FRIDAY'S MAD PLAYS {5-2-1 official plays, 7-3-1 including leans} After a 4-1-1 Thur.

All dogs again!! They barked loud today!!!

#845 MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHERS ( PK ) Vs. #846 Xavier Musketeers BIG FAT LOSER

Minnesota took a very different path. The No. 11 seed Golden Gophers played a very weak non-conference schedule loaded with home games, other than an appearance in the 76 Classic and a game at Miami (FL) in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The Gophers lost three of those four decent non-conference games, with the lone win coming over Butler. After an embarrassing blowout loss at Michigan, they finished with a blowout win over Iowa. But with that terrible loss to Michigan, the Gophers had to be impressive in the conference tournament. And that they were, defeating Michigan State and Purdue on consecutive days to advance to the conference final, where they lost by 29 to Ohio State. But it was enough to get them an at-large bid, and here they are facing Xavier in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Xavier has played a very difficult non-conference schedule but it's best win came over Cincinnati at home in double overtime. Other than that, the Musketeers' best non-conference wins came over LSU and Kent State, not quite wins to brag over. But in conference play, the Musketeers took care of business with a 14-2 record in the Atlantic 10, their only two losses coming at Dayton and at Temple. Because of Xavier's superior record in conference play and tough non-conference schedule, the Musketeers had a solid computer resume which game them a No. 6 seed after losing to Richmond in overtime in the Atlantic 10 tournament. Prior to that loss, they had won eight games in a row and 12 of their last 13.

Both teams have some size down low, as Xavier has Jason Love and Minnesota has Ralph Sampson III and Colton Iverson. But the game will be won or lost by the perimeter players. Xavier is led by guards Jordan Crawford and Terrell Holloway, while Minnesota is led by Lawrence Westbrook and Blake Hoffarber.

Minnesota is 5-0 ATS in its last five non-conference games and 8-2 ATS in its last 10 games overall. The Gophers are 2-7 ATS in their last nine games following an ATS loss. Xavier is 8-1 ATS in its last nine NCAA tournament games as an underdog and 12-3-1 ATS in their last 16 NCAA tournament games overall. The Musketeers are 14-4 ATS in their last 18 neutral site games as an underdog and 15-5-2 ATS in their last 22 games following an ATS loss.

PLAY THE GOLDEN GOPHERS AT EVEN MATCH TO WIN OUTRIGHT!!

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#853 SIENA SAINTS ( +4 ) Vs. #854 Purdue Boilermakers BIG FAT LOSER

Similar to our great winner on Thursday with Murray State, the Siena Saints are another minor conference champion looking for respect vs. a vulnerable team from a major conference, in this case the Purdue Boilermakers, and we look for Siena to have the same success as Murray State.

The Saints finished 27-6 and again won the both the regular season MAC Conference Championship and the conference tournament, finishing 20-1 in conference. Remember, this team knocked off Ohio State and Vanderbilt in the first round of the last two NCAA Tournaments, and they have four returning starters that gained valuable experience last season.

This Siena team is ranked 59 overall in the Pomeroy Ratings, and also like Murray State, Sienna is another well-balanced club, ranking 68 in offensive efficiency and 58 in defensive efficiency. Because of their veteran backcourt, the Saints do an excellent job of protecting the ball, turning it over on just 17.4 percent of possessions, ranking 30 in the country in that category. This makes them less vulnerable to the pressure the Purdue defense is expected to bring.

Boilermakers, we simply do not feel their offense will score enough to win this game. Yes, they rank 51 in the nation in offensive efficiency, but most of that was with leading scorer Robbie Hummel in the lineup. They have been held in the 40s in two of their five games without him including an ugly 49-42 loss to Minnesota in the final of the Big Ten Tournament, and we expect the offense to struggle again against this good Siena defense.

Look for Siena to win their third NCAA first round game in as many years here.

PLAY THE SIENA SAINTS PLUS THE POINTS AND LOOK FOR ANOTHER MAJOR UPSET!

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#841 GA TECH YELLOW JACKETS ( +1.5 ) Vs. #842 OK-State Cowboys WINNER

The Cowboys shoot 35 percent from 3-point range, but they don't defend the 3-point line well, allowing opponents to shoot 36 percent. The Yellow Jackets are shooting 37 percent from 3-point range and holding opponents to 31 percent. The Yellow Jackets have the advantage in both field goal percentage offense and defense at 46 percent offensively and 38 percent defensively. Oklahoma State is shooting 45 percent from the field and holding opponents to 42 percent.

