Late Season NCAA Hoop Tips
By Bryan Leonard
Many times during the season and even in some conference tournament games coming up, you can find teams that are less interested in playing hard. That is, they know they're going to hammered, or they've slumped so badly down the stretch that they realize they have no shot at going anywhere in tourney play. In short, they've given up on the
season or on a particular game where they are a big underdog and know their season is over. This is far less likely in late February and March, however, as good teams keep winning and are motivated to play all out. With the conference regular season titles on the line, this is a good time to examine some late season college basketball tourney tips.
Road Play: It's essential to check home/road play for college hoop teams. Some teams have a noticeable weakness on the road, such as poor road defense, or they consistently fail to cover when away from home. Most college tournament games on the horizon are neutral courts, but it can be helpful to check both teams' road play when analyzing individual matchups to get a sense of how they play away from home.
Non-conference competition: Some helpful sports wagering web sites have this broken down in easy-to-read columns. This shows that they do well outside their conference, which can be significant. On the other hand, you must take this a step further: Examine who those non-conference games were against. If they were against all small-school teams with poor records, then it's not as helpful as if they played against top-notch non-conference opponents. Georgetown, for instance, had a great start, but wasn't an underdog until the first week of January, with a light non-conference schedule. Meanwhile, a team like Syracuse played against Cal, North Carolina and Florida, winning them all easily.
Location: Sometimes teams luck out by getting placed in a tourney bracket that is very close to home. A few years ago North Carolina opened the tourney playing in Charlotte, North Carolina against Oakland and Iowa State, two teams that traveled a long way. The Tar Heels won by 28 and 27 points. A close location can mean more fans in the stands cheering for a particular team, giving it a slight edge.
Their Role as a Dog? Check how some teams fared as an underdog during the season. Do they excel, or fold up? When the pressure is on against top-notch teams, some clubs can't step it up.
History: Has this team been here before? Some teams don't play well in their conference tournaments or down the stretch of the regular season. Check their recent history. Is this a surprise team that came out of nowhere to get this far? Does their starting five have any experience at all in tournament play? Digging into various details can help turn a profit during before and during March madness.