Tuley goes 7-1 in opening round; second-round picks
Thursday and Friday were two great days of basketball (OK, Friday was a lot better than Thursday as far as drama went) and fortunately I was able to navigate the mine fields and end up with 7 wins in 8 plays. Now, I always warn people to not judge handicappers on short samples, and that's true even when it's me. I mean, even though I went a "perfect" 4-0 on Saturday, anyone can tell you that Utah St. vs. Marquette and Sienna vs. Ohio St. very easily could have been losers . . . and the USC and Arizona winners had their tense moments before both pulled away to deceivingly wide margins. But I'll take a few lucky breaks to pad the record every now and then to make up for the bad beats.
We move on to the Round of 32 on Saturday and Sunday. I'm going to continue to stay selective with my top picks:
SATURDAY
Villanova -2.5 vs. UCLA (gametime is less than an hour way; if Villanova plays to its potential, they can roll; if not, the crowd can carry them just like vs. American)
Maryland-Memphis over 131.5 (Memphis is great on defense, but both teams like a fast tempo)
Western Kentucky +11 vs. Gonzaga (I've like this matchup since picking it in my brackets; can't pass up double digits)
SUNDAY
Cleveland St. +3 vs. Arizona (if you didn't know Wake Forest was a No. 4 seed and Cleveland St. was a No. 13 or who was the favorite when you watched the game, you wouldn't have even called it an upset)
USC +4 vs. Michigan St. (Trojans finally put it together in second half vs. Boston College)
Wisconsin +3.5 vs. Xavier (Badgers showed me a lot in win over Florida St.)
Be sure to check the ViewFromVegas.com Forums for discussions from other handicappers, as well as a recap of Friday when we had our 1st Annual ViewFromVegas March Party at Bally's Las Vegas.
We move on to the Round of 32 on Saturday and Sunday. I'm going to continue to stay selective with my top picks:
SATURDAY
Villanova -2.5 vs. UCLA (gametime is less than an hour way; if Villanova plays to its potential, they can roll; if not, the crowd can carry them just like vs. American)
Maryland-Memphis over 131.5 (Memphis is great on defense, but both teams like a fast tempo)
Western Kentucky +11 vs. Gonzaga (I've like this matchup since picking it in my brackets; can't pass up double digits)
SUNDAY
Cleveland St. +3 vs. Arizona (if you didn't know Wake Forest was a No. 4 seed and Cleveland St. was a No. 13 or who was the favorite when you watched the game, you wouldn't have even called it an upset)
USC +4 vs. Michigan St. (Trojans finally put it together in second half vs. Boston College)
Wisconsin +3.5 vs. Xavier (Badgers showed me a lot in win over Florida St.)
Be sure to check the ViewFromVegas.com Forums for discussions from other handicappers, as well as a recap of Friday when we had our 1st Annual ViewFromVegas March Party at Bally's Las Vegas.
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