Clays Plays 3/22

This tournament is one of the craziest and most unpredictable March Madnesses that I can remember. Top seeds are losing left and right, and killing my bets at the same time. I am going to keep giving you my parlays with picks from the tournament because I enjoy betting on these games, however I do not blame any of you if you decide to avoid my March Madness bets, given how unpredictable these games are. Here are my picks for today: Overall Record: 55-31

Parlay:

Ohio ML (+185)

USC ML (-122)

Iowa ML (-235)

Colorado ML (+103)

UCLA ML (-200)

Avalanche ML (-230)

Analysis:

Ohio was my sleeper team pick coming into the tournament. I had them going to the Sweet Sixteen from the start, being led by Jason Preston. They got the first upset, in a tight win against Virginia, and now it's time for them to do it again against Creighton. Ride them.

USC goes up against Kansas after a pretty smooth win against Drake in the first round. Kansas however was close to being out of the tournament, barely staying alive against Eastern Washington and the Groves Brothers. USC has Kansas’s next set of tough brothers to go against, with Evan and Isaiah Mobley. These two brothers should be even more of an issue for Kansas than the Groves’, and I like USC to upset here.

Iowa is another one of the teams that I think is gonna go far in this tournament, and I do not think Oregon is gonna stop that from happening. Luka Garza and company had a pretty easy win in the first round, and now face an Oregon team that has yet to step on the floor in this tournament. I think between Iowa’s talent and Oregon’s potential rust from not playing in the first round will be enough to send the Hawkeyes through.

Colorado was a team that surprised and impressed me with their play in the first round. I had them beating Georgetown, but Georgetown upset was probably one of the more popular picks for the day. Colorado was sure to end that narrative quickly, never letting Georgetown have a chance. Florida State on the other hand looked a little shaky at times against UNCG, and that is why I like Colorado to upset here.

UCLA has maybe been the biggest surprise of the tournament so far. I didn’t think this team was going to make it out of the First Four, and now here I am predicting they win in the Round of 32. After a double digit deficit in the First Four against MSU, they have looked like a different team. They came back in that game, comfortably beat a good BYU team, and now I think they beat the Abilene Christian team that just knocked out one of the tournament favorites, Texas. This could be a close game, but I like UCLA.

The Avalanche are the hottest team in hockey right now. They have won 6 games in a row, and I think they make it 7 after tonight's game with the Coyotes. Coyotes have not been a bad team recently, but with how the Avalanche are playing, they should take this one no problem.