2009 Men's NCAA Tournament First Round Picks: Midwest Region, March 20
At CBBPlace.com, we have been doing College Basketball Picks Against the Spread all season. There are five of us from CBBPlace who also write on B/R: Ryan, Mitch, Dave, Shaun, and Steve.
There is a very good chance that if you have been following college basketball this season, even just casually, you have read something by one of us.
With that in mind, we have decided to do our first ever collaboration article.
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We are all going to do quick picks against the spread for the NCAA Tournament. They will be posted in a series of articles broken out by the date of the game and region of the tournament.
We have posted well over 1,000 Free Picks Against the Spread this season and have amassed more than 500,000 hits since the site went up at the end of January.
The bottom line is hopefully we know a little something about the teams involved in these games!
NCAA Tournament—Midwest Region
Friday, March 20
No. 2 Michigan State vs. No. 15 Robert Morris
9:50 PM EST
| Record | Conf | ATS | PF | PA | |
| No. 2 Michigan St. | 26-6 | 15-3 | 16-11-1 | 71.9 | 62.9 |
| No. 15 Robert Morris | 24-10 | 15-3 | 2-2 | 70.7 | 65.0 |
| FG% | D. FG% | 3P% | D. 3P% | FT% | RPG | SPG | APG | TPG | BPG | |
| No. 2 Michigan St. | 45.5 | 41.4 | 35.3 | 32.0 | 68.6 | 42.1 | 6.4 | 15.9 | 14.0 | 2.8 |
| No. 15 Robert Morris | 47.6 | 42.5 | 39.7 | 36.7 | 70.7 | 36.3 | 8.6 | 15.3 | 15.4 | 3.4 |
Line: Michigan State -16.5
Mitch: Michigan State -16.5—Who's this Bob Morris guy?
Dave: Michigan State -16.5—Must rebound after not winning Big Ten tourney. Final Four in home state.
Ryan: Michigan State -16.5—The NEC champions don't stand a chance against the Big Ten champs.
Shaun: Michigan State -16.5—Finally healthy at the right time, Sparty rolls.
No. 3 Kansas vs. No. 14 North Dakota State
12:30 PM EST
| Record | Conf | ATS | PF | PA | |
| No. 3 Kansas | 25-7 | 14-2 | 17-10 | 77.1 | 65.8 |
| No. 14 North Dakota St. | 26-6 | 16-2 | 4-2 | 80-8 | 68.6 |
| FG% | D. FG% | 3P% | D. 3P% | FT% | RPG | SPG | APG | TPG | BPG | |
| No. 3 Kansas | 47.9 | 38.8 | 38.0 | 33.5 | 72.8 | 41.7 | 6.9 | 16.2 | 14.6 | 4.3 |
| No. 14 North Dakota St. | 48.9 | 44.9 | 41.2 | 36.2 | 73.8 | 38.4 | 7.1 | 14.9 | 11.3 | 3.3 |
Line: Kansas -10.5
Mitch: ND State +10.5—One win and done for the Jayhawks, just like the points.
Dave: Kansas -10.5—Jayhawks are fuming about not playing in KC. Rally cry for their crimson and blue.
Ryan: Kansas -10.5—The Jayhawks bounce back after bowing out of the Big 12 tourney early.
Shaun: Kansas -10.5—Bill Self will have this young team ready and Kansas will not take ND State lightly.
No. 4 Wake Forest vs. No. 13 Cleveland State
9:40 PM EST
| Record | Conf | ATS | PF | PA | |
| No. 4 Wake Forest | 24-6 | 11-5 | 15-10 | 81.4 | 70.3 |
| No. 13 Cleveland St. | 25-10 | 12-6 | 19-12 | 66.1 | 58.9 |
| FG% | D. FG% | 3P% | D. 3P% | FT% | RPG | SPG | APG | TPG | BPG | |
| No. 4 Wake Forest | 48.9 | 39.6 | 31.8 | 30.2 | 71.2 | 43.9 | 8.5 | 13.2 | 15.8 | 5.4 |
| No. 13 Cleveland St. | 43.2 | 40.6 | 31.7 | 32.3 | 70.0 | 37.4 | 8.7 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 3.3 |
Line: Wake Forest -8.5
Mitch: Cleveland St +8.5—I like the points.
Dave: Wake Forest -8.5—Deacons have won four of their last five in a better league.
Ryan: Wake Forest -8.5—Wake is bouncing back from an embarrassing end of Jan/beginning of Feb. Look for Jeff Teague to shine in the spotlight once again.
Shaun: Wake Forest -8.5—Wake could get a scare here, but they should still be able to win by double-digits.
