Best Sports Picks Parlay Of The Day Sweet 16

College Hoops Parlay Of The Day Sweet 16 Edition

March 28, 2021
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It seems like nearly every year, we look back at the opening round of the NCAA tournament and proclaim that it was the wildest first weekend ever. And while most of the time, that is mostly just hype, this year, the facts suggest that this last weekend was possibly an all-timer, as we have the highest average seed in Sweet 16 history! After a wacky weekend that saw top teams like Illinois, Iowa, Texas, Kansas, and Ohio State all go down, we hit the second weekend wondering if the madness will continue.

While the upsets are what makes March Madness so maddening, as a general rule, when we see a lot of upsets early, we see a lot of chalk later on in the tournament. At some point, the cream is going to always rise to the top, and the second weekend is generally where the men are separated from the boys. It is never overly sexy to take a bunch of favorites, but this weekend’s slate feels like it’s going to go mostly chalk. While it’s not very fun to pick a lot of favorites, it is fun to win bets and get paid, and that is just what we are going to do with this Sweet 16 version of the Parlay of the Day betting picks! Let’s get started!

Point Spread Parlay

Not all parlays are the same. In this first section, we are going to focus on point spread parlays. A point spread parlay is a parlay bet where all of the games bet are point spreads, and you will have to lay a little juice on each bet. A standard 3-team point spread parlay will payout 6-1, a 4-teamer pays out 11-1, and a 10-teamer pays out a whopping 720-1! As you can see, the payouts can get really big, really fast, on point spread parlays!

Oregon State Beavers at Loyola Chicago Ramblers (-7)

Some of you out there might see this matchup between the 12th seeded Beavers and the 8th seeded Ramblers as a game between a couple of Cinderella’s. But that is only because the NCAA Selection Committee absolutely blew it on Loyola Chicago this season. The Ramblers finished the regular season ranked 9th on Kenpom, so they made a better case as the 8th best team in the nation than they did as an #8 seed. But the NCAA loves to smash the mid-major programs, and they criminally under seeded Loyola Chicago and gave them a nearly impossible path forward, facing the ACC champs in the first round, followed by the Big 10 champs in the 2nd round, and now the PAC-12 champs in the Sweet 16.

But the Ramblers are a special team this season, and not only did they win their first couple of games, they blew them out, winning both games by double digits. Loyola Chicago famously made a run to the Final Four in 2018, and this year’s squad is even better than that year’s team. The Ramblers led the nation in points against in the regular season, and Kenpom has them as the 2nd best defense in the nation, trailing only Memphis.

The Ramblers draw a red-hot Oregon State team that caught fire late in the season to sneak into the Big Dance, when they won the PAC-12 tournament. If you have been reading my picks for the last several weeks, you will know that I am a huge fan of the PAC-12 and felt that the league wasn’t getting nearly as much love as it deserved. And after seeing the league send four teams to the Sweet 16, it looks like I was right. But after spending a month telling everyone to watch out for the PAC-12, and backing them a bunch and getting paid, it feels like the tide of public opinion has turned on the conference of champions, and now the league is getting too much love.

Oregon State had a better year than most people seem to remember, and I was making a case that they should have been getting a look as an at-large bid late in the season, but they are outmatched in this game. I don’t think the Beavers are going to score 60-points in this one and see Loyola running up the score. Oregon State has an efficient offense, ranked 41st on Kenpom, but they play an extremely slow pace, 303rd in the country. The Beavers have failed to reach the 60-point mark 5 different times this season, and I think that is what happens again today against a stout Ramblers D. Sister Jean and Loyola Chicago win this one in a boring grinder of a game by double digits.

Oral Roberts Golden Eagles at Arkansas Razorbacks (-11)

Raise your hand if you have the Arkansas Razorbacks going to the national finals in your bracket? I don’t see a lot of hands going up out there, but mine is firmly in the air, as I am a believer in Eric Musselman and the Razorbacks. Arkansas is 14-2 in their last 16 games, including signature wins over Alabama, Missouri, Florida, and LSU. A lot of people accused Arkansas of playing a week non-conference schedule, but wins over Abilene Christian, North Texas, and Oral Roberts sure look a lot better than they did at the time, after seeing all of those teams pick up wins in the NCAA tournament last weekend. A lot of people picked the Razorbacks to get upset against Colgate as the Raiders were 14-1 on the year, but Arkansas blew them out anyway. In the round of 32, even more people faded the Razorbacks, this time against a talented Texas Tech team, yet here they are, still dancing, after knocking off the Red Raiders.

Oral Roberts is just the 2nd team ever to make the Sweet 16 as a #15 seed. The Golden Eagles will attempt to become the first-ever #15 seed to win a game in the Sweet 16 in this game. With all of the upsets that went down last weekend, the team that people are going to remember years from now is this Oral Roberts team.

