NCAA Tournament Midwest Region: UNC, Kentucky Must Outlast 3rd-Seeded Houston

Some jaded readers may joke that WagerBop is including First Four recaps in our March Madness Round-of-64 previews because the 65^th through 68^th entries in the NCAA Tournament are not important enough to warrant recaps of their own.

Of course that’s not exactly true – a pair of #6 seeds must now contend with #11 seeds out of the opening mini-tourney, #11 seeds which have the momentum of victory at their backs.

But really, we’re just trying to keep everyone up to speed in a user-friendly way. To paraphrase Ferris Buehler, the Big Dance moves pretty fast. Be careful or you might miss it.

The North Dakota State Bison won’t be missing it. They’re in the Round of 64 following a tight Wednesday evening win over North Carolina Central, a kind of sister program to the Duke Blue Devils.

NDSU will go on to face Zion Williamson and Duke at the top of the East bracket.

Arizona State may have a better shot to advance further after whipping fellow #11 St. Johns in the Wednesday nightcap. The Sun Devils will face the Buffalo Bulls on Friday in one of the more-intriguing battles of the West Region.

One of my pet picks to potentially go all the way, the North Carolina Tar Heels, are playing in the Midwest bracket in Kansas City. UNC’s “first 4” tip-offs could turn out to be fairly important too, so we’d better get a close look at them…along with the rest of the Region.

Tar Heels Get Sticky Hands…Finally

Several weeks ago, North Carolina’s national-title futures were long as the squad couldn’t hold on to the basketball. They’re awfully short now, at just (+700) or 7-to-1 payoff.

It helps that UNC has split games with Duke and scored a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Roy Williams’ team took steps to assuage some turnover problems in mid-season and won 14 of the final 15 games, losing only to Virginia in late winter before coming within whiskers of stealing an ACC postseason title-game bid from Coach K.

Cameron Johnson, a 6’9” senior guard, is helping the Tar Heels boast one of the most lethal offensive attacks in the NCAA. UNC has been the 3^rd highest-scoring team in Division 1 this season, deadly in the transition game and when driving to the hoop.

Why do I like North Carolina? Because versatility is the key to winning 6 games in a row. The Tar Heels can run, jump, defend, and shoot, and could possibly get another crack at the Blue Devils before it’s all over.

UNC faces a tricky #16 seed in Iona, but sometimes a reasonably-hard opening game is the best medicine for Big Dance jitters.

Some Volunteers Don’t Get Along With Cats

The Kentucky Wildcats might have claimed a #1 seed had they not been unable to do away with the Tennessee Volunteers in 2 late-season match-ups.

The #2-seeded Wildcats (+1100) employ balanced attack headlining 4 double-digit scorers. Sophomore forward P.J. Washington and freshman guard Tyler Herro are an excellent inside-outside combination. The return of forward Reid Travis in the SEC Tournament has given Wildcat fans hope of making a return to the Final Four.

Kentucky comes into the tournament with the best odds of all #2 seeds. UK may not be so intimated to face North Carolina, a team which the Wildcats beat during the season.

Slammin’ Space City…and Some Sleeper Bids

I’m captivated by #3 seed Houston (+3300). The most talked-about AAC program this season has racked-up a stellar 30+ wins, surpassing even the win totals of the Phi Slama Jama days. The Cougars soared to the American regular-season title but came up short against the Cincinnati Bearcats in the league tournament.

The Cougars should be able to handle Georgia State of the Sun Belt Conference before moving on to play Ohio State or ISU of the Big Ten or Big 12 respectively.

Kansas (+5500) has seen its national-title betting line soar longer after a disappointing finish to the campaign. But then again, such language is deceptive – in another sense the campaign is just getting started. KU may have a reasonable path to the Sweet Sixteen. The athletic Jayhawks will play underdog Northeastern in the #4 vs #13 game on Thursday before most-likely facing SEC upstart Auburn.

After that, though, North Carolina would loom in a clash of powerhouses.

Who is there to like among the Midwest sleepers? Pundits and Vegas handicappers love Iowa State (+4000), but the #6 Cyclones are a fine hoops team which is about to walk the Burma Road. They’re likely to be tasked with beating Ohio State, Houston, Kentucky, and North Carolina all in a row to reach the Final Four.

Iona is also getting some attention as a potential Cinderella team even at #16 in the Midwest. It’s hard to forget what happened to UVA last March. Washington also represents a Pac-12 conference which boasts more March Madness winners (15) than even the ACC in its history. Too bad UW is the lowest-seeded Pac-12 school in the 2019 field at #9.

But I’m liking 7^th-seeded Wofford as a long-shot Region futures bet at (+1400). Not to win the tournament, but to win 4 in a row and reach Minneapolis…if the Terriers get just enough help from the Bracket Gods.

The SOCON champions have been nearly perfect in 2018-19, going 29-4 on the season to date. Wofford’s only 4 losses came against fellow tourney teams.

Wofford is also the top 3-point shooting team of all 64, surpassing even Gonzaga at 42% on the season. The shooting barrage is led by 6’4” senior guard Fletcher Magee, who averages 20.5 points while shooting 42.8 percent beyond the arc.

Mike Young’s Terriers have the potential to out-play Seton Hall in the Round-of-64 and out-shoot Kentucky in the Round of 32. But they’ll really get a boost if ISU, not Houston, is Wofford’s Sweet Sixteen opponent.