Ricky Dimon
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Selection Sunday. Today is the day when we begin filling out brackets. March Madness is officially here.
But first we have some on-court business to tend to before the NCAA Tournament committee can finalize the field of 68. The last five conference tournament championship games in this 2021-22 college basketball season are taking center stage in the afternoon before the committee convenes at 6:00 pm ET.
Let’s take a look at our mega parlay for Sunday.
Davidson -9.5 alternate spread (+240)
Houston -9.5 alternate spread (+230)
Parlay odds: +1022
For this parlay we are going with two favorites against the spread, both on an alternate number. Let’s break down each of the two legs one by one.
Davidson -9.5 alternate spread over Richmond (+240)
Richmond will try to break the hearts of one bubble team and play bid-stealer when it battles Davidson – a shoo-in for an at-large bid if it isn’t an automatic qualifier – for the Atlantic 10 Tournament title on Sunday afternoon. The Spiders have already won three games in Washington, D.C., including a comeback from 15 points down in the second half to stun Dayton in the semifinals. They were aided by an injury to Malachi Smith of the Flyers, as we logged only 18 minutes before exiting.
The Spiders may need some additional help from Davidson, and they probably won’t get it. A 15-3 A-10 record gave the Wildcats the regular-season league title and they have barely broken a sweat in the tournament. Following a double-bye to the quarterfinals, they hammered Fordham by 18 and St. Louis by 15 in games that were nowhere near as close as the scores suggested; they were both all but over by halftime. Led by conference Player of the Year Luka Brakovic, Davidson will likely sweep the season series with Richmond and likely do so in emphatic fashion.
Check out all our college basketball previews and picks for Sunday
Houston -9.5 alternate spread over Memphis (+230)
Memphis and Houston are meeting in the American Athletic Conference Tournament title game. The Tigers are comfortably in the Big Dance thanks to a fine run of form, so that may take some of the urgency off. That’s not to say that any team is going to give anything less than 100% in any championship situation, but their postseason lives do not depend on it.
Houston has been the more consistent team from start to finish this season. The Cougars dropped only three conference games to beat out SMU without too much trouble for the regular-season title. They are the more fundamentally sound team and their tenacious defense could force a more error-prone Memphis squad into more than a few turnovers. Don’t be surprised if Houston runs away with this late and joins Davidson in the double-digit win department.
Check out our Memphis vs Houston preview
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