A No. 1 seed was tested, a No. 2 seed was eliminated and a Big Ten team finally lost an NCAA Tournament game.
Houston hung on to beat No. 8 seed Gonzaga 81-76 but didn’t cover the closing -5.5. Arkansas (+6.5) upset second-seeded St. John’s 75-66.
The Big Ten’s dominance has been one of the early stories of this tournament with Purdue and Michigan advancing to the the Sweet 16 on Saturday before third-seeded Wisconsin (-1.5) fell to BYU in a 91-89 shootout. In the last game of the night, UCLA (+5.5) lost to Tennessee 67-58.
The Big Ten is 10-2 straight up and ATS with four teams in action today.
8 second-round previews
We have previews for every game and I’ve included links to our matchup pages, which include lines, ATS records, splits and picks (for VSiN Pro subscribers):
>Florida vs. UConn (12:10 ET, CBS). Preview / Matchup
>Duke vs. Baylor (2:40 ET, CBS). Preview / Matchup
>Kentucky vs. Illinois (5:15 ET, CBS). Preview / Matchup
>Alabama vs. Saint Mary’s (6:10 ET, TNT). Preview / Matchup
>Maryland vs. Colorado State (7:10 ET, TBS). Preview / Matchup
>Iowa State vs. Mississippi (7:45 ET, truTV). Preview / Matchup
>Michigan State vs. New Mexico (8:40 ET, TNT). Preview / Matchup
>Arizona vs. Oregon (9:40 ET, TBS). Preview / Matchup
Early Sweet 16 previews and everything we post on the tourney. >>Go here.
Picks & Best Bets
>Dave Tuley‘s Takes for today.
>Adam Burke (later this morning)
Artie “The Swami” Alonzo weighs in after picking Houston (-5.5, L) to go 3-1 as the VSiN fan contributor:
Illinois ML (-130): When I get a team I believe in, I ride ’em! Illinois has something going and is just so talented and confident and athletic.
>VSiN Pro picks for the tournament
Circa College Hoops Challenge recap: Texas pro handicapper Paul Stone leads the field of 15 handicappers with a 23-12 record (6-0 on Best Bets). See how the contestants played today’s games.
VSiN March Bracket Challenge: See how the contestants played today’s games. If you want to see what VSiN staffers did, go here.
Makinen’s NASCAR predictions
Steve Makinen, coming off a 75-1 longshot recommendation with Josh Berry in Las Vegas last week, has posted his final simulation for the NASCAR stop in South Florida.
Homestead-Miami Speedway offers up a handicap-ability grade of A, best on the circuit. Typically that means the races are often fairly predictable using statistical methods like I do. For instance, in last fall’s race here, the simulation pegged exact finish spots for four of the top 6, including the winner Tyler Reddick.
For this week’s final simulation, William Byron checks in on top, just ahead of Kyle Larson. Ryan Blaney is third. Both Larson and Blaney seem due for a race winning effort.
My predictions for today’s Straight Talk Wireless 400:
Top 5: Larson, Blaney, Wallace, Byron, Reddick
Top underdogs: Briscoe, Berry, Gragson, Gibbs
Favorites to struggle: Busch, Chastain, Cindric
Quick Hits
NBA: Zach Cohen will have his plays later this morning.
NHL: Jonathan Davis will have his Best Bets later, too.
Tennis: Zach has posted his plays for today’s action at the Miami Open.
MLB: The season opens Thursday. Adam Burke previews every team with his prediction on the season win total.
This is The VSiN Daily newsletter for Sunday, March 23. Sign up for this free email and get picks and insights delivered to your in-box every morning.
