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00:00The hoop's chaos is here, and we're your guide through the madness.
00:18It's you bet or you bet countdown to tip off with Nick Kostos and Brad Evans on the
00:22Bet MGM Network, presented by Bet MGM.
00:25The best bets start now.
00:28ESPN, courtesy of The Call, Houston winning the Big 12 tournament yesterday, taking down
00:33Arizona, and an under-manned Houston team.
00:36Just another feather in the cap of Kelvin Sampson, an unbelievable job he has done with
00:41the Houston Cougars program.
00:42We will get to all things betting on the Midwest region in a second, but we do have this very
00:47important piece of information, Brad, to share.
00:51Matt Norlander of CBS Sports has just tweeted out the game schedule.
00:56The first game of the NCAA tournament, the Field of 64, once we get past the first four
01:00on Thursday, 12.15 p.m. Eastern, Creighton against Louisville.
01:05Creighton against Louisville, which is absolutely awesome.
01:10That's the 8-9 matchup in the South region.
01:13Bryan Anderson, Jim Jackson, and Ali LaForse.
01:17I mean, do you love March?
01:22Do you love this stuff?
01:24I love it.
01:25I love race to 15s.
01:26Can I get the odds now?
01:28Well, yeah, we'll be in Vegas.
01:33I should probably promote that, right?
01:34We'll be out in Vegas Thursday, Friday, and Brad and I will do the show live on Saturday.
01:39Countdown to tip-off next Saturday morning, and we'll be live, you better you bet, on
01:43Thursday and Friday from Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, sweating all the games in person in
01:48Las Vegas.
01:49We're looking forward to that.
01:51Hopefully it goes well.
01:53Get on BetMGM tonight, weekdays 7-11 p.m. Eastern.
01:56Yours truly, Infamia Bebife, you better you bet, weekdays 3-7 p.m. Eastern.
02:00The final hour on NBC Sports Now, which you can watch on Peacock.
02:05All right, Brad, all things betting on the Midwest region.
02:08Houston, the number one seed, the Big 12 regular season and tournament champions, taking on
02:13SIUE.
02:14This is SIU Edwardsville.
02:20Never heard of the school before.
02:22Oh, I have.
02:23I have.
02:24Well, you are in the weeds, my friend, in a great way.
02:27Houston, almost a four-touchdown favorite, laying 27-and-a-half against SIU Edwardsville.
02:32I'll tell you, ma'am, I love this Houston team.
02:36This is a brutal run-out for Houston, and it's funny because we've seen Gonzaga as a
02:41one-seed get this kind of run-out, right, where Gonzaga would be a one-seed and get
02:48a brutal 8-9 draw.
02:50This time, Gonzaga is the 8-seed in the Midwest region.
02:54Now, taking on a dangerous Georgia team who has a bunch of pelts above its fireplace,
02:58a bunch of big wins for Georgia this season, but the Zags, a big favorite against Georgia,
03:026-and-a-half.
03:03This open 4-and-a-half, and the Zags have gotten slammed.
03:07This point spread's gone up two points, Gonzaga a 6-and-a-half point favorite, and that's
03:11not going to be an easy second-round matchup for the Cougars if and when they play the
03:14Zags.
03:155-12 Clemson, a 7-and-a-half point favorite against Will Wade and McNeese, 133-and-a-half
03:21the total there.
03:22And then what promises to be, at least on paper, one of the most run-and-gun, up-and-down
03:28games of the first round, 4-seed Purdue, a 9-and-a-half point favorite against the 13-seed
03:34high point, total 156-and-a-half.
03:37Both of those teams, all offense, no defense.
03:40I think both of us, Brad, will like the over in that game.
03:44That game, and others, top half of the Midwest, first-round betting thoughts.
03:47Yeah, I'll take the under of the Houston SIUE game.
03:52SIUE is actually a pretty decent offensive team.
03:56How would you pronounce that, SIUE, like S-U-E?
