2006 NCAA Brackets
 

O.K., everyone stop what you’re doing, put your 2006 NCAA brackets away and take a deep breath. After a weekend where underdogs across the country all seemed to look like 20/1 Derby Lane greyhounds running the race of their lives, it’s time to clear our heads and get back to basics. Let’s face it, when a team like Syracuse can be an underdog in four straight games (in four straight days) and wins all of them, for a conference crown, we all need to take a break. Like a car that has just taken a cross-country trip, we need to tune ourselves up.

Just as the NHL, MLB and of course the NFL, the NCAA basketball tournament is a whole new season. The slate is clear and all previous sins are forgiven. The world beaters of February have to show up for the first round of the regionals this weekend as focused as the team who’s on a dream run and doesn’t have one scholarship player. Last year’s National runner-up, Illinois, opens up against an Air Force team that didn’t even watch the selection show because they figured they had no chance of getting an invitation. Well, on Thursday at 4:25pm. (PST) the Falcons will tip off in San Diego against the Illini and they’re getting 8½ points worth of support.

The NCAA tournament has gotten so big that it even hits seasoned handicappers like a hurricane wind gust. Over recent years we’ve seen unknowns plow into the tournament and buzz saw through everyone’s brackets on day one. I was in attendance last year when Vermont, the America East representative, stunned Syracuse in the first round. Even the small section wearing the Catamount’s yellow and green didn’t believe it. Then, less than two hours later, people were snapping their pencils when Bucknell brought the city of Lawrence, Ka. to a stand still as the Bison upset the Jayhawks. Folks, 95% of the betting public couldn’t even tell you where Bucknell is, never mind tell you if they can win a tournament game? You could fit the Langone Recreation Center in Lewisburg, Pa. INSIDE of Phog Allen Field house, the home of Jayhawk hoops. With upsets like these having happened so recently that the pain still lingers in people’s guts; fans in “bracketland” are now looking to find the next “shock the world” scenario and want to be a part of it. That’s not what we’re all about.

Anyone reading this article isn’t interested in storybook dreams and Cinderella fantasies. We’re handicappers, looking at lines and finding weaknesses and advantages that we can pounce on and cash winning tickets. If your Aunt Margaret brings home a bracket from her pool at work and asks you to help her fill it out, that’s great entertainment, but in the real world of “Big Boy” gambling, brackets have absolutely nothing to do with winning money from a casino in Las Vegas.

What makes this tournament such a puzzle is that all games are played on neutral courts. In the inexact science of picking winners, that’s the difference between indulging on surf-n-turf or redeeming Big Mac coupons.

Back on February 25th, Kansas headed to Texas on a 10 game winning streak to play the Longhorns in a Saturday night ESPN game. Texas, on their home court, was a 6 ½ point favorite. On that night, Kansas could have been getting 16 ½ points and it wouldn’t have mattered. The Jayhawks looked like a deer staring at headlights in the second half and got blown out by 25, it was a complete mismatch. This past Sunday in the Big 12 final, the two teams met again on a neutral court. Kansas won by 12.

Another difference that makes this tournament format unique is the extensive travel involved. The “TV” teams in the big conferences have deep pockets and don’t think twice about writing checks for airfare and hotel costs throughout the regular season. For those fortunate ones, the tournament is nothing new. For others, it’s a new experience in itself. The Penn Quakers dominated the Ivy League by riding buses to and from games and rarely play weekday games because it interferes with their academic schedules. Their longest road trip since Christmas break was a 360 mile ride to play Dartmouth. This week they’ll travel over 1,500 miles to play Texas in another time zone.

As you comb through the lines for Thursday and Friday, remember, every team is a road team. Everything’s equal from the time the teams get off the plane, until the national anthem. We’re betting pure basketball, complete with match-up zones and game plans, from here on out.

Don’t get caught up in all the excitement that CBS will throw at you as they go from game to game. Betting every game and half time line is the equivalent of gambling suicide, you’ll bury yourself. Relax, enjoy the games and most of all, bet with confidence. Know what games you like, and when you get a good line, fire away. For the record, tell Aunt Maggie that No.15 Winthrop is going to give No.2 Tennessee all they can handle.