1. (8) LSU vs (9) St. Bonaventure
LINE: LSU -1.5
ATS PICK: LSU
– Bet on this, BetMGM latest line
Most of my family is from upstate New York with several members graduating from Canisius, so disliking St. Bonaventure is ingrained in the DNA.
I have no such issues with the Bonnies.
They’re tough as nails defensively, have enough size to matter up front, and they’re the darling pick by those looking for some team to take to feel better about picking big-name higher seeds everywhere else.
They’re best win this season is against VCU, twice. That’s nice and all against a 10-seed in the tournament, there’s just enough missing to make that 1.5 point spread feel very, very skimpy.
It’s not like LSU is bad, and it’s not like it’s limping. It lost the SEC Championship to Alabama by one, won four straight before that, and was playing good enough to think it could make some noise in this thing.
St. Bonaventure doesn’t do much to take the ball away and force mistakes, it doesn’t take a lot of three, it doesn’t get to the free throw line, and it’s just okay on the boards. The offensive pop isn’t there to keep up with the Tigers if and when they get on any sort of a roll.
Really, it comes down to this. You’re getting a team that almost won the SEC Championship +1.5 against a team that didn’t really prove it could beat anyone this year.
It’s okay to go full elitist sometimes.
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