Sweet 16 Packed With Top Seeds

The Sweet 16 is all set. San Diego State’s 85-57 win over No. 13 seed Yale closed out the Round of 32 and punched the Aztecs’ ticket to the Sweet 16. It’s the second straight trip to the Sweet 16 for San Diego State, which lost in last year’s national championship game to UConn, 76-59.

Speaking of the Huskies, they too will return to the Sweet 16. Earlier on Sunday, UConn defeated No. 9 seed Northwestern, 75-58. It was the Huskies eighth straight tournament win by double digits. Head coach Dan Hurley and his team are the favorite to win it all again. UConn is given +210 odds to capture a second straight NCAA title.

All of the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds made it to the Sweet 16. That’s only the fifth time it’s happened since the NCAA expanded the tournament in 1985. It’s the first time since 2019. Interestingly, this year’s tournament is also the first since 2019 that a No. 15 seed failed to win a first-round game.

Big East in Sweet 16

The Big East Conference sent just three teams to the NCAA tournament this season. All three will play in next weekend’s Sweet 16. UConn, of course, returns after wins over Stetson and Northwestern. Marquette, the No. 2 seed in the South Region also advanced to the Sweet 16 with wins over Western Kentucky and Colorado. The Golden Eagles welcomed back star Tyler Kolek in yesterday’s win over the Buffaloes. Kolek had 21 points and 11 assists in the 81-77 victory.

The other Big East team in the Sweet 16 is Creighton, which is also making a return trip. Last year, the Bluejays fell one point short of making the Final Four. Creighton lost to San Diego State 57-56 in the South Regional final. This year, the Bluejays are back in the Sweet 16 after wins over Akron and Oregon. Creighton will play No. 2 Tennessee in next weekend’s Sweet 16.

Not Many Surprises in Sweet 16

Of all the underdogs to pull off a first-round upset, only No. 11 NC State was able to punch their ticket to the Sweet 16. The Wolfpack are on an historic run right now. They won five straight games to win the ACC tournament and earn the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tourney. 

In their opening round game, the Wolfpack beat sixth-seed Texas Tech 80-67. Then, NC State had to fight off another Cinderella, Oakland, to get to the Sweet 16. In a second-round battle of the No. 11 and No. 14 seeds, NC State prevailed in overtime, 79-73. The Wolfpack will face No. 2 Marquette in the Sweet 16.

The three Big East teams making the Sweet 16 is the first time since 2014 that three teams from one conference advanced to the second weekend of play. Prior to that, it hadn’t happened since 2003. 

If there was a surprise from the first weekend of play in the NCAA tournament, it was the performance of the SEC. Hailed as one of the toughest conferences in college basketball, the SEC sent eight teams to this year’s tournament. Five of them lost their first round games. The biggest of those was Kentucky’s 80-76 upset defeat at the hands of No. 14 Oakland. 

No Surprise on the Daily Leaderboard

While there were a few surprises in the NCAA tournament, there weren’t any on our Daily Leaderboard. It was once again dominated by our own Sports Hub experts. At the top was our friend Chris “Dirty” Dyer of Handicappers Hideaway. Chris wasn’t hiding yesterday as he crushed the books with his college basketball picks.

He wasn’t the only one either. Yesterday’s Top 5 cappers all nailed their NCAAB picks yesterday. All but one – Scott’s Picks – are Sports Hub exclusive handicappers. As you prepare for next weekend’s Sweet 16, you should seriously consider following our top basketball handicappers. Members get access to all of our cappers. If you don’t have a membership, sign up today. It’s free! 

Let’s take a look at yesterday’s best cappers.

• Down ‘n Dirty: “Dirty” Dyer was the top dog yesterday. He hit 7 of 9 picks, all on college basketball. That earned “Dirty” a cool $480, which topped the daily leaderboard.

• Win Diego: Unlike San Diego, Win Diego is the place where our Sports Hub expert Diego Garcia pumps out sports betting wins. Yesterday, Diego went 3-0 total, 2-0 on NCAA tournament games, and collected $300. That gets Diego back on the right side of the action.
• Scott’s Picks: Scott’s picks were a solid 6-3 yesterday. He only went 1-1 on CBB picks, but still earned $275 for the day. 
• Your Sweet 16 picks: Beginning Thursday, our top college basketball handicappers will have the best Sweet 16 picks for all of our members. That list will include the likes of Patrick Doyle, Robert Jones, The Bookie, Skyler Lockheart, and Ryan Davis. All six Sports Hub experts went 2-0 yesterday. Both of their picks were on the NCAA tournament and all six cappers added profits of $200 to their bankrolls.
• Worth noting: Sas Insider went 10-8 yesterday and ended up just outside of our Daily Top 10. The Insider ended up with $145 in profits, but if you had simply followed the CBB picks from yesterday, you would have gone 6-2 and won $380!

