Going to count on the let down here.
In any sport, a team comes off a monster win, a monster upset win and it's just so hard to get up for the next game. It just is.
And tonight I give you the Ohio State Buckeyes, who are coming off a monster upset of Uconn 73-61, snapping the Huskies streak of 14 straight final four appearances.
They now have to face the #1 seed Virginia Tech Hokies, who haven't lost since the 66-55 loss at Duke on January 26th.
I am talking about 14 wins in a row to improve to 30-4 this year.
Even better, 13 of those 14 wins have been by 8-points or more.
In this tournament alone they have won by 25 over Chattanooga, 12 over South Dakota State and 9 over Tennessee.
To make this hill even tougher to climb is the fact the Buckeyes leading scorer got banged up in the Uconn win and was receiving treatment throughout the win.
She only scored 9-points, 8 below her season average of 17.
I'm sorry folks, Virginia Tech is clearly the better team and considering how big a win Ohio State is coming off of, the "Let Down" is very real for Ohio State here.
I said to a few friends before this tournament started we were going to get a V'tech/South Carolina final and it's looking that way right now.
Lay the small number with the Lady Hokies tonight.
Going to roll with what I feel is the best defensive team in the country.
As the tournament started, the San Diego Aztecs were given very little chance to do anything in this tournament.
They are from the Mountain west conference, whom some feel is a joke of a conference and for the most part, are never taken seriously in this tourney.
With the exception of the Aztecs, the other 3 teams that got in this tournament, all lost in the first round: Boise St, Utah State and Nevada.
So again, when this tourney started, no one, I repeat no one took SDSU seriously.
Then came the opening round win and cover over 31-3 College of Charleston 63-57 followed by a complete domination of Furman 75-52 easily covering the 4 1/2.
However, if you didn't take this team seriously before Friday's night's game against Alabama, you had better take them seriously now.
Against the Overall tournament's #1 seed, they dominated the Crimson Tide by out muscling them and out playing them for 40 minutes in the 71-64 win.
They held the Crimson Tide to 32% from the floor, 3-27 from behind the arc, turned over the Tide 14 times and destroyed the Tide's All American Brandon Miller.
Arguably the nations best player, the Aztecs smothered Miller and held him to 3-19 from the floor, 1-10 from behind the arc for a measly 9 points.
So I say to you: All these open looks Creighton has been getting from 3, the wide open 3's they have been getting, will not be happening today.
San Diego State held College of Charleston to 5-24 from 3, Furman 6-26 and again, Bama to 3-27.
Folks, you take that 3-ball from Creighton and they become a very average basketball team.
In their last 4 losses to Providence, Marquette, Villanova and Xavier, they did not shoot the 3-ball well at all.
The Friars held them to 7-24 for 29%, Marquette 10-28 for 36%, Villanova 5-26 for 19% and in the Big East tourney loss to Xavier 7-23 for 30%.
If San Diego State can do what they did to an even better and more athletic team in Alabama holding them to 3-27 from deep, I like my chances against the Blue Jays.
Congrats to the Aztecs of San Diego State, you are going to Houston.
It's deja vu all over again.
The only difference is this is happening in the round of 8 instead of the championship game.
When Gonzaga beat UCLA in the National semi's 2 years ago on Jalen Sugg's half court heave at the buzzer, they faced Baylor in the finals.
You could see from the opening tip they were emotionally spent and a step slow.
And they were never in the game and they got blown out.
They will suffer the same fate today against this Uconn team.
Blowing a 10-point lead with 2:32 to go, to then trail by 1 with 19 seconds to go and then to have Julian Strawther hit a 3 with 5 seconds to go for the win, wow.
The Vegas kid, comes home and bails out his team sending them into this match up with Uconn.
It was the Zags one shining moment but guess what? That moment is over and their season will be over after today.
Unlike UCLA, who was down 2 starters including the PAC 12 defensive player of the year, this Huskies team is at full strength.
To put It bluntly, this is a bad match up for Gonzaga and no team, that lost at home to Loyola Marymount, is going to the final four. Sorry folks, Uconn is not Marymount.
For Uconn, it starts with the 2 huge bodies they can run at Drew Timme all night long in 6'8 Adama Sang and 7'2 Donovan Clingan.
Uconn out rebounded Iona by 18, St.Mary's by 7 and Arkansas by 17. Trust me folks, there will not be very many 2nd chance opportunities for the Zags tonight.
Timme will have his moments, he is that good but trust me, he won't have the monster game he is going to have to have to beat this Uconn team.
Not against these Uconn big's and not against this Uconn team defense.
This is a Uconn team that blasted a pretty good Iona team in round one 87-63 and completely dominated a St.Mary's team in round two 70-55.
Yes, that St.Mary's, co-champion of the WCC with Gonzaga.
The Gaels were slapped around for 40 minutes like it was nothing.
Finally, the dismantled a very athletic Arkansas team in round 3 on Thursday 88-65 in a wire to wire rout.
