Day 4 ball bets: Kentucky to win close one vs. Wichita State
Saturday brought the first major upsets of the NCAA tournament with No. 8 Wisconsin taking down No. 1 Villanova, along with No. 11 Xavier easily handling No. 3 Florida State.
Sunday's action features eight more games, including some heavyweight matchups, that will have other top seeds on upset alert.
Here are the three best bets in the final action of the NCAA tournament's second round.
Best bets
(10) Wichita State vs. (2) Kentucky -2
The best game of the day could very easily be the 10-2 matchup of Wichita State and Kentucky. The two schools have history thanks to an epic second-round matchup in the 2014 tournament, and come in with only nine combined losses this season. Ken Pomeroy's ratings have the Wildcats as the fifth-best team in the country with the Shockers right behind at No. 6. This one should be a great battle, but the Wildcats' five-star talent will be the deciding factor. Kentucky 72, Wichita State 66
(11) Rhode Island +5.5 vs. (3) Oregon
Rhode Island showed in the opening round that its run to the tournament was no joke, easily handling Creighton to advance as the No. 11 seed. Oregon looked strong in the opening round against Iona, but will face a much tougher test with the strong Rams defense. Rhode Island ranks ninth in the country in limiting opponent's effective field-goal percentage at just 44.8, and should put the clamps on the high-paced Ducks offense. Dillon Brooks will make enough plays to see Oregon through to the Sweet 16, but Rhode Island will keep it close enough to cover. Oregon 73, Rhode Island 70
(11) USC +6.5 vs. (3) Baylor
USC has been the comeback team of the 2017 NCAA tournament, erasing double-digit deficits in the second halves of both the play-in game and first-round win over SMU. Baylor looked strong in the first round versus New Mexico State, but likely will not be getting a combined 40 points from reserves Al Freeman and Terry Maston again. The Trojans will attempt to push the pace and run the Bears out of the gym, while Baylor prefers a slower style of play. Whichever team dictates tempo will take this one. Our bet is on USC to pull off the upset. USC 78, Baylor 73
Season Record
Best bets: 28-19-1
Home dog: 3-9
Full-day parlay: 6-8
Twitter picks: 7-2
Overall spread record: 67-43-2
(Lines courtesy: Covers)
(Photos courtesy: Action Images)