Many sports fans are looking towards the Final Four this weekend in the NCAA Tournament, but another Final Four starts tonight with the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The early matchup between Old Dominion and Michigan involves a CAA squad from a conference that has suddenly gained national prominence thanks to George Masons amazing Cinderella run. The late game tonight features last years NIT champion in South Carolina as the Gamecocks try to win back-to-back titles. Head coach Dave Odom looks to make the NIT finals for the fourth time in the past eight seasons as he also won the tournament in 2000 with Wake Forest and lost in the finals in 2002 with South Carolina. OLD DOMINION (-1, 136) vs. MICHIGAN 7:00 pm ET (espn2) An interesting line move in this game as Michigan opened as a 2-point favorite and enough money has come in on Old Dominion this week to move the Monarchs to a 1-point favorite. It is very likely that the Big Tens poor showing and the Colonial Athletic Associations strong showing in the NCAA Tournament, especially George Masons shocking upset of Connecticut on Sunday, has played a large role in this line move. All six Big Ten teams failed to make it past second round in the Big Dance, while CAA representative NC-Wilmington held a 14-point lead over George Washington and George Mason has defeated Connecticut, North Carolina, and fellow Big Ten squad Michigan State. Old Dominion was a preseason favorite to win the CAA title, but this veteran Monarch squad underachieved this year. ODU has turned things around in the NIT with an impressive road upset win at Colorado and a home win over Manhattan. Perhaps the Monarchs most impressive victory was their 61-51 win at Hofstra last Wednesday considering the Pride had a 21-game home winning streak and had beaten George Mason twice in the past month. While the bettors seem to be backing Old Dominion, keep in mind that Michigan is better than their overall record and season statistics indicate as the Wolverines battled numerous injuries during the course of the season. Three of the teams top five scorers were absent at different times over the past couple of months, but now Dion Harris (11.5 ppg), Lester Abram (10.7 ppg), and Chris Hunter (8.0 ppg) are all back in the lineup together. SOUTH CAROLINA (-2, 124 ) vs. LOUISVILLE 9:20 pm ET (espn2) A strong improvement down the stretch is why both South Carolina and Louisville reached the NIT Final Four. Louisville is 7-1 ATS over their past eight games, while South Carolina is a perfect 8-0 ATS during the same span. South Carolinas road to New York is more impressive as the Gamecocks needed to win back-to-back games as a road underdog and are now playing their third straight game away from home. South Carolina was fortunate to catch a Western Kentucky squad without their starting point guard, Courtney Lee, in the opening round after the Gamecocks had played four games in four days and barely lost to Florida in the SEC Tournament three days earlier. After the easy 74-55 home victory over the Hilltoppers, the Gamecocks notched a 69-68 overtime win at Florida State and then garnered another close road win at Cincinnati 65-62. The Gamecocks were once again fortunate as two of the Bearcats top scorers, James White and Jihad Muhammad, were declared ineligible only hours before tip-off. Louisvilles road to the NIT Final Four has been easier as the Cardinals were able to play their first three tournament games at home on a strong home court where Louisville went 19-3 SU this season. The most recent win was an impressive 74-56 blowout of a Missouri State team that many experts felt should have made the Field of 65. Louisville has struggled away from home this season, going just 2-9 SU in road and neutral court games. The Cardinals rely heavily on the three-point shot as over 41 percent of their field goal attempts come from beyond the arc. They should have success against a suspect South Carolina perimeter defense that allowed 36.2 percent from three-point range this season (versus opponents that averaged just 35.7 percent overall). STEVE MERRIL is a professional sports handicapper and a documented member of The Professional Handicappers League. Get his Premium plays here. |