03:59SI-U, I don't know, I mean it's S-I-U-E, and the only reason I'm familiar with the school
04:07is my kid was thinking about getting into pharmacies and college here locally, and they
04:11have a really good pharmaceutical school.
04:13So I call them, playfully, the fightin' pharmaceuticals of SIUE.
04:17They did play Illinois, my line eye, earlier this season.
04:20I've watched that game thoroughly, and I try to scout all these teams at least two to three
04:23times every year.
04:24And they also played Indiana.
04:25They played Indiana fairly tough for about a 30-minute phase of that game because they
04:30play excellent defense.
04:31They're inside the top 75 nationally in the AMGD, so the over-under in that game, I see
04:36it right now, 126-and-a-half, and I ain't scared of such a low number.
04:41I think it's gonna be in the low 50s in the end, and ultimately, Houston may win that
04:46thing like maybe 70-45.
04:49So I like the under quite a bit in SIUE.
04:52In Houston, Gonzaga scares me now that line has gotten steamed up to the six-and-a-half.
04:56We're gonna keep on climbing.
04:57I'll probably put that as a Moneyline Parlay somewhere.
05:00I think they're gonna win straight up.
05:01They've been advanced analytic starlings all year.
05:04They're starting to really fire at all cylinders offensively, but excellent defensively as
05:07well.
05:08I kind of like Clemson, and maybe that's gonna be the Moneyline there, Gonzaga-Clemson on
05:13a simple little two-legger.
05:14I think the spread's a little high there against McNeese, but both teams very good on the glass.
05:19Clemson has the size and mitigates some of those second-chance opportunities that McNeese
05:23thrives off of.
05:24It could be the swan song for Will Wade.
05:26He's already interviewing with NC State, and then pretty high point, I'm with you, man.
05:30Give me the over.
05:31That total is set at 154-and-a-half.
05:32Are you kidding me?
05:33It could be the 170s.
05:34And I kind of like high point, plus nine-and-a-half as well.
05:39And the last point I'm gonna give you, Purdue, if you look at what they've done defensively
05:43over the last 30 days, 344 in the country, NAMGD, yikes.
05:49That total has dropped a couple points, Brad, with Purdue and high point.
05:52Now sitting 154-and-a-half at BetMGM, yeah.
05:56Get out of here.
05:57Come on, man.
05:58I will take the over all DD day long.
06:01I'll probably build the same game parlay, maybe build up some of the points with high
06:05point at like plus 12-and-a-half, plus 13-and-a-half.
06:09Get even lower number on the total to satisfy, at least what I'm always trying to accomplish
06:13is plus money, get that plus 105 to plus 110 range, and let it ride.
06:19Purdue on upset alert, Brad?
06:21Like to lose straight up to high point, potentially?
06:24Yes.
06:25The defense is so leaky.
06:27It is so bad, especially in the interior.
06:29Both of these teams, to be fair.
06:31Both defenses are terrible.
06:32High point all in all offense, no defense team.
06:35And I know Purdue is like 300 and just a tempo, but high point's going to try to rev the engine.
06:40That is their style of play, and it's going to be a high possession kind of game in my
06:43estimation.
06:44Yeah, I think a high point is definitely a live dog.
06:47They're going to push Purdue all the way to the brink.
06:49Will they crack?
06:50We shall see.
06:51McNiece, remember, was a hot upset pick last year against Gonzaga, and Gonzaga absolutely
06:58railroaded them.
06:59Worked them, yep.
07:00Which doesn't mean McNiece has to lose and lose by a million this year to Clemson.
07:04I think the initial betting action, and it's very early, so I take it for what it's worth,
07:08which may be nothing.
07:10Seriously.
07:11The early betting action does appear to be on Clemson here against McNiece.
07:15You better UBETS countdown to tip off.
07:17Nick Costos, Brad Evans, and you here on the BetMGM network.
07:21All things betting right now on the Midwest region.
07:24Our final four picks still to come.
