Big Ten Tournament

Back on December 30th, I gave you all a preview of the upcoming season in the Big Ten. I chose 6 teams that I felt were worthy of the Big Dance. I am happy to report that my investigative and intuitive skills were pretty damn good. I thought these six teams were gonna do well enough to get an invite:

Wisconsin
Ohio State
Michigan State
Indiana
Illinois
Purdue

When the selections go out this weekend, look for all six to make the dance. The only other teams on life support to get an at-large bid are Michigan and Iowa. I give Michigan 10% and Iowa less than that.

I now handicap the tourney starting tomorrow at the United Center.

Thursday
Michigan over Minnesota
MSU over NW
Fightin Illini over Penn State

Friday
Ohio St over UM by 3
Purdue over Iowa by 10
Wisconsin over Mich St by 5
Indiana over Illinois by 1

Saturday
Ohio St over Purdue by 7
Wisconsin over Indiana by 2

Sunday
Ohio St over Wisconsin by 15


The full disclosure

2007 NCAA Backgrounder -- Sports Wagering

Sports wagering has become a serious problem that threatens the well-being of the student-athlete and the integrity of college sports.

The explosive growth of gambling has caused a noticeable increase in the number of sports wagering-related cases processed by the Association.
The Internet has made it easier than ever for student-athletes to place bets, providing easy access, virtual anonymity, and essentially no supervision.
Student-athletes are viewed by organized crime and organized gambling as easy marks.
When student-athletes gamble, they break the law and jeopardize their eligibility.
When student-athletes become indebted to bookies and can’t pay off their debts, alternative methods of payment are introduced that threaten the well-being of the student-athlete or undermine an athletic contest - such as point-shaving.
(Source:www.ncaa.org)



With that out of the way, a look ahead to the studs, dreamers and sleepers of March Madness:

Studs:
North Carolina
Ohio St
G'Town
Xavier

Dreamers:
UCLA
Wisconsin
Memphis
Kansas

Sleepers:
Creighton
Nevada
Virginia Tech
Winthrop

I will update the night before the tourney. Look for the First Annual DaChicagoSports Blog Contest with scoring and all maybe Paypal cash to the high finishers.

Da BookEnd