This is a unique matchup in that we already got to see these teams play this year, with Arkansas beating Oral Roberts by double digits earlier this year. In that first game, the Golden Eagles took a big lead into halftime before seeing Arkansas obliterate them in the second half. I see this game as a continuation of that second half. Arkansas beat Oral Roberts by 11-points despite playing awful in the first half and hitting just 16% of their 3-pointers for the game. The Hogs are going to be even better in this game, and I see it getting out of hand early, with Arkansas blowing out Oral Roberts and smashing their glass slipper along the way. If you are looking for more madness, don’t look here.

Mississippi State Bulldogs at Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (+1.5)

I know this is supposed to be a Sweet 16 edition of the Parlay of the Day picks, but I don’t pass up on value, no matter where the game is being played. This game comes to us from the NIT, where Louisiana Tech squares off against Mississippi State in a battle between a couple of four seeds that advanced by beating top seeds earlier this week. Mississippi State is a bit of an unlikely postseason success story, as the Bulldogs struggled all season long in the SEC, with an 8-10 league play record. If it weren’t for the Bulldog’s joke of a non-conference schedule, Mississippi State would have finished the year with a losing record. But as mediocre as the Bulldogs looked running up a 15-14 record prior to this tournament, they have impressed in the NIT, with wins over Saint Louis and Richmond.

For LA Tech, the Bulldogs had some case for an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament, with a 20-win season, but when they lost to a red-hot North Texas team in the Conference USA tournament, it ended their shot at dancing. The Bulldogs are 15-1 in their last 16 games against teams not named North Texas, as the Mean Green have handed the Bulldogs their last two losses. LA Tech looked great knocking off Ole Miss and Western Kentucky in the NIT, and I think they add Mississippi State to their hit list in a mild upset. Kenpom has LA Tech winning this game, and so do I. Back the Bulldogs.

Point Spread Parlay

  • Teams Odds
  • Loyola Chicago Ramblers (-7) -110
  • Arkansas Razorbacks (-11) -110
  • Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (+1.5) -110

$100 Bet Wins $600

Money Line Magic

This next type of parlay we are going to look at is an all money line parlay. With these types of bets, you don’t care about points spreads, it is just who wins or loses the games that matter. Want to load up on a bunch of favorites and get paid when they all win? Do you smell a couple of big upsets? Parlay those together on a money line parlay, and you can get paid big!

Syracuse Orange at Houston Cougars (-286)

The Syracuse Orange probably shouldn’t have even gotten into the NCAA tournament this season. The Orange barely finished with a winning record in a down ACC this year, and had Jim Boeheim’s boys not heard their names called on Selection Sunday, nobody could have been all that upset. But in March, it doesn’t matter how you got in, only that you got in, and once the madness starts, all teams are equal. Syracuse has taken advantage of their at-large bid, beating San Diego State and West Virginia both times as heavy underdogs, and in the round of 16, the Orange once again find themselves as big dogs against #2 seeded Houston.

Houston isn’t getting a lot of attention as a team that could win the national title, but they are that good. The Cougars are currently ranked 4th on Kenpom, telling me that if Houston makes a run to the Final Four, that we shouldn’t be surprised. Houston hasn’t lost since mid-February and they are riding a 9-game winning streak into this matchup with the Orange. The Cougars have played a soft schedule this year, but that was mostly due to the AAC being down this season, and it is hard to fault them too much for that. Jim Boeheim is one of the greatest coaches ever, and he always seems to overachieve in March, so I wouldn’t want to lay a bunch of points on Houston, as this game is sure to be competitive, but I see Houston winning and advancing in a tight one.

Colorado State Rams at Memphis Tigers (-170)

I am going to sneak one more NIT game into the mix here by breaking down all of the action between Memphis and Colorado State. Memphis doesn’t have a single loss to any team besides Houston since January! The lack of quality victories kept the Tigers out of the NCAA tournament, but you can make a compelling case that the Tigers should have gotten into the Big Dance, as they had won 10 of 12 before losing to Houston in the AAC tournament. Kenpom has the Tigers ranked 39th, significantly higher than their opposition in this one, the 60th ranked Rams of Colorado State.

I am a MWC hater this season, as I felt that it was an overhyped 1-bid league. I bet against San Diego State and Utah State in the NCAA tournament based on the overall weakness of the league, and both teams had early exits from the madness. All of the Ram’s success this year came in league play, with their best win in the non-conference coming over 12-8 Santa Clara. And with my low opinion of their conference, I just don’t value wins in the MVC as much as the next guy. Memphis just beat a MWC team in their last game, ending Boise State’s season, and I see them sending the Rams back home in this game as well. Penny Hardaway is trying to rebuild tis Memphis program, and an NIT title would go a long way into doing just that, and I see the Tigers getting the job done.

