Last season's March Madness had all four #1 seeds make it to the Final Four. That occurrence was unprecedented and was a surprise to many college basketball experts. However, not many people would argue that Kansas, Memphis, UCLA, and North Carolina were not all significantly better than the rest of the field last year. Most people figured that last season's lack of surprise teams in the Final Four was an enigma, but that trend could happen again this season.
This year's March Madness has been relatively boring, as there aren't any true Cinderella team's left in the tournament. The only double digit seed left is Arizona, and they are a major conference team. In addition, the three top seeds in each region have advanced to the Sweet 16. Also, the top four seeds all advanced in the East and South regions. The Big East Conference, viewed by many as the most dominant conference this season, has five teams in the Sweet 16. The ACC, Big 12, and Big 10 account for seven of the spots as well. For the most part, the remaining 16 teams are essentially the teams that oddsmakers and professional handicappers alike thought were the best sixteen teams heading into the tournament. Another notable trend in this season's March Madness is the lack of mid-major at-large bids into the tournament. Teams like San Diego State, St. Mary's, Davidson, and Creighton were left out by the selection committee, and they weren't able to do enough during the regular season to get into the tournament.
All of the previous pieces of information show one dominant trend, the best teams have been able to win a substantial amount of the time, much more than in previous seasons. In addition, these teams have been able to cover point spreads in their wins. These Sweet 16 teams were 11-5 against the spread in the last round. They were able to use their superior talent and better scorers to distance themselves from their opponents late in the game. Oklahoma, North Carolina, Xavier, Michigan State, Kansas, and Arizona all were involved in games over the weekend that could have gone either way (from a point spread perspective) in the second half. However, the teams with better talent were able to pull away late in the game, which allowed them to get point spread covers as favorites. This trend is something to keep in mind for the rest of March Madness, as the better teams have been not only won these tournament games, but consistently covered against the spread.
Check out my NCAA Tournament GAME OF THE YEAR available now. I am 29-9 with my TOP PLAYS in March, as well as going 6-3 with my BEST BETS in the tournament, including winners in BOTH my 1st and 2nd round GOY's. I also have my NIT POINT SPREAD SMASH going on Tuesday as well, another TRIPLE DIME TOP PLAY.
http://pregame.com/pregamepros/bettors.aspx?CapperId=11925