First Round Locks

Something really needs to be done about February as a sports month. After the Super Bowl, the world of sports completely shuts down and the agonizing wait for the Conference Tournaments begins. But the time has finally come, the greatest two weeks in sports is here. March Madness.

In case you care, my final four is Louisville, Mizzou, Pittsburgh and North Carolina. I have Louisville over North Carolina. But that is not why I am writing tonight, I am here to give the gambling locks of the first round.

If you follow my picks you are guaranteed a sweat no matter what, that is just how it works with me, I cannot control it. Tonight I had the Detroit Pistons at +8.5 and the game went into double overtime. Normally there would be no reason to watch the the finish getting 8 in overtime, but with two minutes to go sure enough, the Rockets are up 10. A quick 5-0 run ended up getting to 5 and within the number, but even a "sure thing" had to raise my blood pressure.

Follow with caution, but

Thursday:

12) Western Kentucky vs 5) Illinois: WKU +5
Sure the Hilltoppers lost Courtney Lee and two other starters from the squad that pulled off the most exciting upset of last year's first round, but WKU rolled through the conference and spanked Louisville during the season.

Illinois struggles to score and are going to be without guard Chester Frazier.
WKU fits the Giant Killer role, they are coming in hot, winning 9/10 and have a rebounding advantage over the Illini, while their opponent has lost 3 of 4.
+5 is a lock and give me that +190 straight up win as well.

9) Butler vs 8) LSU: Butler +2
Butler has that tournament experience and they continue to get it done on the defensive end. I had the great pleasure of watching this team play UIC and there is nothing spectacular about them. The SEC was bad this season, really bad. LSU lost 3 out of 4 going into the tournament and get more love than they should because they are full of athletes. When in doubt take the 9 seed (45-35 all time) and the better defense and Butler fills the bill here giving up 58 points per game.
Butler +2 is a lock.

We will have Friday's picks tomorrow.