OC Dooley
Richmond -2.5
Even though they are a top-seed and have home court advantage arguably the oddsmakers have made a major statement casting Richmond as such a large favorite against a Miami-Florida contingent that not only has had multiple crucial victories on the highway, the Hurricanes also operate out of college basketball’s best conference (Atlantic Coast) which in this year’s NCAA Tournament has only suffered one setback so far. One can argue that among the two teams playing tonight it is Miami who has had the “easier” route to the quarterfinals as in the opening round they knocked off a virtual unknown (North Carolina Central) and only by a FOUR point margin. Last time on the floor during the weekend Miami had the advantage of facing an opponent (Alabama) who within the past week fired the head coach putting the team in a state of flux. As for Richmond they just survived a second-round matching outlasting a quality foe (Arizona State) in overtime. My research indicates that in the past two years (15+ games into the schedule) when facing an opposing defense who averages “six-or-less” steals per contest Richmond is UNDEFEATED where it counts (7-0 ATS)