March Madness Picks: Best NCAA Tournament Bets From Every Seed Line
By Matt Snyder
No. 8 seeds: Wisconsin
The Wisconsin Badgers finished as the runner up in the Big Ten in both the regular season and the conference tournament. Most bracketology projections had them as a No. 6 seed before the selection show, but they fell to the No. 8 seed line. They come out as 69.6% favorites over a Virginia Tech squad that looks like a fairly soft nine seed.
No. 7 seeds: St. Mary’s
The name of the game in this year’s tournament is to respect the West Coast Conference. The committee didn’t do that when they handed St. Mary’s a No. 7 seed, but they might be one of the 20 best teams in the whole tournament. The computers like them as a 71.5% favorite over VCU.
No. 6 seeds: SMU
As mentioned up with the No. 11 seeds, tread carefully with the No. 6 vs. No. 11 matchups. The elevens could very well win two or three of the games. The No. 6 seed that you should feel most comfortable with, however, is SMU. They rate as a 78.1% favorite to beat play-in champion USC.
No. 5 seeds: Virginia
We’re getting up into the range where chalk will just about hold, but don’t rush to pick the higher seeds just because the number disparity looks good. Virginia, however, looks like a very strong pick against UNC Wilmington at 79.7%.