March Madness betting heads into the ‘Elite 8′ and we’ll start with a heavyweight matchup between SEC entrant Kentucky and Big East representative West Virginia.  Kentucky v. West Virginia–the jokes practically write themselves, don’t they?  Good thing the NCAA tournament doesn’t have  a ‘written test’ (rim shot).  A couple of states where most family trees cross in the middle several times (rim shot).  Seriously, this should be a very good basketball game with the winner heading to the ‘Final Four’.  Based on my pseduo-scientific observations I will have to say this–Kentucky may have race horses and bourbon, but West Virginia has hotter chicks.  Maybe if the Mountaineers make the Final Four they can buy their dance team a second sleeve for their uniforms.

MARCH MADNESS–WEST VIRGINIA VS. KENTUCKY

We haven’t really thought much of Bob Huggins’ West Virginia Mountaineers all season, and had written them off as a team that isn’t worth backing when they leave their home court.  Obviously we were wrong–Huggins has built a tough, battle tested group that can play good defense, force tempo and basically do whatever it takes to win basketball games.  Kentucky, as we’ve discussed, isn’t quite as disciplined and regimented a team because they have so much talent they really don’t need to be.  So can Huggins’ Mountaineers slow down the Wildcats’ pack of future NBA stars?

We think they can.  Kentucky eventually pulled away and covered the spread against Cornell, but clearly they don’t like playing at a slow tempo.  The Big Red pulled within single digits several times in the second half.  The Wildcats could play ‘cat and mouse’ with a team from the Ivy League.  They’ll have a much harder time against West Virginia’s athletes.  Look for West Virginia to force Kentucky into an ugly, half court game and keep this one close.  Don’t be surprised to see the Mountaineers win this one outright.

PLAY WEST VIRGINIA +4 OVER KENTUCKY