elite 9

Las Vegas - You know that we have been BEST BETTING and riding Oregon State to the bank the last couple of weeks, but we're getting off the Beavers tonight. And the reason, among others, is Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson. We all know that Sampson has had problems and violations along the way, sitting out for six years due to a show-cause order from the NCAA, but the man can COACH 'EM UP! He got his clipboard back in Houston for the 2014/15 season, and the sad sack Cougars were just 13-19. From that point on, it was arrows UP! WAY UP! The next season, the Coogs went 22-10, then 21-11, 27-8, 33-4, 23-8 and 27-3 so far this season. That's an overall record of 166-63 at Houston for a STELLAR .725 win percentage. And if you watched the clinic his kids put on against Syracuse, breaking one of the most formidable zones in college hoops, you can see why Sampson has won 664 games over his 40 year career. Of course we love what Wayne Tinkle has done with the Beavers, and with our bank account, but gonna get off the Oregon State train at this stop.

In the late game, gonna roll with Baylor over Arkansas, and here's why. In the last game against Villanova, the Bears shot 3 of 19 from downtown, and their three-headed guard combo, Davion Mitchell, Jared Butler and MaCio Teague combined to shoot a pathetic 1 of 13 from beyond the arc. And yet Baylor STILL won by ELEVEN points. On the other side, the Razorbacks were inches away from going back to Fayetteville, getting lucky after a Max Abmas three point shot bounced off the rim. The Hogs also were kinda lucky to sneak past Texas Tech, 68-66, a team that Baylor THUMPED 88-73 back in early March. So, the only way to handle this is the two team 6-point teaser. Take Houston down from -7.5 to -1.5 points against Oregon State and drop Baylor from -7 to -1 point against Arkansas.

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