Sweet 16 Trends

We mentioned the Big East. The conference is among our daily trends in sports. Here at Sports Hub, we keep our eye on the pulse of sports all year long. The simplest of events could make or break a bet somewhere down the line. Just ask our expert handicappers. They know that information is king.

Here’s what you need to know today.

• Big East is perfect: As we detailed earlier, the Big East put three teams in the NCAA tournament. Those three teams are a combined 6-0 and all three will represent the conference next weekend in the Sweet 16.
• Kentucky: The Wildcats exited the NCAA tournament in the first round for the fourth time in five years. The upset loss to 14th-seeded Oakland was the biggest surprise of the entire first round.
• What happened to the SEC?: The SEC had eight teams in the tournament. Only two remain. The SEC has played 11 tournament games thus far. Those teams are a combined 5-6. Tennessee and Alabama won both of their tournament games to advance to the Sweet 16. Texas A&M lost in overtime yesterday to Houston, the No. 1 seed in the South Region.
• NFL news: The Miami Dolphins have an offer out on WR Odell Beckham Jr. The Minnesota Vikings may be working to trade up and draft a quarterback. The Chiefs are trading CB L’Jarius Snead to Tennessee. 

Back to Business as Usual on Monday’s Schedule

We can all take a collective deep breath after the fury of the past weekend in sports. The thrill of the first weekend of the NCAA tournament captivates fans and bettors alike. If you didn’t have the kind of success you would have liked to have had at your sportsbook, I would recommend becoming a Sports Hub member. 

Not only do we provide great content from our vast network of inside sources, but we are home to hundreds of the absolute best sports handicappers in the world. Most of them you will find only here. They are exclusive to Sports Hub, so you can’t find them anywhere else on the internet. 

If you want a few more wins, the answer is right here. Just click that orange button at the top of the page and you’ll be part of the biggest network of handicappers and bettors on the planet! Plus, once you hook up with our handicappers, you’ll see a dramatic rise in the size your bankroll. And, size matters!

Let’s look at today’s sports schedule.

1. Full slate of NBA games: While college basketball ruled the past four days, the NBA is king on this Monday night. There are 11 games total with a doubleheader on NBATV. The first game pits Boston at Atlanta at 7:30 p.m. ET. The Celtics will be looking for their 10th straight win. The late game has Philadelphia at Sacramento. Tip off is set for 10:00 p.m. ET. 

2. NCAAW tournament: There are eight second-round games in the women’s NCAA tournament tonight. No. 1 seed Iowa hosts No. 8 West Virginia at 8:00 p.m. ET. Caitlin Clark looks to lead the Hawkeyes back to the women’s Sweet 16 and the FInal Four.
3. Light skate tonight: Only two games are on the NHL schedule tonight. Vegas plays at St. Louis and Vancouver hosts the Los Angeles Kings. The Canucks (45-18-8) have the most points in the Western Conference (98). They are tied with the New York Rangers in the President’s Cup race.
4. International friendlies: There are 16 friendlies on today’s schedule. The Russia-Paraguay match that was to be played in Moscow has been cancelled. Matches in Burundi and the Central African Republic are already completed. Bettors can also find action on Argentinian soccer today. 
5. Spring training winds down: There are 11 MLB spring training games today. There are five night games, including one between Shohei Ohtani’s old team, the Los Angeles Angels, and his new one, the Dodgers.
6. Miami Open: The 2024 Miami Open continues today. Top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz will face Gael Monfils in a Round 3 match. On the women’s side, No. 1 Iga Swiatek plays Ekaterina Alexandrova in a fourth-round match.

Keep it tuned here to Sports Hub throughout the week for the best in sports betting content as well as a look at how our elite handicappers are performing. We will have the best Sweet 16 picks in the industry for this weekend. Members can check the picks database at any time to see which of our cappers have released Sweet 16 picks already. 

Remember, if you have any questions at all, feel free to click on the chat button at the bottom of the page. Our professionals enjoy chatting with like-minded sports bettors and handicappers. See you tomorrow!