07:26Our national championship game still to come.
07:28Our national champion will close the show here on Selection Sunday.
07:33Bottom half of the bracket now.
07:35Brad Evans will do his best to stay objective when we talk about his fighting Illini of
07:40Illinois.
07:41The sixth seed, and in all seriousness, a ton of upside, obviously, in the Illini, who
07:46went up, who hit a speed bump recently over the last, like, six weeks.
07:50Basically, the entire team at the flu, and then once everybody started to feel better,
07:54they looked really good going into the Big Ten tournament, and then laid an egg against
07:57Maryland.
07:58Coming up in a moment, they will play the winner of first four game, Texas and Xavier,
08:03and I have a betting thought on that game.
08:05The three seed is Kentucky, a 10.5 point favorite against Troy.
08:09Early betting action, Brad, in that game has been on the 14 seed, Troy against Kentucky.
08:14The 7-10, Mick Cronin and UCLA, a 4.5 point favorite against Utah State.
08:20Total there is 144.5.
08:22Early betting action in that game at BetMGM has been on Utah State from 5.5 down to 4.5.
08:28And then the two seed in this region, Rick Barnes in Tennessee, SEC tournament runners
08:33up, losing and not covering today against Florida.
08:35A 19.5 point favorite against Wofford.
08:39Total there, 132.5.
08:41So why don't we start with the first four game, Brad, with Xavier, a 1.5 point favorite
08:46against Texas, and then the rest of your thoughts here on the bottom half of the Midwest region
08:50in the first round.
08:51X gon' give it to ya, and gon' give it to ya, I gotta go with Xavier, man.
08:56Look, I'm thrilled that Texas got in.
08:58I had a ticket out early today, I tweeted out that Noisy Huevos on X, that love them
09:03as a plus 470 heavy dog to have their ticket punched for the NCAA tournament.
09:09Hey, I got that right.
09:10I did miss on a couple of teams, one being Xavier, as a matter of fact.
09:13But Zach Freemantle is an absolute weapon, and a guy that can score at will in the interior.
09:19They have some sharpshooters outside, especially in splash, with regularity as well.
09:24Texas is just so home in every advanced analytic metric that is out there, and it really matches
09:31what you see on the floor as well.
09:32I know they had that nice two game run in the SEC tournament, that's why they're in
09:36the NCAA tournament, because they got a couple of quad one wins.
09:40But I think they played their best ball this season, they're gonna come crashing back down
09:43there.
09:44Remember, folks, north of 230 in EFG offense, and EFG defense in the last month, including
09:51those two marquee victories.
09:53So Xavier, far and away the better team, eye test, looking at the statistical analysis
09:57well, I'm gonna lay it with Sean Miller's club.
10:01Is that your favorite bet of the bottom half of this bracket, the first four?
10:05Because it is for me, Xavier against Texas.
10:08Yeah, it's up there for me, no doubt about it.
10:11I would say, compared to everything else, 100% I would take that.
10:15Man, I'm not gonna lie to you, I like Troy, plus the points, I really do.
10:20Okay, so Troy's taking on Kentucky.
10:23People remember last year, Kentucky loses to Oakland, Jack Golke goes off in that game,
10:28the great performance by Oakland.
10:30Now different coach, obviously, for Kentucky, John Calipari, now the Arkansas coach.
10:34Problem with Kentucky, and this doesn't mean I'm picking Troy to pull the outright upset,
10:39it's kind of the same profile that Kentucky had last year.
10:42Kentucky, an all-offense, no-defense team, and it looks like the betting market thus
10:46far agrees with you.
10:47And again, we're very early.
10:49Just because I say that doesn't mean that you, the person listening or watching, should
10:52bet Troy.
10:53I'm just saying, it's information that's out there.
10:56The early move has been on Troy.
10:58Brad, why do you like Troy to cover against Kentucky in the 3-14 in the Midwest?
