2013 March Madness Saint Mary’s vs. Middle Tennessee Picks & Predictions
By ATSSportsline.com
DAYTON, OH (ATS Consultants) – The 2013 NCAA Tournament begins tonight with two opening-round games. Will Middle Tennessee State pull off the small upset versus St. Mary’s at 9:10PM ET?
ODDS: Oddsmakers from online sports book Bovada.lv have installed Saint Mary’s as 3-point favorites over Middle Tennessee State, while the over/under total is currently sitting at 132 points. The Gaels enter play tonight with a 27-6 record while the Blue Raiders are 28-5 on the year.
LINE MOVEMENT: The Gaels opened as 2.5-point favorites but the spread has been bet up to 3 at most sports books, while the over/under total has jumped from 129 up to 132 at most books. Some places even list the over/under at 132.5.
PUBLIC BETTING: Of the wagers placed on tonight’s game, 53% of college basketball public bettors currently favor Middle Tennessee State. This information is subject to change, however, so make sure you click on the link provided for the most up-to-date public betting numbers.
NCAA FREE PICK: Take Middle Tennessee State. According to the latest college basketball trends, St. Mary's is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 neutral site games. Middle Tennessee State is 4-0 ATS in their last 4 Tuesday games, 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games following a ATS loss and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games following a S.U. loss. These teams, who are both 11th seeds, take part in the First Four from Dayton, Oh. St. Mary's (27-6 SU, 15-14-1 ATS) won six of seven but lost to Gonzaga for the third time in the WCC Tournament final, 65-51 getting 6.5 on March 11. Middle Tennessee State (28-5 SU, 14-14-1 ATS) fell to Florida International in the Sun Belt semifinals on March 10, 61-57, laying 13. St. Mary's takes on Middle Tennessee State at 9:10pmET from Dayton Arena..
Middle Tennessee State is a very dangerous team if they advance to the second round. At 28-5, they were able to get an at-large bid despite losing in their conference tournament semifinals. They do have some quality wins, including at home against Ole Miss, 65-62 giving 4 and lost in overtime to Akron by five getting four. They also beat Vanderbilt on a neutral site by four, giving 5.5. The Blue Raiders don't have a dominant scorer as Marcos Knight leads with 12.5 points per game, but they own a plus six rebounding margin and have a balanced team. Middle Tennessee doesn't mind playing on the road as they went 11-3. Middle Tennessee also has one of the most experienced rosters in the tournament and a bench that provides 42 percent of the Blue Raiders' playing time. The winner of the First Four game goes to Auburn Hills, Mich., to play Memphis on Thursday. The Gaels left for Dayton at 6:15am and landed in Dayton for an evening practice on Monday. Now they face one of the deepest teams in the bracket.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL FREE PICK: MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE +3
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