No. 5 Utah vs. No. 12 Arizona
7:10 PM EST
| Record | Conf | ATS | PF | PA | |
| No. 5 Utah | 24-9 | 12-4 | 18-13 | 71.2 | 64.0 |
| No. 12 Arizona | 19-13 | 9-9 | 17-15 | 72.2 | 68.4 |
| FG% | D. FG% | 3P% | D. 3P% | FT% | RPG | SPG | APG | TPG | BPG | |
| No. 5 Utah | 47.6 | 40.1 | 37.6 | 35.9 | 78.2 | 37.4 | 5.0 | 13.4 | 13.6 | 4.9 |
| No. 12 Arizona | 47.5 | 43.6 | 39.5 | 35.5 | 73.4 | 36.6 | 6.0 | 14.4 | 12.6 | 3.1 |
Line: Arizona -1.0
Mitch: Utah +1.0—Arizona doesn't deserve to be in.
Dave: Arizona -1.0—Utes are not the best team in their state.
Ryan: Arizona -1.0—Look out for the 5/12 upset! Both are quality teams, and it's a shame that they have to face off in the first round.
Shaun: Utah +1.0—Utah is the better team and will beat the underachieving Wildcats.
No. 6 West Virginia vs. No. 11 Dayton
3:00 PM EST
| Record | Conf | ATS | PF | PA | |
| No. 6 West Virginia | 23-11 | 10-8 | 16-14 | 72.4 | 61.6 |
| No. 11 Dayton | 26-7 | 11-5 | 12-14 | 67.5 | 61.5 |
| FG% | D. FG% | 3P% | D. 3P% | FT% | RPG | SPG | APG | TPG | BPG | |
| No. 6 West Virginia | 43.0 | 41.9 | 33.1 | 30.0 | 69.6 | 42.0 | 6.8 | 15.3 | 12.0 | 4.6 |
| No. 11 Dayton | 42.8 | 39.6 | 33.1 | 31.7 | 64.5 | 41.0 | 6.3 | 14.1 | 13.8 | 3.5 |
Line: West Virginia -8.0
Mitch: WVU -8.0—Dayton let me down this week.
Dave: Dayton +8.0—Like the record and the early wins against tourney teams.
Ryan: WVU -8.0—Dayton was strong early in the season, but WVU has been tested against the strong Big East. The Mountaineers bounce back from their semifinal OT loss to Syracuse.
Shaun: Dayton +8.0—I like WVU to win the game, but Dayton will keep this close.
No. 7 Boston College vs. No. 10 USC
7:20 PM EST
| Record | Conf | ATS | PF | PA | |
| No. 7 BC | 22-11 | 9-7 | 13-14-1 | 74.9 | 70.5 |
| No. 10 USC | 21-12 | 9-9 | 15-13 | 68.4 | 63.5 |
| FG% | D. FG% | 3P% | D. 3P% | FT% | RPG | SPG | APG | TPG | BPG | |
| No. 7 BC | 44.6 | 42.3 | 33.7 | 32.7 | 73.4 | 40.5 | 6.2 | 14.8 | 13.4 | 4.4 |
| No. 10 USC | 47.4 | 40.6 | 32.9 | 33.7 | 66.6 | 39.1 | 6.3 | 12.4 | 14.0 | 4.7 |
Line: BC -3.0
Mitch: USC +3.0—Just hot right now.
Dave: BC -3.0—More prepared.
Ryan: USC +3.0—The Trojans take their momentum from the PAC-10 Tourney into the first round, and get the 7/10 upset.
Shaun: BC -3.0—USC's on a roll, but they haven't shown they can beat a quality opponent yet, and BC is a quality team.
No. 8 Ohio State vs. No. 9 Siena
9:40 PM EST
| Record | Conf | ATS | PF | PA | |
| No. 8 Ohio State | 22-9 | 10-8 | 17-11 | 66.9 | 61.5 |
| No. 9 Siena | 26-7 | 16-2 | 14-16 | 77.7 | 70.0 |
| FG% | D. FG% | 3P% | D. 3P% | FT% | RPG | SPG | APG | TPG | BPG | |
| No. 8 Ohio State | 48.6 | 41.2 | 37.8 | 35.3 | 69.9 | 33.3 | 5.9 | 13.4 | 13.1 | 5.3 |
| No. 9 Siena | 47.3 | 43.6 | 33.5 | 33.8 | 66.2 | 39.5 | 8.8 | 15.3 | 13.1 | 4.7 |
Line: Ohio State -3.0
Mitch: Siena +3.0—Give me the points.
Dave: OSU -3.0—Siena got a few chances to beat the big programs early, but didn't.
Ryan: OSU -3.0—The home-court advantage will be in full effect as Hang on Sloopy echoes off the walls.
Shaun: Siena +3.0—If this wasn't a home game for OSU, I'd be more confident with this pick, but Siena should at least keep this within a bucket.
If you enjoyed these picks, please take a look at CBBPlace.com where we will be picking every March Madness game!
Please take a look at our other NCAA Tournament First Round Picks:
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