Winners Club: Picks and Rankings for Second Weekend of March Madness

Plus, fantasy baseball preparation and fantasy football trade impact.

There was a brief lull in the college basketball schedule Tuesday and today. But the men’s NCAA tournament returns on Thursday and the women’s bracket resumes Friday night.

The NBA slate kept hoops fans entertained, though. Trae Young made his return to Madison Square Garden, where he ripped out Knicks fans’ hearts last summer, and went for 45 points in a Hawks win Tuesday night. And Nikola Jokic added to his case to repeat as MVP with a 30-point, 14-rebound showing in a crucial Nuggets victory against the Clippers.

There are 11 games around the NBA tonight with some key matchups taking place as the playoff races zero in ahead of the final day of the regular season, April 5. But this weekend, our focus shifts back to collegiate basketball, which is where we begin today.

The Madness Marches On

The field gets whittled down quickly in March. Sixteen teams remain—nine different seeds and eight different conferences are represented. Who has the most steam heading into the second weekend?

Kevin Sweeney ranked the remaining teams in the men’s field 1-16.

Gene J. Puskar/AP

Eight teams take the court Thursday night with a trip to the Elite Eight on the line.

No. 4 Arkansas vs. No. 1 Gonzaga (-9.5)

No. 11 Michigan vs. No. 2 Villanova (-5)

No. 3 Texas Tech vs. No. 2 Duke (+1)

No. 5 Houston vs. No. 1 Arizona (-1.5)

Frankie Taddeo has picks and insight for a few of those games and some important statistics from the first two rounds:

“In the first round, favorites went 22-10 straight up (SU) but more importantly for sports bettors, underdogs posted a 17-15 against-the-spread (ATS) mark. In the second round, favorites went 11-5 SU and 10-6 ATS.”

The story of the tournament so far has been the No. 15 Saint Peter’s Peacocks, who don’t play until Friday against No. 3 Purdue. Our writers discussed if they would take everyone’s favorite underdog (+12.5 vs. the Boilermakers) to advance to the Elite Eight or beyond.

Most said no, but a few think the Cinderella run can keep going for Saint Peter’s.

And now that your March Madness bracket is a complete and utter mess, take advantage of the opportunity to repick the field now that just 16 teams remain. Our writers did so after popular Final Four picks No. 2 Kentucky, No. 5 Iowa and No. 1 Baylor all bowed out early. See how their second chance Final Fours shake out.

MLB Free Agency and Fantasy Impact

The free agency frenzy was more than welcome in Major League Baseball after the stress of the lockout.

Now that ink has dried on deals that sent players to new homes, Jen Piacenti details a few risers and fallers in fantasy, including Colorado’s Kris Bryant and San Diego’s Luke Voit.

Matt York/AP

Opening Day is just a few weeks away, which means it’s time to get fantasy baseball leagues up and running, now that the season (real and fantasy) is a full go.

Shawn Childs and Piacenti have a slew of articles to prepare your team for the season. Visit the 2022 fantasy baseball draft kit for player rankings and projections, explanations of fantasy stats and key metrics, draft strategies, average draft position and reviews of expert drafts.

In Other News

NBA Betting Futures: Robin Lundberg and I discussed the value of betting the Suns (+333), Nets (+600) and Heat (+1000) to win the NBA Finals in June. There’s value in each, even with Phoenix being a heavy favorite, but Miami is the best bang for your buck at this point in the season.

Fantasy Impact of Matt Ryan’s Trade to Indy: The former MVP is joining the stacked AFC in a winnable division with better weapons and a better line than he’s worked with in a long time. Stock is up for Colts skill position players and down in Atlanta.

What the Robert Woods Trade Means for Fantasy: The Rams no longer needed Woods’ services after acquiring Allen Robinson and he was dealt to the Titans. The trade improves Robinson’s fantasy prospects in L.A. and Woods’ in Tennessee.

Nets’ Offense Excels on the Road with Irving: Brooklyn is 16-19 at home, where Kyrie Irving cannot play. But on the road, the Nets are an historically good offense. That will matter come playoff time, where it looks like the eighth-place Nets will not have home-court advantage.

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That’s all for today. Thanks for reading Winners Club. I’ll be back on Friday with more Sweet 16 picks.