Both Oklahoma State and Georgia Tech are two teams that have beaten and certainly competed with the best teams in the country this season. Both teams are capable of winning any game, but consistency and playing well on the road has been the problem. The Cowboys defeated No. 1 Kansas 85-77 on February 27 in Stillwater. They've also lost this season at Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Tulsa. Georgia Tech defeated Duke at home 71-67 on January 9. But the Cowboys also lost at Miami, Virginia and Georgia. Despite the inconsistencies from both teams, the Cowboys were 9-7 in conference play and the Yellow Jackets defeated North Carolina (for the third time this season), Maryland and NC State to reach the ACC tournament championship game, where they lost 65-61 to Duke, so both teams received at-large bids into the NCAA tournament and will meet each other in the first round.

The Yellow Jackets are 5-0 ATS in their last five games against the Big 12, 4-0 ATS in their last four neutral site games as an underdog, 6-1 ATS in their last seven non-conference games, 5-1 ATS in their last six neutral site games, 11-4 ATS in their last 15 games following an ATS win, and 10-4-1 ATS in their last 15 games as an underdog. The Cowboys are 8-2-2 ATS in their last 12 non-conference games, 15-5-1 ATS in their last 21 neutral site games as a favorite, 9-3-1 ATS in their last 13 neutral site games, and 1-4 ATS in their last five NCAA tournament games as a favorite.

PLAY THE YELLOW JACKETS PLUST THE POINTS

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#847 NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES ( +13 ) Vs. #848 Michigan State Spartans WINNER

New Mexico State played their way onto the bubble losing their last 2 regular season games, but they won 3 straight in the conference tourney. The Aggies were really on the bubble and it was likely they were NIT bound, but they beat regular season Mountain West Conference champion Utah State in the conference tournament final to snag an automatic bid to the Big Dance.

Michigan State matches up well with NMSU, as they are also well balanced with 2 guards and 2 forwards averaging in double figures led by last season's Big 10 Player of the Year Kalin Lucas. Where these 2 teams differ is on defense, as the Spartans are solid on that end of the court only giving up an average of 63.7 ppg. The Spartans do not have a center that gets a lot pf playing time so their forwards have to body up on the 6'11" McKines and not allow him to control the glass and score easy buckets in the paint.

Michigan State did play a tougher schedule and are from a major conference, but NMSU played 4 teams this season that are playing in the NCAA tournament.

New Mexico is 5-0 ATS in their last 5 neutral site games, 5-1-1 ATS in their last 7 games against teams with a winning record, and is 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games as an underdog.

Michigan State is 3-9 ATS in their last 12 games as a favorite, 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games as a favorite of 13.0 or greater, and1-6 ATS in their last 7 non-conference games.

Both teams match up well against each other, but the fact is that the Spartans are a solid defensive team and the Aggies are not. I think that will be the key in this game. The Spartans will win, but the Aggies will cover the spread

PLAY THE AGGIES TO COVER THE SPREAD.

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#839 UCSB GAUCHOS ( +17 ) Vs. #840 Ohio State Buckeyes PUSH

The Buckeyes went on to win the Big Ten tournament with a 90-61 win over Minnesota in the championship game, after beating Illinois in double overtime in between. They were that close to losing their first game of the conference tournament but instead they won the title and received a No. 2 seed.

The opponent for the Buckeyes will be No. 15 seed UC Santa Barbara, the champion out of the Big West. The Gauchos have faced two other NCAA tournament teams this season, losing 87-66 at California and 69-61 at home to San Diego State. The Gauchos only had two win two games to win the Big West tournament, defeating UC Davis, 76-62, and Long Beach State, 69-64. They have won nine of their last 10 games with their only loss in that stretch being a 60-57 loss at Cal Poly.

The Buckeyes do a decent job against the 3-pointer, holding opponents to 34 percent for the season. They will have to really pay attention to Johnson, Nunnally and Powell and limit their 3-pointers if they want to avoid a massive upset.

The key for UCSB is figuring out how to stop Turner and his backcourt mates, William Buford and Jon Diebler. All three of them can and will knock down jumpers from anywhere on the court. The Gauchos have to play solid straight up defense and they can't leave their man to cover someone else. The moment someone leaves their man, Turner, Buford or Diebler will get open and hit an open jumper or get an open dunk or layup.

UCSB is 4-0 ATS in its last four games as an underdog, 4-1 ATS in its last five neutral site games, 5-2 ATS in its last seven neutral site games as an underdog, and 10-22-1 ATS in its last 33 games following an ATS win. Ohio State is 2-5 ATS in its last seven games following an ATS win, 3-10 ATS in its last 13 NCAA tournament games, and 2-9 ATS in its last 11 NCAA tournament games as a favorite.

