel Sportsbook over on Bettingpros dot com. So again, I can't encourage you enough to go over and use these tools to your advantage, to get an advantage on your competition. And I don't care if you're just filling out a bracket in your office pool or if you
are trying to win some major money somewhere. This is the place to come to make sure that you will have the best information you possibly can, and also make sure you stay on top of the podcast too, because Mike Randall's gonna be hosting podcasts these next few weeks, taking you through the tournament as it evolves, because we all know it looks like one thing in week one, and by week two it can look very different some years, So Mike Rand's gonna have your back. Don't worry, He's
gonna take you through the entire tournament. And don't forget too twenty five hundred dollars in prizes thanks to FanDuel and all you got to do is go enter our free contest our March Madness bracket contest Bettingpros dot com slash March.
That's where you're gonna do.
First place wins that Shack Lakers autograph jersey, The second one is from Jannis. It's a signed Bucks jersey. Third place John Calipari Kentucky Wildcats jersey, and then fourth place Bob Knight signed sixty x twenty photo inscribed best wishes Bobby Knight. I mean, doesn't I kind of want to get fourth place? Just for that, I gotta tell you. And that is all brought to you from Pristine Auction dot com. That's pri I, sd I n E Auction
dot com. Christin Auction is the greatest place in the world to get any sports memberabilia and it's free to start bidding, So go check that out today. Mike Grandall and in final thoughts here before he close out the podcast on what looks to be a very exciting March Madness.
I don't like Purdue this year, but it would be amazing to get that Bobby Knight signed autograph picture there with Perdue winning the national title. He would not be happy about that for sure.
When is he happy anyway. I mean, let's be honest, he's not.
You know, he is at his happiest when he is at his most angry, and I think that that's a quality I just admire it is.
So there you have it again.
Make sure you subscribe to our podcast wherever you get your pods at bettingpros dot com, Slash Contuff at slash Podcasts as well.
Excuse me, and don't forget enter the contest.
Use the tools at bettingpros dot com and go check out all the consensus lines that we have available for you. That way, you can go out there and make the best wagers you possibly can with the most information you possibly can to be successful. That'll do it for us. But the story of the game goes on for Mike Randall, I'm Joey P. We'll see you next time.
Kids,