NCAA Tournament Tickets - Predicting the National Champion Part II By Brent Warnken At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

As we continue to go down the list of possible title contenders, Duke, UConn and Wake Forest all stand out as reasonable predictions just under the gloss and media attention of North Carolina and Pitt. But do any of these teams have what it takes to earn your wager to win the National Championship game? One thing is for sure, spending your betting allowance at http://www.stubhub.com/ncaa-tournament-tickets on some NCAA Tournament tickets might just be the best bet in the house, because no matter who wins, you come out the victor.

The Chase Pack

Duke
North Carolina’s odds stink at this point, and Pitt is too hot right now for me to like their chances of winning the whole thing. Duke, sitting at 11/2 odds as of January 12, 2009 (according to http://oddschecker.com), is the first team for which I’m going to give my audience the green light. We haven’t seen Pitt loose, and we’ve seen UNC loose too many. Duke has only one loss in early December to a better-than-you-thought Michigan team. That loss was sandwiched between two highly impressive wins, one versus Perdue on the road, and another over Xavier at a neutral site. Let’s also remember that the Devils beat Michigan earlier in the year, so the Wolverines had time to prepare for Duke a second time around. Besides that, the Blue Devils, unlike Pitt, have no glaring deficiencies. Duke plays the best defense in the nation (ranked No. 1 in defensive efficiency according to (http://kenpom.com) they grab offensive rebounds with the best of ‘em and- what I like best- Coach K made the Devils practice their free throws. The only thing that concerns me is that they’re only so-so at shooting the three ball as a team. My recommendation, if you can live with yourself for rooting for everybody’s favorite villains, is placing a bet on Duke. At this point, they’re my favorite “favorite.”

UConn
UConn’s the No. 4 team in terms of betting odds to win the national championship, with the current mark set at 10/1. There’s little wonder why the Huskies are expected to do so well, but it’s my guess that they’re not going to be seen with NCAA Tournament tickets going any farther than the Round of 16. In offensive efficiency they’re ranked No. 3 in the country, and in terms of defensive efficiency they’re No. 25, which is still good enough for me. However, they turn the ball over at an alarming rate (turnover percentage is 17.7), and they aren’t that great at shooting free throws. A.J. Price, who will have the ball in critical possessions in the Tourney, has only a .600 free throw percentage.

Wake Forest
The Demon Deacons are getting tons of accolades these days, as one of the few unbeaten teams out there. After their wins over BYU and North Carolina their stock jumped and their skyrocketed to 14/1. Even still they’re a bargain. Although you would have rather placed some money on them before the New Year, Wake is still making a compelling case for betters. They have no glaring weaknesses in their game, and when it comes to defense and free throws, two things that I truly adore in assessing national title potential, the Deacons are solid. Their defensive efficiency is No. 5 in the nation at 83.5, and two of their starters, Jeff Teague and Chas McFarland, shoot free throws over 80%. Out of this group I’d pick Duke, Wake Forest and UConn in that order.

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