Free Picks: Premium Service Plays for Sunday, March 20,2011

Larry Ness

27 Club Fairfield

Brett Atkins

North Carolina

Craig Davis

Texas

Karl Garrett

Kansas
Syracuse

Michael Cannon

North Carolina

Steve Dueming

FSU

Al DeMarco

Teaser Duke & Texas
Teaser Virginia Tech & Notre Dame

Andy Fanelli

New York Knicks

Derek Mancini

Purdue

Stephen Nover

Texas

Chuck O´Brien

George Mason

Anthony Redd

Kansas
Kansas 1st Half

Joel Tyson

Purdue

Great Lakes Sports

4* Syracuse
3* Notre Dame
3* Virginia Commonwealth

4* New York
3* New Jersey

Sean Higgs

10* Notre Dame -5

Taking the Irish here. ND had 6 losses all year. All to teams in the tournament. A pair of neutral court losses, 1 early to Kentucky, 1 in the BE Tourney to Louisville. They lost on the road to dancers Marquette, St John's, West Va and Syracuse. This team was that UL loss away from being a 1 seed. ND is just better. FSU has 2 non-dance losses to Auburn and Maryland. They lost twice to Va Tech and NC, plus losses to Clemson, Butler, Florida and Ohio State. The problem is where are the big wins. Yes, they beat Duke. We had them as 7 point dogs that night on ESPN. A good spot for an upset. Before getting past TexAM, their last win over a dancing team was in December to Clemson. This is a huge step up in class from the Aggies, and most of the ACC. This isn't like playing a division rival. This isn't Duke as a home dog on ESPN. 'Noles aren't familiar with the Irish. Honestly, I am suprised this line isn't the same as the 11s we are seeing Ohio State and Duke. Even if those two, plus Pitt and Kansas are the top dogs, ND can't be far behind. Statistically, both teams board about the same, but that is where the similarities end. ND shoots 46%-43, 3pt% 39-32, FT% 72-66. FSU does have the deeper bench. That being said, ND should cruise here to a double digit victory.

5* Ohio State -10.5

Taking the Buckeyes here. Again. Have to take the best team here. OSU and Kansas, to me, are the best teams playing right now. George Mason needed a rally to get past a 'Nova team that has taken 2 months off. OSU will not let Mason up off the carpet if they get them down 6-10 points. Buckeyes a good blend of youth and experience, inside and outside offense. GM basically a 6 man unit, and that will allow OSU to pull away for the win.

4* Duke -11.5

Taking Duke here. Time to seperate the cream from the crop. Michigan had a nice run and is a good story this year. But let's keep it real, Duke is going to have their way with them. A bit too much size inside, and the Wolverines really have no answers to Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler. Add in a returning to form Kyrie Irving. That isn't taking into account Seth Curry and his offense. Blue Devils should again advance easily here.

Chris Jordan

300* Duke -11.5

Sammy Paolini

20* Wild Under 5

Wayne Root

Millionaire - G Mason
Billionaire - Washington U
No Limit - Purdue
Pinnacle - Florida St
Insider Info - Duke

Jeff Benton

30 Dime Michigan

How can I go against Duke after backing the Blue Devils on Friday and cashing a 30 Dime play? Simple answer: Because all Michigan does is cover pointspreads. With Friday’s 75-45 blowout of Tennessee (as a one-point underdog), the Wolverines are now 8-0 ATS in their last eight games and 13-1 ATS in their last 14, going 10-0 ATS as an underdog during this incredible run. This includes spread-covers over Michigan State (twice), Ohio State (twice), Illinois (twice) and Wisconsin, and the latter three teams all won first-round Tournament games. Not only have the Wolverines been cashing tickets like nobody else in the country lately, but they’re also 10-4 SU over these 14 games.

The key to Michigan’s success? Defense. The Wolves have given up 63 points or less in nine of the last 14 contests, yielding an average of 61.6 ppg over this span. True, Duke is also playing tremendous D (60 ppg allowed in its last 10 games, going 8-2 over this span), but that just means this is likely to be a tight, low-scoring defensive contests … making the double digit points we’re getting all the more enticing.

Michigan’s resume since Jan. 9 includes three very competitive losses against Ohio State (68-64 at home, 62-53 on the road and 68-61 in the Big Ten tournament), an overtime loss to Kansas (67-60) and a one-point loss to Wisconsin (53-52). The Wolverines covered in each of those games, and they’ve lost by double digits just twice over this 19-game stretch, going 15-4 ATS.

Throw in the fact that Michigan has cashed in 23 of its last 29 games as a pup (including, as mentioned, the last 10 in a row) and five of six at neutral sites, and I’ll gladly take the double digits with a Michigan team that upset Duke the last time these teams met in 2008 (winning 87-73 as a 9½-point pup in 2008).

Jimmy Boyd

5 * Purdue -9

3* Atlanta -7

RAS

Kent State/Fairfield Over 129

Arizona +6

Steve Budin

Duke

KELSO

100 Units Virginia Comm +9.5
15 Units Duke -11.5
10 Units North Carolina -4.5

Marc Lawrence

North Carolina -4

When the Tar Heels meet the Huskies in a 2nd round NCAA tourney game in Charlotte on Sunday North Carolina will take the court knowing head coach Roy Williams is 13-6 SU and ATS in 2nd round play in this tournament, including 7-0 ATS when facing a foe that did not cover its opening round game by five or more points. In addition, 2nd round teams seeded No. 3 or higher off an ATS win that won 20 or fewer games last year are 10-0 ATS in these games versus a .705 or less foe off a win of 13 or less points are 10-0 ATS in this role since 1990. With that we recommend a 3-unit play on North Carolina.

Bob Balfe

Washington +4.5
Arizona +6
Illinois +8.5
Notre Dame -5