Picking up the pace
Champ Week shifts into a higher gear today.
Two more NCAA Tournament automatic bids were decided Monday night, and four more conferences will crown champions tonight as the 68-team field continues to take shape.
Meanwhile, the week’s biggest tournaments will begin tipping off, including the Big Ten, ACC and Big 12.
NCAA bids on the line tonight
Horizon League
Wright State (-3.5) vs. Detroit Mercy
7 p.m. ET (ESPN)
CAA
Monmouth (+5.5) vs. Hofstra
7 p.m. ET (CBSSN)
MAAC
Siena (+3.5) vs. Merrimack
9 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
West Coast
Gonzaga (-6.5) vs. Santa Clara
9 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Note: Long Island (-6.5) meets Mercyhurst in the Northeast final tonight (7, ESPN), but Mercyhurst is ineligible to get a bid. So Long Island is in.
Monday's champions
Southern: Furman (5 seed / +425)
Sun Belt: Troy (1 seed / +170)
Total automatic bids claimed: 8 of 31
Power conferences starting today
Thanks to Adam Burke and Zach Cohen, previews for all the tournaments starting this week are posted in our Conference Tournament Hub.
More betting insight for Tuesday's board
Greg "Hoops" Peterson offers his Best Bets on today's action. 👉 Read here
Later this morning: Adam will post his top plays and Josh Appelbaum will break down the money movement. 👉 Read here
There is one play today for "The Angle." 👉 Pro subscribers go here
Get real-time steam alerts from the DonBest Screen. Sign up now for a 7-day free trial at go.donbest.com. Use the promo code VSIN10 for 10% off your initial subscription.
Zach Cohen's NBA Report
Shorthanded OKC downs Denver
The Thunder closed -3.5 on Monday after opening -7.5, as Chet Holmgren and Alex Caruso joined Isaiah Hartenstein and Jalen Williams on the inactive list.
Oklahoma City controlled much of the game before things got chaotic late. Leading by four with 13.9 seconds left, Jaylin Williams committed an off-ball foul on Jamal Murray while Nikola Jokic launched a three. Jokic hit it, Murray made the free throw, and suddenly the game was tied 126-126 with 8.5 seconds remaining.
Fortunately for OKC, they have the league MVP. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander calmly buried a stepback three for the game-winner.
Tuesday Blockbusters
The NBC/Peacock doubleheader should be awesome.
First, the Spurs (-3.5) host the Celtics in a matchup between two of the league’s hottest teams. Since Jan. 1, San Antonio ranks first in Efficiency Differential (+10.8) while Boston is third (+10.2).
Then the Timberwolves (-1.5) visit the Lakers in a rematch of last season’s lopsided playoff series.
Tanking Parlay Back on the Table
If you’re looking for a tanking angle:
Pistons (-1000) vs. Nets (Detroit lost to Brooklyn last week)
Heat (-1050) vs. Wizards
Warriors (-218) vs. Bulls
That’s a pretty tempting three-teamer.
👉 Zach's Best Bets and Steve Makinen's Analytics Report will hit around mid-morning on our NBA page.
MLS bans two players for gambling
Major League Soccer handed lifetime bans to two former Columbus Crew players after an investigation found they bet on MLS matches, including their own games. The league said one wager involved a prop bet on a player receiving a yellow card, which ultimately occurred.
MLS said it found no evidence that match results were manipulated, but the case has renewed scrutiny around in-game prop betting markets, particularly wagers tied to individual player actions such as cards.
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