March Madness Round 2 Day 2: We're on Fire!

Alas, the final day of the best weekend of the year is upon us. We made it to Sunday with a winning record in tact, a bracket in the 99.7% percentile, and still not a father yet. This could very well be the last post of the tournament, only time will tell, but if it is, I greatly appreciate the support and can't wait to do it again next year.

Enough about next year. Duke woke up, Texas pulled a shocker (booo!), Houston is on a warpath, and Michigan looks like everything they were hyped up to be. Yes the one cinderella so far is the least likeable team in the tournament, but there's a lot of quality on to the Sweet 16 and A LOT more basketball to be played before we get there.

We bounced back Saturday in a STRONG fashion with a dominating record of 8-3, bringing us to 16 games over .500. A number the Colorado Rockies haven't seen it like 20 years. Let's get to the picks to wrap up the weekend.

Blog record: 34 - 18

Purdue (2) vs Miami (7)

Purdue -7.5 O/U 147.5

I'm sick and tired of Purdue sticking around in this tournament. They are so unbelievably annoying. And I will have my vengeance. I will pick against them, they will go out, and I will love every second of the hate watch. It just will not be in this game. Miami plays essentially a 6-man rotation, while Purdue can go 8-deep comfortably, and extend that if needed. On a quick turnaround, I'll take the deeper team and I'll take the team lead by two senior guards who have been here many times before. Purdue will go out. Purdue will not win a natty over my dead body. But they will punch their ticket to the Sweet 16 here which hopefully makes the heartbreak that much more painful for them when they do lose.

The Pick: Purdue -7.5 AND Under 147.5

Iowa State (2) vs Kentucky (7)

Iowa State -4.5 O/U 146.5

Kentucky scraped by Santa Clara and needed the best ending we've seen this weekend to do so. I'm just glad that Vandy half-court heave rimmed out or else that would've taken the cake as the moment of the first weekend and I would've lost the under. Iowa State will be the best defense Kentucky has seen this year, and the closest thing they've seen to the Cyclones D is Florida, who they went 0-3 against. Iowa State also is better from 3-point range, and will be too much for Kentucky to handle.

The Pick: Iowa State -4.5

Kansas (4) vs St Johns (5)

St Johns -3.5 O/U 144.5

Kansas survived an all-time second half performance from Dominique Daniels Jr to move on to the second round but lose our cover. It's one of those rare loses you are actually happy that happened because of what you were able to witness. Nevertheless, this is the headliner of the second round. Pitino vs Bill Self. Arguably the best player in the country in Peterson going against the best coach of all-time IMO and one of the best defenders in the country in Ejiofor, who transferred to St John's from Kansas in 2023 after reportedly being told he was "not good enough" to play at Kansas. Ouch. This will be a grind, this will be close, and probably come down to the last few possessions. It could go either way, but 144.5 is too much to ask.

The Pick: Under 144.5

Virginia (3) vs Tennessee (6)

Tennessee -1.5 O/U 137.5

Hold on. Give me a second. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit... Okay, yup, dodged a bullet there. I apologize, but that's just an involuntary muscle response to this game following up Kansas-St Johns. I have no interest in either of these teams doing anything of significance this tournament, they are just lucky they have to play each other to ensure one of them gets to the second weekend. The winner will be out next round. That being said, both sides see this as a winnable game and back themselves to move on. I'm also having an involuntary muscle response to picking two unders in the first three games, and think this is the perfect spot to buck that trend. We only need a couple scoring spurts or a ton of late fouling to hit, and I think we get both here

The Pick: Over 137.5

Florida (1) vs Iowa (9)

Florida -10.5 O/U 144.5

Was that gif too much? Maybe. Don't care though. Onto Florida vs Farmland. Hey Siri, como se dice "Boat Race"... While I'm waiting for her to get back to me on that, I don't see a route for Iowa to keep this close. They don't defend well enough, do not shoot well enough from deep, and struggle to get to the charity stripe. Florida will make this a track meet and blow the doors off the Hawkeyes. Oh, and boat race in Spanish is "regata" according to Siri. I feel like I should have known that. Oh Well. Chomp Chomp. And the over to get us back on track.

The Pick: Florida -10.5 AND Over 144.5

Arizona (1) vs Utah State (9)

Arizona -11.5 O/U 154.5

We had both these games right on Friday, a day where each win was a battle. But this 11.5 number seems very well placed. The Wildcats destroy teams who struggle to score the basketball at an elite level, but will let good offenses hang around a lot later and closer than they should. That's probably due to their lack of outside shooting and an overreliance on their top 5 defense. The question then becomes, can Utah State run with them? I think they can, they have the coaching, guys, and style to do so, but it's close. I don't think Arizona is in danger of losing outright, but 11.5 seems too risky here.

The Pick: Utah State +11.5

UCONN (2) vs UC Los Angeles (7)

UCONN -4.5 O/U 135.5

High above the hills of Westwood. Small and offensive to the eye. Lies a Cal extension campus known as Westwood High (high, high, high). Home of all the gutty bRuins, UGLY is their name. Their student body's vile, their football team's a pile, and campus is a shame.... There you go, UC of LA. I threw your fight song in here. Now eight clap your way to the Sweet 16 and be forced to extend crying-Mick Cronin to a lifetime deal.

The Pick: UCLA +4.5

Alabama (4) vs Texas Tech (5)

Texas Tech -1.5 O/U 163.5

Alaba.. OVER. Shit, sorry guys, another involuntary muscle response. Sometimes we go super hardline on the data, sometimes we go off vibes. And Bama overs have been so routine, so automatic, and treated us so well the past few years that I now have a Pavlovian response to seeing the Crimson "A" and smashing the over button without really looking at what the number is. This is a vibes call. Both teams have shown to be capable of beating and losing to any team in the country, and I'm not rolling the dice on which team from each side shows up tonight. 84-79 final and we cruise into the work week with a heavier wallet than we started the weekend with. See you all Thursday! Maybe?

The Pick: Over 163.5