Tony George
Villanova -1.5
UCLA struggled to get in this round and the PAC 10 is a weak conference compared the Big East and the Wildcats are battle tested. The KEY in this game is the frontcourt and Nova has it. UCLA had a 1 point win over a average VCU team and with this game in front of a pro Nova crowd, I expect the fast running Wildcats to atone for a bad game against American University, where they failed to show up until the last 7 minutes of the game. It will not happen again. UCLA has great balance but at days end, less than a bucket to cover as a favorite is worth the stretch.
Larry Ness
Memphis -9 vs Maryland
Memphis played very poorly in their opening round game vs CS-Northridge but the No. 2 Tigers did extend their winning streak to 26 consecutive games with 81-70 victory. The surprising star was reserve guard Roburt Sallie, who entered the game with a 4.5 PPG average. Sallie came off the bench to rally second-seeded Memphis past Northridge, making 10-of-15 from three-point range (12-of-17 on FGs), setting a Memphis record for an NCAA game with 35 points. No one in NCAA tournament history had ever hit 10 threes in an opening round game. Maryland, a No. 10 seed, played very well in its first game, beating Cal, 79-65. The 6-6 Vazquez (17.5-5.5-5.0) led the way with 27 points, which came as no surprise. Since scoring 35 points, grabbing 11 rebounds and handing out 10 assists when Maryland upset North Carolina 88-85 back on Feb 21, Vazquez is averaging 21.7 PPG. He's joined in the starting backcourt by Hayes (10.3-3.3 APG) and freshman guard, Mosley (5.2-3.7). Maryland's frontcourt starters are a pair of 6-7 players, Milbourne (11.5-7.3) and Neal (8.5-4.3). The bench is not very deep with Bowie (9.0) playing on the perimeter and the 6-7 Gregory (2.6-3.2) being the only frontcourt reserve of note. One wonders how Maryland will be able to match up with the Memphis duo of Dozier (12.6-7.2) and Taggert (10.4-7.5), who are 6-9 and 6-10, respectively. Freshman Evans (16.6-5.4-3.8) may not be the "second-coming" of Derrick Rose but he's close. Swingman Anderson (10.3-4.9-4.3) and guard Mack (8.7) were both, like Dozier and Taggert, part of LY's team which lost to Kansas in the national championship game. Memphis got its 'scare' in the first round and Calipari's team will be looking for some respect in this one, meaning the Tigers want a blowout win! Lay it.
Gina
Los Angeles Lakers at Chicago Bulls
Los Angeles has won and covered the spread in five of the last six battles against Chicago, including two of three at United Center. However, Chicago needs this game hanging on to eighth and final playoff spot in the East and have played tough at home.The Bulls are 7-0 both straight-up and against the spread in their last 7 home games. Meanwhile, the Lakers are 3-7 ATS in their last 10. Look for the Bulls to make this a close hard fought battle. Take the points! The underdog in this series is 10-2 ATS in the last 12 meetings.
Chicago Bulls +4
Johnny Guild
Memphis Tigers -9
Texas A&M Aggies +10
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers +10.5
RJ Robbins
Texas A&M vs. Connecticut
Play: Texas A&M +10.5
We will grab the points and take the Aggies. TAM handled BYU for the second straight year in their game on Thursday, while U-Conn had a cakewalk .vs UT-Chat. Texas A&M is 18-8 ATS in road games when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons, while U-Conn is 3-11 ATS in road games when playing against a good team, after 15 or more games over the last 3 seasons. Plus TAM is a money making 10-2 ATS in all neutral court lined games over the last 2 seasons. Take TEXAS A&M+10.5
John Ryan
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Chicago Bulls
Play: Los Angeles Lakers -4
Ai Simulator 3* graded play on The Lakers as they travel to face Chicago slated to start at 8:35. Supporting this graded play is a system that has gone 38-19 ATS for 67% winners since 1996. Play against dogs in a game involving two good free throw shooting teams hitting 76-79% and is a hot shooting team with 3 straight games making >=47% of their shots. Lakers are also 16-4 ATS (+11.6 Units) in road games versus up-tempo teams averaging 83 or more shots/game in the 2nd half of the season over the last 3 seasons. Take the Lakers.
3G SPORTS
Take the points with Texas A&M
The Huskies dominating win over an under-talented Chattanooga game this spread got stretched a little bit and shows a little value by taking the Aggies. I've been impressed with how A&M has been playing. They easily took care of BYU in the first round which was a surprise after losing to Texas Tech in the Big 12 tournament, but prior to that had won six straight including wins over Missouri and Texas. The Aggies do a decent job of shooting the three, and the Huskies perimeter defense hasn't been the same since the loss of Dyson.
PREDICTION: 71-66