Sean Higgs

Taking NORTH CAROLINA. Losses to Duke, Virginia, Kentucky and Michigan for NC. Plus a puzzling loss to Texas and a loss to Louisville. That's it. Washington put up 48 points vs Oregon in the PAC 12 Championship Game. That was after losing the regular season finale to them 55-47. They lost to an 8-23 Cal team. I can't see them sniffing staying within double digits. I think NC is going to outboard them on both ends of the court. I cashed Huskies ML in Round 1. But this is a terrible match-up for them. Can't see them keeping pace with Heels. This should be a 20pt win for NC along the 85-65 range. After a slow start in Round 1. I expect NC to be 100% ready to come for the PAC 12 regular season Champs. 10* Money Bomb NORTH CAROLINA 

Taking HOUSTON. I am not buying Ohio State one bit. I don't care how many games the Big 10 has won so far in the tournament. You have a pair of 2 seeds in Michigan and Michigan State who are both Final Four type teams. Purdue is a 3. But your mid levels, Wiscy, bounced in Round 1. Maryland needed everything and the kitchen sink to get past Belmont. Minny with a good match-up over Louisville. Iowa gets annual choke artist, Cincinnati Bearcats. OSU 9-13 in conference - dropped 3 straight and 4 of 5 coming into the conference tournament. 19-14 gets you a bid? What a joke. I know they opened with a win over Cincy - Also knocked off Creighton and UCLA. But Houston better than that. Houston 32-3. Took care of business vs LSU, Oklahoma State on the road. Plus tourney teams St Louis and Utah State. You can only beat who is front of you. Cougs beat nearly all. At one point, OSU lost 5 straight and 6 of 7 in Big 10 play. Then ended the regular season 2-6 in conference play. Way to inconsistent for my liking. Will lay it with Houston. 8* Sure Shot HOUSTON COUGARS 

4* Money Maker INDIANA PACERS 

Taking BUFFALO. Obviously looking at the +150 ML because if I think we lose by 2, then you know I think we can make a shot and win this by a bucket just as easily. 13 straight wins for the Bulls. Look. I know the 30-3 record does not look that impressive. So they crushed a crappy PAC 12 team. A good team from any conference should do the same. They beat West Va on the road in their 2nd game of the year. They beat St Francis PA, who was the Top Seed in the NEC tournament. Not a huge sexy team, but still, the best at their level. Neutral win over San Fran who was a trendy mid-major to win some games. Won at Syracuse. Beat St Bonaventure on the road. 2 wins over Southern Illinois. Lost at Marquette after that Syracuse win. You can only beat who will play you. Tough to schedule good Power 5 schools to come play you. And going on the road and beating Syracuse and West Virginia probably won't help with getting invites in the future. Texas Tech is no slouch. Winners of 9 straight before hitting the West Va buzz-saw in the Big 12 tournament. I just think that this line looks a little low. Maybe they are begging you to take Tech. Maybe they think everyone will be on trendy Buffalo who whipped Arizona in the First Round last year, before losing to Kentucky by 20 in this very round. 4* Money Maker BUFFALO 

Taking TENNESSEE. Not worried at this price with the Vols. So they took a close game vs Colgate. That doesn't shock me too much. Let's look at their season. Lost on a neutral to 'good' Kansas by 6 in OT. Auburn got them twice. I mean, who was beating Auburn in that SEC Championship Game? Nobody. They were in, as they say, 'the zone.' Lost by 2 in OT at LSU. And got run out of Kentucky by 17. They did their revenge at home winning by 19 over Kentucky though. Who is comparable to this Iowa team they played? Louisville, who they beat by 11? Mississippi State 17? Florida 12? How about Gonzaga? Beat them by 3 on a neutral. Iowa came into the Big 10 tournament dropped 4 straight and 4 of 5. They needed OT to beat a slumping Indiana team. They beat Rutgers by 2 and Northwestern by 1 in back to back games. You know how they do vs tourney teams. Losses to Michigan by 21 and 15. Michigan State 22 and 15. 20 at Wiscy, 20 at OSU. Vols too talented. This should be at least a 15 point win for Tennessee. 5* Best Bet TENNESSEE 

Taking VIRGINIA. So look. I thought about taking the points with the Sooners. I mean, red hot right? Out of the gate and gone in their last game. VA looked like a team that got upset by a 16 seed for the first 30 minutes of their game. Heck. They didn't look anything like the Sooners who pasted Ole Miss scoring 95 points. Oklahoma with nice early wins. Beat some team that is trendy right now in Wofford 11. Florida by 5 on a neutral. Lost a neutral to Wiscy, beat Dayton. Wins over Wichita and Notre Dame, USC and Creighton. Some name value there. Some NIT talent. Then their up and down BIG 12 season began. I can't even describe the 10pt win and 10pt losses in series splits. It is really an up and down year. I am not buying a team like that this weekend. Virginia has 3 losses on the year. 2 of them to another 1 Seed in Duke. There was no let down before or after those Duke games. A 23 pt win over Wake isn't all that impressive. But how about a 6 point road win at North Carolina after a 10pt Duke loss. Look. I said on a podcast that I think VA is on a mission this March. Dropping that game to FSU may have helped get them focused on a prize bigger than ACC Tournament Champs. Let's lay the points. 4* Money Maker VIRGINIA