Gators 65 Cougars 63. In our writeup for this game we wrote, “a true coin flip affair…..will likely go back and forth to the buzzer”. Well that is exactly what happened as Houston, like so many other teams in this tournament, blew a 12 point lead and Choked the Game Away down the stretch. It never ceases to amaze how teams, that are otherwise well coached, go brain dead in the last 3 minutes. In what universe is it a good idea, when leading by 1-3 points with 2-3 minutes remaining, to dribble around 27 feet from the basket for 25 seconds and then hope to get a quality shot in the last 5 seconds of the shot clock? Yet we see this strategy over and over and, more times than not, it costs the team a victory just as it did on Monday evening as Kelvin Sampson was denied a Championship once again. Houston’s defensive strategy from the jump was to not let Walter Clayton beat them, and they did it well, holding the Gator star to 11 points on 3-11 shooting. Coming into the game Clayton, along with his running mate Alijah Martin, had been Florida’s offense averaging 40+ points per game in the tournament. In this battle the two combined for 18 points on 5-20 shooting and connected on only 2 of 13 from 3 land. If you had shown Sampson that stat line before the game he would have been ecstatic. Even with Houston guards Milos Uzan and Emanuel Sharp having off nights (5-20, 1-11 from deep), the Cougars controlled this matchup nearly the whole way…..until they didn’t. As we wrote earlier in the tournament, one thing that makes March Madness the Greatest Show on Earth is watching how certain teams, coaches and players handle the pressure; particularly from the Elite 8 to the Final game. This phenomenon was clearly on display numerous times but especially with Texas Tech (versus Florida) and Duke (versus Houston) having MELTDOWNS of EPIC PROPORTION! The eventual Champion Gators were the biggest benefactor as they could have, and SHOULD HAVE, LOST 3 GAMES. Anyway, as always, the tournament was fantastic with incredible individual performances and plot twists at every turn. With the powers that be doing everything they can think of to screw up college athletics, with the NIL money and ridiculous transfer rules and the consolidation of conferences, this wonderful tournament remains something to behold.
We entered March Madness on a serious roll but unfortunately gave some back through the Conference Tournaments and the NCAA Tournament after doing very well the last 4 years. Overall our College Basketball selections hit 57% so our subscribers who purchased the SEASON PACKAGE were very PROFITABLE. Unfortunately for those subscribers who purchased the March Madness package we did not turn a profit and for that we apologize. We have extended those subscriptions for an additional 2 weeks and have included MLB and NBA selections. Dropping 1 Unit brings our rolling 42 day record to 73-57 for PLUS 69.6 UNITS.
1* SOLID – Houston +1.5 (63-65) LOSS
1* SOLID – Houston +1.5: Tonight the Florida Gators and the Houston Cougars do battle for all the marbles. Honestly you can make a great case for either side and the total. These teams are very good, and well coached, and will likely go back and forth to the buzzer. Florida comes in just 2-3 ATS while Houston has won 18 straight and 31 of their last 32. The Cougars got here due to a Complete Meltdown by Duke which gives the feeling that maybe this is finally Kelvin Sampson’s time. In a true “coin flip” affair, we will back the better defense and the more experienced coach as the Cougars cut down the nets.
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