11:03I wrote about this on The Athletic, and we did this tournament scouting guide.
11:08I had Troy as one of my teams, I had a scout, I watched some tape on them, and they compared
11:11these statistical analysis, and this is the line I wrote, this is why I love it so much
11:15in this matchup against Kentucky.
11:17Troy punishes teams weak in the post.
11:22Is Kentucky weak in the post?
11:23Yeah, Mark Williams, a pretty good player, but outside of him, is Ayder Carr going to
11:27step up?
11:28Somebody else going to step up and body up in the post?
11:30I don't buy it, I don't believe it.
11:31Troy absolutely works teams on the offensive glass.
11:36You look at last month of the regular season, they generated a second chance opportunity,
11:42of their possessions, and you look at Kentucky, as they collected defensively, 3-0-5 in EFGD.
11:49Oh, and by the way, Jackson Robinson, we don't know if he's going to play.
11:53What about Lamont Butler, their starting point guard, a former star of San Diego State?
11:57He is very much a question mark as well.
11:59If those two guys are out, even one is out, that raises the stakes even more for Kentucky
12:05simply to survive, so the fact that Troy's getting plus ten and a half, I'm in.
12:11Alright, so Brad, on with Troy, plus the points against Kentucky.
12:14I might make that bet also, just because I like betting against teams like Kentucky with
12:18that type of profile.
12:19Again, not that Kentucky can't win by a thousand, just that I think I'll probably end up betting
12:24Troy in the game.
12:26Brad, what about UCLA, Utah State, Tennessee, and Wofford in the bottom part of the Midwest
12:31region?
12:32Tennessee, Wofford, I will probably bet the over in that game.
12:37Really interesting, kind of fun fact for Tennessee, they've been a better offensive team than
12:40defensively here the last 30 days, and Wofford, the Terriers, they got a little bit of a bark
12:45to them.
12:46You got the grainy shot, free throw guy, that's kind of a fun story there.
12:51He's actually been quite effective with that tossing style of free throw, but I will take
12:56the over in Tennessee, Wofford, and I'm going to lay with UCLA.
12:59UCLA, Eddie Mora, the Spaniard, should have a monster game against the Utah State team.
13:06They really depend on second chances, but they're actually woeful in terms of defensive
13:11rebounding.
13:12Mora could really mitigate a lot of those second chance opportunities.
13:14I know Utah State is a very good offensive team, but UCLA with Bilodeau, Sky Clark, Eric
13:21Bailey, they didn't get after it as well.
13:24Just more formidable, I think Utah State, one of the lackluster teams, really, of the
13:29Mountain West in my estimation, so I'm going to lay, I believe, the four and a half with
13:34a fight in Bill Walton's.
13:35Give me 30 seconds here on your Illini and try to be as unbiased as possible.
13:41Well, enigmatic is the best way to really describe Illinois.
13:45They could blaze the trail to the Final Four, they could get waxed in their opening round
13:48game, whether it's against Texas or Xavier.
13:51They're extremely talented, but they're finally healthy, and despite what they showed against
13:55Maryland, I love the pull and draw in this region.
13:59They're going to be whoever emerges in Texas and Xavier because it's a tremendous matchup
14:03with the guard play of Illinois, and I think they're going to win another game, quite frankly.
14:08So I-L-L, baby, I-N-I, make me some cash.
14:12On the other side, we will talk about if Houston is on upset alert in the second round against
14:16Gonzaga, if Gonzaga is able to get past Georgia.
14:19We're going to tell you who's going to make the Final Four officially from each region,
14:22who's going to play in the National Championship game, and who is going to win it all.
14:26As we wrap up, you better, you bet's countdown to tip off on Selection Sunday.
14:29Nick Costos, Brad Evans, right after this.
14:32From Cinderella stories to championship contenders, we've got every angle covered.
14:37It's you better, you bet countdown to tip off with Nick Costos and Brad Evans on the
14:41Bet MGM Network, presented by Bet MGM.