Handicapping the Final Four

April 3, 2009

There are many different variables used to handicap sports. If you are knowledgeable at college basketball handicapping, you understand that each sport requires a slight variation in order to be successful. College basketball predictions are no exception to that rule!

College sports as a whole (NCAAF, NCAAB) are a much different animal to tackle than professional sports. The level of talent from team to team in pro sports is fairly even. This puts a much bigger emphasis on coaching and chemistry. College sports are more true to form, meaning that the better team will win at a greater percentage. The hard part in college basketball handicapping is determining who the better team is.

In the NBA, MLB, NFL and NHL, the better team is indicated by record. In most of the major sports teams will play one another regularly which will eventually allow the cream to rise to the top. College basketball handicapping is much harder. Each conference has a different level of play and talent. An average team in the Big East is usually much better than the best team in a smaller conference such as the Atlantic-10 or Mountain West.

This is exactly why college basketball predictions for the NCAA tournament are so difficult to handicap. However, as the field gets narrowed down it becomes easier. Now that we are at the Final Four, you can see that the teams with talent, chemistry and good coaching have all prevailed.

Michigan St is a hard nosed, defensively oriented Big-10 team that has one of the best coaches in the business in Tom Izzo. They have been fortunate to of had a few good match-up along the way, but they have shown that they were up to the task.

North Carolina began the season as the unanimous pre-season number one team in the country. The Tar Heels had a few let downs during the season due to injury, but now they are back at full strength. Coach Roy Williams has acquired a wealth of talent and is primed and ready to capture another NCAA National Championship.

The Villanova Wildcats may have been slightly overlooked during the season. They were considered by many as the 4th or 5th best team in their conference. Nova has proven all of their critics wrong during the tourney as they have taken out UCLA, Duke and Pittsburgh in consecutive games.

Jim Calhoun and the perennial powerhouse UCONN Huskies came into the tourney as a number one seed. They have held serve with relative ease thus far and are looking to cut down the nets on Monday.

Now that we are closing in on who will be crowned the NCAA basketball National Champions, most professional handicappers will be extremely prepared and successful in making their predictions. Knowing that all of these teams come from somewhat the same mold, makes it slightly easier to analyze each game. This in turn will create a much higher success rate in making college basketball predictions.

Don’t try to guess the outcome of these games based on gut feelings. Take the advice of a professional that knows college basketball handicapping and allow them to put their college basketball predictions and your money to work for you!

Written by Cover The Number · Filed Under NCAA Basketball, Sports Betting

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