Sunday's NCAA Elite Eight picks

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Written by RJ | 29 March 2009


Louisville -7-1/2 vs. Michigan State

Mich StateLouisville finally came out of their shell Friday and destroyed a pretty decent Arizona team. Before that, they had been fairly average looking. I'm not sure if this last game is an anomaly or did a light turn on and suddenly they became the World beaters everyone has been saying they are. Can Tom Izzo and his steady Spartans find a way to stop these suddenly hot Cardinals? The Spartans have won 9 out of 10  and are 3-0 ATS in the tournament. 7-1/2 is a lot of points here. Louisville is 1-2 ATS in the tournament, and Friday's complete destruction of Arizona adds points to this spread which hurts their chances of covering. Can they continue that domination? Both teams can go deep on their roster, regularly using 8 and 9 players. Not many teams can do that in the tourney. So will Louisville win the game? Maybe. Will they cover the spread, no way. Take the 7-1/2 points and watch a well played, well coached, close game.

North Carolina -7 vs. Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Two teams that are playing their best at the right time of the year. Oklahoma crushed the poor Orangemen, and North Carolina thoroughly trounced Gonzaga. No team in the tournament is more talented from top to bottom than North Carolina. They can go 10 deep and not miss a beat. Oklahoma doesn't have the depth North Carolina has, but they do have the best player in the country in Blake Griffin. This future overall number one pick is playing his best basketball right now. His steamroll of Johnny Flynn was simply beautiful. Flynn wasn't the same after Griffin ran his ass over. Is he enough to actually beat the Tar Heels? I don't think so. Oklahoma's run ends here. North Carolina has too many weapons and too many players to plug in if necessary. Oklahoma lacks depth, and if Griffin gets in foul trouble, North Carolina could roll. 7 points is a lot of points to give though, and again, I think points have been added because of North Carolina's blowout of Gonzaga. This is a tough call for me, because after Friday's game, I was absolutely sure I was going to take North Carolina in this matchup. I also figured the spread would be 3 or 4 pts, NOT 7pts. I can't give the best player in the country that many points. Take Oklahoma plus the 7.


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Comments (3)

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MSU wins
RepoMan
I was right about Louisville not covering, but I thought it'd be a close game to the end. That's where I was wrong. MSU ran away with it in the end, proving the best of the Big Ten can beat the best of the Big East, (Louisville was generally considered the overall #1 team entering the tournament). Now, the Spartans have to go onto their homecourt and beat UConn. This should be an awesome game. Two excellent, deep, well-coached teams going to battle.
RepoMan , March 29, 2009
Oklahoma
RepoMan
The corrected spread on Oklahoma is 7-1/2 points. UNC is a great team, but I have to take those points and you should too.

(Nate, should we start charging for these picks, like a picks website, etc.?)
RepoMan , March 29, 2009
Oklahoma can't make 3 pointers...
RepoMan
The story of this game. For Oklahoma to have a chance, they have to have a reliable outlet for Blake Griffin to pass to, and make those wide open three pointers. They went 2 for 19, and still only missed covering by 4 points. I knew this would be a tough pick, and my initial call was North Carloina, but damn, my man-love for Blake Griffin was too strong. Marky V talked me into a half bet, ($50), instead of $100, so thank God for his last second advice.
RepoMan , March 29, 2009

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