Uconn is playing the best basketball of any team in the entire tournament, maybe with exception to San Diego State and they are not losing this game today.
Gonzaga has been an underdog twice this year and lost both: at Texas getting 2 they were blown out 93-74 and at St.Mary's getting +3 lost by 8 in OT. Hmmmm
The Zags are also 1-7 ATS their last 8 NCAA Tournament games and 4-13 ATS last 17 neutral site games.
With Uconn 7-1 ATS last 8 neutral site games and 8-1 ATS last 9 games overall, you see why I absolutely love Danny Hurley and his Huskies big time tonight.
Oh, and in their 14 non conference games this year, Connecticut is 14-0 SU and 13-1 ATS with that only spread loss, laying 20 1/2 against Buffalo and won by 20.
A 1/2 point non cover for a perfect 14-0 ATS in non conference games this year.
Bottom line: The better team, playing the better basketball, from the better conference heads to the round of 4 today.
That team is the Connecticut Huskies.
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My Rating System
My ratings system is pretty simple. Plays are generally rated anywhere between 25 and 100 Dimes to aide clients in money management. However, when I sense an opportunity to go for the jugular or when I'm on a roll and can afford to take shots with a bankroll that's been steadily growing, you better believe I'm going for it.
Who is Brandon Lang?
Where do I start? Let's just say Hollywood would not have made a movie based on my life as a professional sports handicapper, "Two For the Money," if I wasn't a winner!
"Two For The Money" is all about me, the guy who is 25-4-2 lifetime with his Super Bowl selections!
Al Pacino plays my boss, Renee Russo plays his wife and Matthew McConaughey plays me. "Two For The Money", debuted in theaters in October of 2005 and is widely available on DVD and you'll always find it playing on one of the major streaming services.
I was born in Midland, Michigan in 1963. Sports was always my first love and I was a great athlete in high school, lettering in two sports, but my dreams of playing college ball were cut short by a knee injury.
With my playing days over, I decided to see the world by joining the Navy in 1981, getting stationed aboard the Battleship New Jersey, where I eventually became the youngest sailor to ever qualify as a master helmsman in the ship’s history.
After being honorably discharged in 1984, I traveled the world for three more years before ending up in Las Vegas in 1987. It was there I entered the sports handicapping industry, building my reputation by validating my opinion to customers worldwide. The daily highs and lows of competing against the Vegas oddsmakers filled the void left by the end of my basketball career.
In 1989, I joined a nationally-known sports service based on the East Coast and immediately embarked on one of the most historic winning streaks ever witnessed in the handicapping world. After an incredible six-year run, I just had a feeling my life story would make a fascinating movie. But, with that decision came the realization that my dream would only be fulfilled by leaving the business.
Despite sitting atop the handicapping world, I abandoned the industry in 1996, moving to Los Angeles in order to turn my movie aspirations into a reality. I networked my way in as a caddy at the prestigious Riviera Country Club, knowing the job would eventually put me in touch with a director, writer, or producer that could take my dream to the silver screen. After caddying for the likes of President Clinton, Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise, along came Dan Gilroy, whom I pitched the movie idea of a lifetime after he made a fifty-foot putt. Six years later, with Matthew McConaughey playing Brandon Lang, "Two For The Money" was born.
A funny thing happened along the way though. I had a movie about my life in production, but something was missing. It was this business. The emotion, the adrenaline rush you get every football weekend with it all coming down to the Monday Night Game. No other feeling in the world can compare to that I get from knowing people are betting hundreds of thousands of dollars on my opinion, and then having me come through in the clutch when nobody else could.
With the movie deal wrapped up, I returned to the business, making my online debut in August of 2004.
This is the ONLY place you can get ALL my plays, right here
There is no 800 phone service; no 900 numbers.
Here at my website, it's just me and you. I'm forced to validate my opinion every day I release a big play. I win, and you're happy. I lose too often, and you're gone. But, at the end of the day, it's just me and you.
Understand something right now: I am not going to win every day, every week or every month. But, I can put you on the right side of more games that you've ever been on in your gambling life, and by doing that, you will make money.
By the way, if you're curious about whether my record is legitimate, let me assure you it is, and let me explain why: You see I offer long-term packages of 7, 30, 60 and 100 days. Anyone who buys a package gets EVERY play I release, day in, day out. Now, if I lied, even once, how many customers do you think I'd have remaining?
See, that's the beauty of the Internet. I don't need some phony monitoring service to document my wins and losses. Instead, you - my customers - do that for me. You validate my opinion and assure my credibility. And that's why we're a team.
Yes, the movie was intoxicating. I mean, who wouldn't want to have a major motion picture made about their life? The countless radio and TV interviews are incredible, too. But, no matter how much I tell you about what Hollywood is like, remember that my focus remains on doing what I do best, and that's making people money.
Listen, they only make movies about winners - and that's me!