UCLA Bruins at Alabama Crimson Tide (-220)

Last weekend all I did was praise the PAC-12 as being underrated and undervalued in the betting markets. I hammered on the PAC-12 and got rich doing it. But after seeing the overcorrection this weekend on the league, I am going to switch gears and fade the conference in several spots. Alabama is a really good team. When they are making their shots from the perimeter, they are a great team. They should be significantly bigger favorites than they are in this game against a Bruins team that had to play a First Four game just to get into the tournament. Alabama has won 8 straight games, and after a slow start to the season, the Crimson Tide have rolled to an elite 22-3 record with wins over Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Florida, LSU, and Maryland.

UCLA is better than their seed, but not that much better, as the Bruins were in free fall at the end of the regular season. The Bruins went from likely power conference league champs, to a bubble team in a hurry, when they lost their last 4 games of the year. UCLA righted the ship with a shocking come from behind win over Tom Izzo’s Michigan State Spartans, followed up it up with a first-round victory over BYU, and then caught a break with a soft matchup with Abilene Christian in the round of 32 to advance to the 2nd weekend. I think this game is somewhat of a mismatch, as UCLA is lucky to be here, and Alabama is a legit Final Four threat. Alabama hasn’t been great from deep as of late, and that will stop me from laying any points on the Tide, but if they get hot, they could win this game by 15+ points.

Money Line Magic Parlay

  • Teams Odds
  • Houston Cougars -286
  • Memphis Tigers -170
  • Alabama Crimson Tide -220

$100 Bet Wins $212

The Daily Dog

Do you want a chance at jumbo payouts? The best way to stack the cash fast is by parlaying underdogs! You can back these teams getting the points, but the best way to get a huge return on your money is to take these teams on the money line!

Florida State Seminoles (+120) at Michigan Wolverines

The Michigan Wolverines have done a respectable job of surviving without their 2nd leading scorer, Isiah Livers. Livers went down with what is seemingly a season-ending injury at the end of the regular season, and Michigan has managed to stay afloat without him, but just barely. Big Blue went 2-3 in their last 5 games of the year before winning both games last weekend to advance to the Sweet 16. The Wolverines beat up on 16th seeded Texas Southern before sneaking past LSU in a tight one. You hate to see injuries ruin a team’s chances at winning a national title, but I think that is what happened to Michigan, and it feels like their season ends against Florida State.

The ACC was an easy punching bag this season, as the league wasn’t as good as we have all grown accustomed to over the years. But as rough as things were for much of the season, the ACC still has two teams dancing, more than the Big 12 and the Big 10 can say, and those were the leagues everyone thought were by far the best coming into the tournament. I think that Michigan could have challenged Gonzaga had Livers not gotten hurt, but without him on the floor, they don’t score the ball efficiently enough to hang with the Seminoles. The books will call this one an upset, but I won’t. Florida State wins in a thriller.

USC Trojans at Oregon Ducks (+110)

We have already talked about how the PAC-12 was my go-to league last weekend, and in this matchup, the league has both sides of the game, and they are guaranteed to get at least one team to the Elite Eight. The Ducks opened as small favorites, but nearly all of the action has come in on USC, moving the line sharply towards the Trojans to where it stands now, with USC laying -2-points. These teams played once in the regular season, with USC winning at home. The Trojans have had one of the hardest paths to the Sweet 16 as they played a very good Drake team, and they followed that up by knocking out Kansas.

The Ducks have had a strange path to the second weekend, as they got a bye in the round of 64, as Wichita State was disqualified from the event due to a positive COVID-19 test inside of the program. The Ducks then had to play #2 seed Iowa, and Oregon smashed the Hawkeyes, dropping 95-points on Iowa and beating them by double digits. This game against USC feels like a complete coin flip of a game, and in a coin flip contest, you always want to be on the side getting juice, not laying it. The Ducks were the better team in the regular season, winning the league regular season title outright, and they are going to give the Trojans everything they can handle in this one. Expect a tight game that could go either way and let’s hope the variance breaks our way in a fun matchup.

The Daily Dog Money Line Parlay

  • Teams Odds
  • Florida State Seminoles +120
  • Oregon Ducks +110

$100 Bet Wins $362

Wrap Up

Parlays are a great way to make quick cash, and here you have four different ways to get in on the parlay bet action! Thanks for reading, and make sure that you stay tuned to TheSportsGeek for all of your March Madness betting advice and be sure to check out our college hoops betting page, where we bring you free daily betting picks each and every day!

https://www.thesportsgeek.com/blog/college-hoops-parlay-of-the-day-sweet-16-edition/

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