NCAA Betting: Ohio State looking strong in the East
By: Michael Robinson
The Ohio State Buckeyes are backing up their No. 1 seed in the East Region, and the entire NCAA tourney, and oddsmakers love their chance to make the Final Four.
Bodog.com has Ohio State as the prohibitive 2/3 favorite to win the East Region, followed by No. 2 seed North Carolina (11/4), No. 4 Kentucky (15/4) and No. 11 Marquette (11/1).
The scene now shifts to Newark, New Jersey with only No. 3 Syracuse failing to advance as expected. The Orange were upset 66-62 by Marquette as 4 ½-point favorites. Favorites and underdogs have each gone 6-6 against the spread in this region.
Ohio State Buckeyes (34-2 straight-up, 18-15 ATS)
Ohio State will meet Kentucky on Friday and is five-point ‘chalk’ on the Don Best odds screen with a total of around 140-points. The Buckeyes are second (11/4) in the national title odds behind Kansas (9/4), but that’s mostly because Kansas’ Southwest Region has been riddled with upsets.
Coach Thad Matta’s team dispatched Texas-San Antonio in the opening round (75-46) and then George Mason (98-66). Those were ‘covers’ as 24 ½ and 11 ½-point favorites respectively.
The offensive outburst against George Mason really opened some eyes. Jared Sullinger had 18 points, but most of the damage was done from three-point range (16-of-26, 61.5 percent). David Lighty (25 points), William Buford (18 points) and Jon Diebler (13 points) were all stroking it from deep.
The question for the Buckeyes is how will they adapt when they aren’t hot from outside? Sullinger will need to play an even bigger role as the main inside guy, and that’s a lot of pressure for a freshman.
Kentucky Wildcats (27-8 SU, 14-15-1 ATS)
The Wildcats were lucky to survive Princeton (59-57) in the opening round as 12 ½-point favorites. Point guard Brandon Knight hit the game-winner for his only points of the game.
Coach John Calipari’s squad got Big East West Virginia next and won 71-63 as 3 ½-point favorites. Knight didn’t wait to score this time around with 30 points.
Kentucky has a very thin rotation of six guys and the three leading scorers are all freshmen in Knight (17.4 PPG), Terrence Jones (16.1 PPG) and Doron Lamb (12.6 PPG). Calipari’s freshmen laden team made the Elite Eight last year, but it was more talented with the now-departed John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins.
Ohio State relies heavily on two freshmen in Sullinger (17.1 PPG) and Aaron Craft (7.1 PPG) and only goes seven deep. However, there is more veteran leadership with Lighty, Buford and Diebler all upperclassmen.
North Carolina Tar Heels (28-7 SU, 15-16-1 ATS)
North Carolina has taken care of Long Island (102-87) and Washington (86-83), but is 0-2 ATS as 18 ½ and four-point ‘chalk’ respectively. The Tar Heels trailed Washington by 11 points in the first half and showed their mettle in coming back.
Coach Roy Williams’ bunch is 0-4-1 ATS in its last five games including the ACC Tournament. The one ‘push’ was even fortunate as it won in overtime over Clemson (92-87) as five-point favorites.
The Tar Heels are very interesting at 11/4 odds in this region. They’re a solid five-point favorite over Marquette (148-point total) on Friday, so they have a great chance to make the Elite Eight.
North Carolina matches up well potentially against Ohio State with its frontline of Harrison Barnes (15.5 PPG), Tyler Zeller (15.2 PPG), and John Henson (11.9 PPG). It has much more length than the Buckeyes are used to. Point guard Kendall Marshall is playing with far more poise than a typical freshman.
Marquette Golden Eagles (22-14 SU, 18-12 ATS)
Marquette is one of four 10-seeds or lower remaining in this tourney. The other three are in the Southwest with seemingly lucky Kansas.
The Golden Eagles opened as one-point favorites over Xavier despite being a No. 11 seed versus a No. 6. The final score was 66-55 with Darius Johnson-Odom (16 PPG) having 19 points and Jimmy Butler (15.8 PPG) adding 15. They are the two leading scorers this year.
The 66-62 win over Syracuse was buoyed by the neutralization of big man Rick Jackson (seven points, four rebounds). However, the undersized Golden Eagles will give up far more size to North Carolina.
Coach Buzz Williams’ guys are the clear underdogs in the region, but they’re battle hardened playing in the Big East with 11 March Madness teams. Connecticut is the only other team to survive.
This is Marquette’s first Sweet 16 appearance since 2003 when it made a surprise trip to the Final Four behind Dwyane Wade.