Final Four Set: Gambler’s Anon Scorching Hot

The haters have been suspiciously quiet since the Elite 8 finished. To put it simply, we’re on fire. We cannot be stopped. To try and stop us would be foolish, unwise, and detrimental to your overall well being.

The Final Four is now set: Duke vs UNC, which shouldn’t attract much national attention for any special reason, and Kansas vs Villanova. What a classic Final 4. Four of the marquee programs in the history of college basketball, squaring off in one of the most electric men’s tournaments in recent memory.

Is it fair to say this is one of the best tournaments of all time? I won’t get into comparisons, but we’ve had a never-before-seen 15 seed make the Elite 8, Duke vs UNC in the Final Four in Coach K’s last season, upsets galore, multiple insane overtime finishes, some buzzer beaters… it feels like overall this has been one of the best tournaments I can remember, ever. While there are some great players playing, it also feels like this is a year in which there are no “big name star players” dominating headlines. Just really good teams, playing really good basketball.

Anyways, let’s recap some of experts’ picks. We’ve had quite the comeback since we last checked in. I must confess, I got a little busy and overslept in my short free time, so we missed a few posts. But we’ll start with the recap of our Sweet 16 picks:

  • Pete: Villanova -4.5 (W), Providence +7.5 (W)
  • Chase: Arizona -1.5 (L)
  • Frye: Arizona ML -125 (L)
  • Bates: Zaga/Ark U155 (W), St. Peter’s 12.5 (W)
  • Brad: Villanova -4.5 (W), UNC/UCLA O141.5 (W)
  • Derek: Arkansas +9.5 (W)
  • Tuna: Texas Tech/Duke O137 (MAX PLAY) (W)
  • Sam: UNC +2.5 (W)
  • Rolly: Arkansas +9.5 (W)
  • Park: Michigan ML +185 (L)
  • Mike: Villanova ML -225 (W), UNC ML +115 (W)

For those of you counting at home, that’s a very cool 12-3 in the round. Like I said, we’re on fire folks. The only moneyline dog of note was UNC, which toed the line of plus money closely. But these games are old news, so let’s check out the Elite 8 picks, which were loosely slapped together due to my aforementioned falling asleep:

  • Pete: Duke ML (W)
    Chase: Villanova ML (W)
    Frye:
    Bates: Duke/Ark O147.5 (L)
    Brad:
    Derek:
    Tuna:
    Sam: UNC ML (W)
    Rolly:
    Park: St. Peter’s ML (L)
    Mike: Duke -4 (W)

The few who were able to get some short notice picks in did well, going 4-2 on the round. A brutal 2 losses, not really because of the St. Peter’s moneyline (they were destined to lose and UNC is hot) but I’m talking about that Over. In case you didn’t know, that game ended at 147. Talk about pain.

This hot streak brings the group total to a very nice 26-22 on the tournament, with only 3 games remaining. No picks just yet – stay tuned for those. But I will leave you with everyone’s individual records, just in case you wanted to know who’s really cooking and who isn’t:

  • Pete: 3-3
  • Chase: 2-3
  • Frye: 2-1
  • Bates: 3-3
  • Brad: 3-0
  • Derek: 1-2
  • Tuna: 2-2
  • Sam: 2-1
  • Rolly: 2-2
  • Park: 2-3
  • Mike: 4-2

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