'Bear Bets': The Group Chat's thoughts on the Sweet 16
Bear Bets is back!
FOX Sports' digital gambling show returned this week to discuss the Sweet 16 round of March Madness.
The Group Chat also reconvened, as Chris "The Bear" Fallica and Geoff Schwartz were joined by Sam Panayotovich and Will Hill to discuss the men's NCAA Tournament and which bets they like the most this week.
Let's get right into their bets!
EAST REGION
No. 1 UConn (-11) vs. No. 5 San Diego State
The Bear: UConn -11
"What is different from last year? UConn is better than they were last year. San Diego State is not as good as they were last year. Why should we expect anything different?
Hill: UConn -11
"If you don't want to lay -11, maybe you played Under 135.5 or San Diego State team total Under. Is there anything you could throw at [UConn] that's going to disrupt their dominance?"
No. 2 Iowa State (-1) vs. No. 3 Illinois
The Bear: Iowa State money line
"I think their defense could give Illinois some problems. Look, I know Illinois has been awesome in the tournament. … Going into this tournament, I was a little worried that Iowa State might be a little bit too trendy of a team. Maybe they would be upset-prone in the first two rounds. But they have been absolutely lights out in the first two games."
WEST REGION
No. 2 Arizona (-7.5) vs. No. 6 Clemson
The Bear: Strongly leaning toward Clemson +7.5
"I don't think any of us have the utmost faith and trust in Tommy Lloyd. If Caleb Love doesn't have a good game, there are quite a few avenues for this to be a close game."
Schwartz: Clemson +7.5
"Clemson has a lot of ways they can score and keep this game close. They shoot 3s well. Arizona doesn't. Arizona doesn't contest catch-and-shoots very well. Arizona, at times, can stop scoring"
Hill: Clemson +7.5
"What you like if you're Clemson: You've won two games in this tournament, and you haven't gotten that monster game out of PJ Hall. Lloyd is 1-5 now against the spread in the tournament."
Sammy P: Clemson +7.5, potentially money line
"I think this is a game where Arizona does go down. To me, the biggest key in the game is the free-throw line. Clemson is 79% at the free-throw line, eight-best in the country. Arizona is barely over 70%."
No. 1 North Carolina (-4.5) vs. No. 4 Alabama
The Bear: Alabama +4.5
"I worry about the lack of defense from Alabama, but that game against Grand Canyon was a different type of game."
Sammy P: Under 174
"If you bet the Under, you probably don't want to watch it because you're gonna see that like eight-, nine-point minute and you're gonna want to hide under the bed. But so many things have to go right to get Over 174. You get one four or five-minute dead patch, this game is going to stay Under."
SOUTH REGION
No. 2 Marquette (6.5) vs. No. 11 North Carolina State
Hill: Over 151.5
"That [North Carolina State] offense is so hard to stop. DJ Burns is such a good passer. He's got such a nice touch. … But I don't know if they have any answers to stop Marquette."
Sammy P: Likely play the Over on the second half total
"This isn't a blind bet, but if we get a nice pace in the first half, and it's like, 40-32 Marquette at halftime, I will immediately look at that second half total and think we're going to get some points."
The Bear: Houston -4.5
"I think everyone is focusing so much on what happened in the final minute in the game against Texas A&M. It was impossible that game got to overtime. It was 74-61 and Houston had a 99% win probability before all the ridiculousness happened."
Sammy P: Play Houston to make Final Four (+150)
"If NC State upsets Marquette, that ticket is basically a cash. You could come back and take NC State at +8.5 on a middle. If Houston's going to play Marquette, you're looking at least at $2.50, $3 on the money line."
Which 1 or 2 seeds are in trouble in the Sweet 16? John Fanta joins Bear Bets!
Hill: Houston -4.5
"Houston's so physical. They're almost like a football team where they're so aggressive. They're so handsy that you could or couldn't call a foul on almost any play. When you have a home court-advantage or semi-home court advantage, that helps sway the officials in some way."
MIDWEST REGION
No. 1 Purdue (-5.5) vs. No. 5 Gonzaga
Schwartz: Over 154.5
"Both teams can score. The Over hits in a lot of Mark Few tournament games."
No. 2 Tennessee (-2.5) vs. No. 3 Creighton
Schwartz: Creighton Over 32.5 points in the first half
"In the tournament, when a team shoots poorly that shoots well, most of the time, in the next game, they kind of just have a better first half."
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