SIGN UP: Get the best player prop and game betting projections at BetAlytics. Use code "JUICE" for a special promo rate.
The NCAA Tournament is the single greatest betting event perennially. With the thrills, chills and heavy favorite spills, the Madness always delivers. What Sweet 16 pick has the attention of The Gaming Juice’s Brad Evans?
No. 4 Arizona (24-12) vs. No. 1 Duke (33-3)
Date: Thursday, March 27
Time: 9:39 p.m. ET
TV: CBS
The pick — Arizona UNDER 71.5 team total points (-105, BetMGM)
Move over, Nessie, King Arthur and Robin Hood. There’s a new legend in town.
His name is Caleb Love.
Many in the college basketball world believe the Arizona shooting guard — who’s in roughly his 11th year of eligibility — possesses mythical powers. As a member of the North Carolina Tar Heels, he handed Coach K a loss in his final game. He also gave another Duke luminary, Paolo Banchero, a parting gift of defeat in his last college act.
Could Love beleaguer the Blue Devils again by sending Cooper Flagg to the NBA reflecting on what could’ve been?
In nine prior matchups against the ACC team, Love averaged 15.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game. That’s solid but not otherworldly production. Still, stories of his previous Duke demolitions are on par with your grandpa’s “big fish” tale in whi hands expand wider and wider with every retelling.
This, however, is a different Durham group.
The Fightin’ Cherokee Parkses are arguably the best team in the college game. Whether dissecting their in-game performances visually or digesting the data afterward, there’s hardly an argument to the contrary.
It’s no wonder why the Blue Devils’ national championship odds on BetMGM have dropped from +350 at the start of the NCAA Tournament to +210. On a related note, Flagg is +275 to win the tourney’s Most Outstanding Player award.
Entering the Sweet 16, Dick Vitale’s favorite franchise is top-20 in effective field goal percentage offense and effective field goal percentage defense over the last 30 days. No other team still in the NCAA tourney ranks inside the top 75 in both categories during the same period. Impressive.
These squads locked horns in the desert last November when Duke prevailed 69-55. In that contest, the Wildcats scored a measly 0.91 points per possession, and Love shot just 3-of-13 from the floor and 1-of-9 from 3-point range to finish with an uneventful eight points.
Don’t get suckered into believing the fantastical. Having held opponents under 71 or fewer points during their 11-game win streak, the Blue Devils show Love the door.
Season record: 31-26, +3.02 units
BONUS TIME — Arkansas +5.5 vs. Texas Tech (-110, BetMGM)