March Madness Betting – Second-round strategies

March Madness betting: it’s time to back the favorites

• With lower seeds out, focus turns to top teams
• “Upsets” more likely, though they’re only upsets on paper
• No. 10 and higher not likely to make it past here

After the first round, March Madness betting strategies are sure to change for sports betting players as they are going through their internet sportsbook odds. This is when it really starts to get interesting if you are betting on March Madness.

Odds are, the bottom four seeds (No. 13-16) will not make it, as the lowest seed to make it to the second round is the No. 15 seed, which has occurred only four times in the history of the tournament (Richmond –’91, Santa Clara – ’93, Coppin State – ’97, Hampton – ’01).

However, all is not completely lost for those small schools. Cleveland State managed to make it out of the second round in 1986, while Chattanooga equaled the feat in 1997. Still, it’s just not very likely and lower seeds make bad March Madness bets at this point.

This also means that the second round will feature matchups between teams that are far more equal than the first round, which makes “upsets” more likely. Two examples of this from last year’s Tournament are No. 5 Michigan State’s win over No. 4 Pittsburgh, and No. 7 West Virginia’s victory over a No. 2 Duke team. March Madness bets would have had the higher-ranked teams as the favorite but, in both of these matchups, further research would have shown these teams were all pretty evenly matched.

The second round is also dangerous to those coveted No. 1 seeds, as two of last year’s four teams were almost dropped. Memphis survived a three-point win over a scrappy No. 8 Mississippi State team, while UCLA needed a late score-and-stop to edge No. 9 Texas A&M by two.

The top seeds usually take a while to get going after using their first-round game with the No. 16 seed as a glorified practice, while their opponent has already been through a tough matchup and will have momentum on its side. If you bet on March Madness last year, you might have been through a few scares because of that.

Either way, this will be the time when the cream usually rises to the top in the tournament, so those who bet on sports will be in for an exciting ride.

For more on March Madness betting analysis, picks and insight for free, regularly check out the Betting Edge.

Washington Tucker was practically raised at Rucker Park. Though a freak knee injury cost him a major college basketball scholarship, his “sixth-sense” on the hardwood has translated into a spectacular career in basketball handicapping.