PLAY THE GAUCHOS TO STAY WITHING THIS INFLATED NUMBER!!!!

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WOFFORD TERRIERS = FIRST ROUND, 2ND DAY SHOCKER!!!!!!

#833 WOFFORD TERRIERS ( +10 ) Vs. #834 Wisconsin Badgers WINNER

The Terriers run a disciplined offense in which they try to get easy baskets and open 3-point attempts by using as much of the shot clock as possible. They are led by Noah Dahlman, who averages 16.8 points per game. To get here, the Terriers won the Southern Conference tournament championship with a 56-51 win over Appalachian State. They have won 13 games in a row and 19 of their last 20.

Wisconsin lost its first game in the Big Ten tournament to Illinois, but the Badgers had done enough in the regular season to warrant a No. 4 seed. Their best wins this season have come over Michigan State, Purdue, Ohio State, Duke and Maryland. All of those quality wins, other than the Maryland win on a neutral court in the Maui Invitational, came at home in Madison.

Both of these teams are very experienced with more than two years of experience per minute played, but Wofford has the edge with an average of 2.40 years of experience per minute. The Terriers also have 15 road/neutral wins as compared to just seven for the Badgers.

The Terriers are shooting 35 percent from 3-point range and holding opponents to 31 percent, while Wisconsin is making 36 percent of its 3-pointers and holding opponents to 33 percent. The Badgers are shooting 44 percent from the field and their opponents are shooting 42 percent, while Wofford is identical with 44 percent shooting and 42 percent field goal defense.

Wofford is 9-1 ATS in its last 10 games as an underdog and 5-2 ATS in its last seven games against the Big Ten. Wisconsin is 7-3 ATS in its last 10 games following an ATS loss and 0-4 ATS in its last four neutral site games as a favorite.

GIVE ME ANOTHER POSSIBLE OUTRIGHT WIN HERE WITH THE TERRIERS PLUS THE POINT

I will have 1 MORE later on possibly!!.

BOL IF YOU FADE OR FOLLOW!!!

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STRONG LEANS:

#826 GONZAGA ( +1.5 ) vs. #825 Florida State Seminoles WINNER

The Seminoles are an underachieving team at 10-6 SU in the ACC. They commit a lot of turnovers (16.8 per game) and shoot it poorly from the line (64.6 percent).

8th seed Gonzaga is 26-6 SU and 15-11-2 ATS, they are the class of the West Coast Conference even though they lost to St. Mary’s in the tourney final. The Bulldogs average 77.6 PPG, and have a number of scorers like Matt Bouldin avering 15.8 PPG, Elias Harris avering 14.7 PPG, Steven Gray avg. 13.7 PPG and big man Robert Sacre avd. 10 PPG.

9th seed Florida State is 22-9 SU and 8-18 ATS, they lead the nation in field goal defense, holding opponents to 37.4 percent. The offense averages just 68.5 PPG, with Solomon Alabi the leading scorer. You can’t always rely on your defense to win games.

Nine seeds have actually beaten the eighth seeds more often than not throughout history. However, I think the wrong team is favored in this one.

PLAY THE BULLDOGS PLUS THE POINTS

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HOUSTON ( +9.5 ) BIG FAT LOSER

#838 CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS ( -1 ) vs. #837 Louisville Cardinals WINNER

It was a shock to me when Louisville heard their name called after a befuddling loss to Cincinatti in the Big East tournament. I guess the selection committee really believes that this team is closer to the one that handed Syracuse two of its losses this year than the team that almost lost by 20 at St. Johns.

Cal survived all of the specualtion that the PAC 10 was a one bid league after they gained entry into the Madness despite losing the conference championship game. Now that they are here they have a nice matchup in game one that should send them to the weekend.

The Cardinals have talent. Samardo Samuels has an NBA body and is getting better at using it. Against Cal he should be able to get any shot he wants against their slender front line. The key for Louisville is whether they can get a complete game from their backcourt. Bomber Jerry Smith is unlikely to play and this team can not afford Preston Knwoles to disappear in his absence.

The only way I can see this victory going in the Cardinals direction, is if the backcourt match-up is even, but as long as the Bears can give Louisville and Samuels a hard time, and frustrate them, the front will do just fine. I believe this is very likely to happen tonight.

GIVE ME THE GOLDEN BEARS TO WIN THIS GAME BY AT LEAST 5 POINTS OR MORE!!!

MISSOURI ( +1.5 ) WINNER

CORNELL ( +3.5 ) WINNER

BEST OF LUCK TO EVERYONE!!!

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FRIDAY'S MAD PLAYS {5-2-1 official plays, 7-3-1 including leans} After a 4-1-1 Thur.