Sean Green, Co-founder of the Sports Gambling Podcast Network, discusses which teams he's leaning towards and away from, who the breakout stars will be, and explains why UCLA, a No. 4 seed, will leave New Orleans with the title.

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Which Teams to Bet On in NCAA Tournament, and Which to Avoid

Mhm. Welcome back to cheddar vets brought to you by bet. Mgm. When it comes to March Madness early round upsets always generate plenty of buzz. But where should you be looking for them While the eight versus nine seed matchups are virtual toss ups, you can find plenty of upset potential with the 10 11 and 12 seats Who have historically won their first round matchups more than 30% of the time. But don't get too carried away when it comes to major upsets here. A 16 seed has only defeated a one seed once in tournament history when UCC stunned Virginia back in 2018. So joining us now to further discuss Shawn Green, co founder of the sports gambling podcast network. So sean it's Coach K's last ride but the Blue devils haven't looked too hot recently. How worried are you for them? Uh Yeah, I mean I'm not that worried because I'm fading Duke. So I think if you're a Duke backer you should be, you should be a little bit worried. I mean, you know, we haven't seen anything out of this Duke team so far this season that shows they have the ability to kind of you know uh succeed under pressure. We saw it with that big game against UNC we saw in the A. C. C. Championship game. So I think they could be a little tight coming into this tournament and I wouldn't be surprised if they have an early exit. Alright, so which teams are you highest on going into the weekend? The first weekend. Yes. First weekend, as far as teams I'm looking to bet. I do like providence a lot, you know, laying like minus two minus 1.5. I mean that's a historically low spread for a four seed and I know everyone's on South Dakota State. The, the public is all over South Dakota State. I've seen that As one of the biggest liabilities for round one. So I love fading the public, sorry public. But give me providence. I really enjoy them. And if you're looking for a uh, a big money line dog, that could be fun. Give me the Richmond spiders plus 4 50 I've seen on the money line to beat Iowa who coming off the big 10 tournament and we see this all the time. These teams that win the major conference tournament, that's kind of their super bowl and then they have a letdown as soon as they get in the tournament and this Richmond team is very good. I think the spiders will be live dogs. Wait, by the way, providence has been known to be such a lucky team. Do you think they can keep it going through March? Well, you know, that's the thing like the advanced metrics say, oh, this is the luckiest team of all time and they're bound to their bound to mess it up. But to me, hey, they're lucky. They're on a nice streak. They, and they really got their butts kicked in the Big East tournament. So I think their coach, I really like their coach. I think he's been chewing him out. They have a ton of rest so I I like them too win this first week and go on a bit of a run. Alright stick into it. So which teams have the most Cinderella appeal you think? Yeah I mean again kind of sticking with that providence team. I do think everyone kind of had them as the Cinderella then they lost bad in the Big East and and no one wants to pick them. So I think they're kind of fun as far as other teams that could make a little bit of a run. I do like Akron although again they have a super tough game uh you know first matchup against U. C. L. A. If they can somehow beat U. C. L. A. They're an interesting a 13 seed. So we all know that games are won and lost by the players but there's something to be said for knowing how to coach under that pressure that you experience in March. So what coaches would you never bet against in the tournament? Well this guy, he's seen a tournament turn a ton of tournament pressure. I mean Coach Izzo he's a diamond. I love betting on Coach Tom Izzo especially if they get that first win and coach Izzo from like the thursday to the saturday. That quick turnaround. A great coaches really succeeded and Tom Izzo I think Michigan state has the most tournament upsets all time and it's all thanks to coach Tom Izzo so especially where they're coming in a year like this year where they're not getting a ton of hype, they're not considered a massive favorite. I really like Tom Izzo. Well do you have faith in first year coaches at big schools like hubert Davis at U. N. C. Tommy Lloyd to Arizona and Mark Adams at texas Tech to win these tight tournament games on their first go round. You know, I I do think it's going to be a bit of a struggle for U. N. C. For Arizona texas tech. I do like I do like what I've seen at the marc Adams as a coach and again I think they have a well balanced team. They could make a little bit of a run there. But yeah, I'm not super high on Arizona. I mean they are obviously highly seeded U. N. C. I think they could get knocked out in that first game. And uh again texas tech of those teams, I think Mark Adams has the best chance to go on a bit of a run. Is there a player that can catch fire and pretty much single handedly carry their team to the national semifinals this year. Kind of like Kemba walker did for UConn years back. Yeah, I mean I really like Jared bynum again of the providence friars, I think he could carry a team and really, really go on a run. I also really enjoy the coaching there like I was saying with providence but again going back to Akron there's a kid, ali ali that just shoots lights out and if he gets hot and Akron starts winning some games, look out okay, last one quickly. Sean give us your national semifinal teams and your champion. Okay. Now I know I was kind of hyping up, Akron I do like them getting 14 points in round one but assuming U. C. L. A. Can get by them. I have U. C. L. A. Kentucky providence and uh texas. Yeah texas tech in my final four. So that's that's what I'm leaning a texas tech, U. C. L. A. Villanova and providence. Those are my four. And then in the championship I have U. C. L. A. Winning it all. I love the experience. Yeah. And then you know this team came back for one reason to win the tournament. Very experienced team And again if you look at historically the teams that win the championship, our team that's top 20 and often some defensive efficiency. That is the U. C. L. A Bruins. They have the tourney experience kind of played a little bit of possum during the regular season but I think they turn it on here so give me U. C. L. A. Winning it all in in a pretty fun future if you can find them at like 2025 to 1. Alright. I like this strategy Shawn Green, thank you so much for hopping on co founder of the sports gambling podcast network.