It shouldn't surprise me that no one has been clamoring for my second-rounds picks as I went 16-16 overall on Thursday and Friday and an absolutely brutal 1-5 with my "best bets." Ouch! Of course that shouldn't be a shock with the way favorites have been covering at a 20-12 clip. Hopefully I went to school on the first-round games and have a better feel for some of these teams going into the round of 32 on Saturday and Sunday.

SATURDAY
PURDUE +3 vs. Xavier (I picked this upset in my brackets and Xavier was lucky to survive Thursday)
Duke -3.5 West Virginia
UNLV +13 vs. Kansas (Rebels play D and play as a team, and Kruger coaches second to no one)
Wisconsin -4.5 Kansas St.
PITTSBURGH -2 Michigan St. (Panthers are a Final Four team in my bracket, number looks short)
Notre Dame +2 Washington St.
Stanford -2.5 vs. Marquette
UCLA -10 Texas A&M

SUNDAY
Western Kentucky -5 San Diego
SIENA +5 Villanova (battle of Cinderellas goes to the bigger Cinderella from smaller conference)
Georgetown -4.5 Davidson
ARKANSAS +11.5 North Carolina (scrappy Razorbacks will keep it closer than expected)
Miami-Fla. +6.5 Texas
Mississippi St. +9 Memphis
TENNESSEE -4.5 Butler (can't see Butler as a live dog here...but see note below as a warning)
Oklahoma +7.5 Louisville

(Note: usually when I pick a favorite, it's time to rush to the window and bet the other way; case in point being UConn vs. San Diego on Friday)






Heading into the night sessions, favorites are still ahead 16-8 after splitting the early Friday games 4-4. In totals wagering, overs are 13-10-1 after going 8-7-1 on Thursday and 5-3 in Friday's early games.