College Basketball Marketwatch Edition 8 2010-11

Sports Marketwatch 
NCAA BB Edition 
3/10/2011 5:00 PM EST
By The Team at SportsInsights.com

Welcome to the NCAA Basketball edition of Sports Marketwatch, where the Team at Sports Insights gives sports fans an unprecedented glimpse into the sports marketplace. If you ever wanted to know what was really happening on the sportsbook side, you now have an all-access pass with Sports Marketwatch.

The staff at SportsInsights.com analyzes the marketplace to identify which games the public is chasing and which ones the sharps are pounding. Let’s take a look at what’s in store for tonight’s college basketball games.

Sports Marketplace – NCAA BB Edition 

Recapping Last Week

Marketwatch focused on an unpopular game last week, as we took East Carolina giving up a point against the Memphis Tigers.  ECU was able to defend their home court and cover the spread with a 68-57 win.

2010-11 NCAA BB Games to Watch: 4-3 (57%)* 
*Source: SportsInsights.com

Buffalo (pick) over Kent State

March Madness is in full swing, and there are tons of betting opportunities with all of the conference tournaments heating up.  With all the games on the board, the key is finding the games that have value.  Sometimes, we will focus on the marquee games that have a large amount of bets (which are usually found in the power conferences).  However there is still value to be found in the “automatic qualifier” conferences such as the Mid-American Conference.

Kent State went 21-10 during the regular season and earned the number one seed in the MAC tournament.  Buffalo went 18-12 and was slotted in as the eight-seed in the tournament.  Buffalo defeated Central Michigan 64-50 on Tuesday just for the chance to face Kent State.  However, with conference teams being so familiar with each other, seeds and byes do not mean that much this time of year (just ask Pittsburgh).

The bookmakers opened this game as a pick, and roughly 3 out of every 4 bets are coming in on the higher-ranked Kent State.  Despite the betting percentages, many books have moved the line in the opposite direction and made Buffalo a one-point favorite, including CRIS and Pinnacle.  There was a 5Dimes Steam Move (113-84, +18.83 units won) triggered on Buffalo.  However, our Premium Pro members will notice that there is also an SIA Smart Money play (11-6, +4.09 units won) on Kent State.  This is an example of a contradicting play, however we are inclined to side with the Steam Move, since it has played more games and has had more success in terms of units won.

Buffalo – pick 

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Games to Watch: 4-3
Buffalo pick

It should be an exciting night in the sports marketplace. Keep Sports Marketwatch picks handy and your browser pointed to SportsInsights.com for the latest real-time updates, using our exclusive Sports Investing tools.  We’ll be back next week with another edition of  Sports Marketwatch – NCAA BB Edition.

Enjoy the games!

The Team at SportsInsights.com