South Florida vs. Ohio
March Madness Pick
3/18/12
Friday was a day of upsets in the NCAA Tournament. One of the biggest came when the Ohio Bobcats (13) downed the Michigan Wolverines. Typically, a big upset like this would lead to playing another top program right away in the second round. Not this time. Ohio will be pitted against the South Florida Bulls (12) who dismissed the Temple Owls (5) in their first Game. This promises to be a contentious and close event pitting two Cinderella’s against each other.
South Florida opened as a Four point favorite, but the line has since moved to -2.5. The action favors the underdog Bobcats who are carrying 57% of the bets. This Midwest Region matchup will take place in Nashville, TN.
Ohio went wire to wire in their win over Michigan. Junior G T.J Cooper was the biggest reason for the win. This kid played out of his mind! Normally he averages 14.6 PPG, but he got the Wolverines for 21 points and threw in 5 assists while he was at it. He was heavily aided by fellow junior Ivo Baltic. The 6-8 player had 10 points and 7 very big rebounds for his team. Walter Offutt, another junior, was also pivotal with 11 points and 4 rebounds. He also had 2 steals and a block. Cooper and his boys are on a big high after this upset, but will have to quickly prepare for a tough South Florida team.
The Bulls had to win a play in Game over California just for the chance to make the field. They passed that test with flying colors, sending California packing by a score of 65-54. You would have never known they were the underdog against Temple, a team they crushed 58-44. South Florida was hardened by a brutal Big East Schedule that saw them beat Cincinnati and Louisville.
Suffocating defense has been the M-O for the Bulls. They held California to just 13 points in the first half of their matchup and Temple could only manage 19 points in the first half on Friday. Freshman Anthony Collins has been huge for USF late in the year. The youngster gets 8.5 RPG and 5.3 APG, but had 17 enormous points against Temple. Another young guy, sophomore Victor Rudd, has been a big help. He averages 8.7 PPG and got 17 against Temple and 7 bigtime rebounds. Rudd also had 15 points against the Calfornia Bears.
Ohio is a team that shoots very well. In their last 8 regular season Games they scored at 77 points Four different times.The MAC team also knows how to hang with tough competition. They lost by just 4 on the road against Louisville and beat a better than you think Marshall team as well. Oh, and let’s not forget, they just punished Michigan!
The winner of this Game will advance to the Sweet Sixteen where they will meet the winner of the North Carolina v Creighton Game. The valie after the line move, from 4 to -2.5 now lies with South Florida. South Florida -2.5