While every fan and bettor should already know that a top seed has never lost to a No. 16 seed in the NCAA tournament and a No. 12 seed seemingly upsets a No. 5 seed every year, there are tons more key college basketball trends you need to know about in order to handicap the games and win your wagers during the round of 64. So many brackets end up getting busted in March Madness because ...

The second-seeded Arizona Wildcats begin their quest for a Final Four berth in Portland on Thursday against the Texas Southern Tigers after their attempt to win the West region as the top seed a year ago fell two points short in a 63-62 loss to the second-seeded Wisconsin Badgers in the Elite Eight. The Wildcats are riding an 11-game winning streak into the NCAA tournament—going 9-2 against the spread down the stretch—and could have easily been ...

The top-seeded Villanova Wildcats have won 15 straight games heading into the NCAA tournament and will face the 16th-seeded Lafayette Leopards Thursday in their opening game of the East Region in Pittsburgh. The Wildcats have also been outstanding against the spread during their winning streak, going 13-2 since suffering their last loss, a 78-58 defeat against the Georgetown Hoyas as four-point road favorites back on January 19.   Opening spread The Wildcats opened as 22.5-point favorites (compare lines and ...

Filling out an NCAA tournament bracket without upsets is like auto-drafting your fantasy football team. It's boring, and no one will respect you even if you win. The reason so many people love March Madness is the fact that massive upsets are so common in the opening rounds. Small schools most people have never heard of have a chance to shock the world by defeating established programs. This year is certain to continue the trend with a ...

Fordham experienced a little bit of everything during the 2014-15 basketball season. The Rams won on opening night against the New York Institute of Technology, suffered crushing defeats to UMass Lowell and Maryland Eastern Shore, lost their first nine Atlantic 10 games, won four of six late in the season and almost shocked VCU in the second round of the Atlantic 10 tournament. There were key injuries: Ryan Canty missed the entire season after having back surgery, ...

Despite his brother being in charge, John Harbaugh felt unwelcome in Ann Arbor. Harbaugh, the Baltimore Ravens' Super Bowl-winning head coach, was in town to speak at his younger brother Jim's first high school coaching clinic as Michigan's head coach. But as John watched the Wolverines practice one afternoon, he noticed a familiar anger come over his brother and soon found himself on his way out the door. "He threw everybody out of practice," John told reporters. ...

The ACC has plenty of talent in football heading into 2015, but talent can be found in more than just the big names. While players like Justin Thomas, Deshaun Watson, James Conner, Brad Kaaya and Tyler Boyd are all high-profile players, let's look at a few of the guys whom you may not know yet. Now, an "underrated player" doesn't have to be someone you've never heard of—it's simply a player who has yet to meet his ...

Kentucky head coach John Calipari leads four finalists for the 2015 Naismith Coach of the Year Award, joining Virginia's Tony Bennett, Wisconsin's Bo Ryan and Villanova's Jay Wright, the organization announced Tuesday. Calipari, 56, was previously named Coach of the Year in 1996 at UMass and in 2008 at Memphis. His likely third award comes as part of a historic regular season for the Wildcats, who enter the NCAA tournament looking to become the sport's first ...

The 2015 NCAA tournament kicks off Tuesday evening, with four teams looking to sneak their way into the round of 64. It's a nice little preamble before the madness truly begins. You can sit back, relax, watch one game at a time and probably not worry too much about your bracket being busted just yet.  Tuesday's action begins at 6:40 p.m. ET, with Hampton and Manhattan vying for a No. 16 seed and the privilege of ...

As always, Las Vegas seems to have the right idea.  With the March Madness bracket in stone and the First Four ready to dance Tuesday, oddsmakers are hard at work crafting championship lines based on a wild number of factors.  This can include injuries, momentum, coaching styles, team styles and potential bracket matchups right on down to the Final Four. Speaking of the Final Four, now is a good time to jump on favorable odds by first nailing ...