CBB round-robin ML parlay: Saturday's underdog experience

Churning out 55% against the spread is great. The betting account will always thank you for that. However, for most recreational bettors, the point of having some action on the game is for just that: the action. Our first foray into a basketball betting lottery ticket Tuesday didn't technically go well - 2-3 ATS and just one of our underdogs winning outright.

But what a win it was.

Betting at its best is an experience, so when James Reese banked in a half-courter to keep the night alive, that has to be worth something on sheer excitement alone. Hopefully, we won't need another one of these Saturday, but we'll take them when we can get them. It's all part of the experience.

How it works

When there's a big slate of games, and we've got a handful of bets, including numerous underdogs, it's worth a shot to go for a big payout for a fraction of our weekly outlay. We parlay five underdogs together in 10 different three-team parlays. Using every combination of a three-team parlay is called a round robin, so we're going to use a total of 1.1 units to make 11 different bets: 10 three-team parlays and one five-team parlay, each for 0.1 units.

If three of five teams pull off the upset, you'll at least double your money. If four teams win, you'll connect on four separate parlays. If all five teams win, then we're diving into a pool of gold coins like a young Scrooge McDuck.

Who to play

South Carolina (Projected ML: +200)

I mean, why not? The Gamecocks' success against lower-tier SEC teams is part of the reason we liked them Tuesday, but LSU is better than that. However, the Tigers are very capable of dropping a road game to a team sitting in the middle of the conference. LSU's once-otherworldly defense has dropped off in February, and that might be enough to allow South Carolina to take advantage.

Alabama (Projected ML: +300)

We know the Crimson Tide are going to fire away from deep. Whether they make them or not is a considerably different question. At 30.7% from three - 311th in the country on the ninth-most attempts - Alabama probably won't make them. After all, they were 3-of-30 when the Wildcats came to Tuscaloosa earlier this month.

Bama was also 7-of-21 from deep in a win over Baylor on Jan. 29 and 13-of-34 when they beat Gonzaga on Dec. 4. So shooting success hasn't been mandatory for the biggest wins on the Crimson Tides' resume. With such a wide range of outcomes any time Alabama steps on the court, why not give the Tide a try at a big moneyline payout?

Iowa (Projected ML: +170)

What would it take for Ohio State to lose its first home game of the season? Like Alabama above, a team that's comfortable getting up 25 threes per contest has a chance. Iowa will do that, and it also has a Big Ten player of the year candidate to make a big shot down the stretch in Keegan Murray.

Notre Dame (Projected ML: +180)

It might not look particularly pretty on a night-to-night basis, but somehow Mike Brey's group just wins games, whether it's at home or on the road. At 12-3 and tied for first in the ACC, I expect Notre Dame to give Wake Forest everything they can handle Saturday.

The Demon Deacons left it all on the court at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Monday night. Even in the loss, Wake Forest produced one of its top performances, as some of its best wins have come at opportune times against struggling opponents. This could be a letdown spot to fade the Demon Deacons.

Saint Louis (Projected ML: +160)

The Billikens are my top-rated A-10 team, but they're likely to be around 5-point underdogs on the road at Davidson. Saint Louis recently had an 'iron sharpens iron' back-to-back with St. Bonaventure in a losing cause but has otherwise lost just once in the last month.

Davidson has edged past its opponents in building an 11-2 conference record, but this might be the program's toughest test. The Wildcats haven't played Saint Louis or Dayton yet, and a pair of two-point games with VCU suggests this contest could go either way. The possibility also exists that the Billikens are the better team getting a good price on the moneyline.

Here are how the odds look:

Matt Russell is a betting writer for theScore. If there’s a bad beat to be had, Matt will find it. Find him on Twitter @mrussauthentic.