Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: Dwyane Wade and the Heat battle the Celtics, the Blackhawks meet the Blue Jackets, and action continues in the NIT.

NCAA Tournament Odds

In addition to the usual March Madness college basketball betting odds for the individual games, as well as odds to make it to the Final 4 betting line and win the Big Dance, sports bettors can wager on the lowest ranked seed to advance beyond the first round and to the Final Four. What No. 2 seed will be the first eliminated from the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, which mid-major conference will be the most successful and more prop betting odds for March Madness are up. 

The march toward Madness . . .

The NCAA Tournament begins its first-round action on Thursday, but college hoops fans can still get their fix on Wednesday with games in the NIT, CBI, and CollegeInsider.com tournaments. There are eight matchups in the NIT on Wednesday, with Miami at Providence, Duquesne at Virginia Tech, Jacksonville at Florida, Tenn-Martin at Auburn, Bowling Green at Creighton, Illinois State at Kansas State, Georgetown at Baylor, and Northwestern at Tulsa to end the night.

In the CBI on Wednesday it’s St. John’s at Richmond, Buffalo at Wichita State, Charleston at Troy, Vermont at Wisconsin-Green Bay, Houston at Oregon State, and Boise State at Stanford. Meanwhile, the CollegeInsider.com event offers up Belmont at Evansville, Mount St. Mary’s at James Madison, Portland at Pacific, Austin Peay at Bradley, Drake at Idaho, and Citadel at Old Dominion. Those three tourneys continue throughout March, but will be in the Big Dance’s shadow.

March Madness NIT picks and prediction, CBI and College Insider winners

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Tipping off on the hardwood  . . .

The NBA loads up with 11 games on the schedule for Wednesday night, including Dwyane Wade and the Heat on the road in Boston. That pair of Eastern Conference contenders last met on the hardwood on March 11, when the Heat pulled out a 107-99 home victory as a 3.5-point favorite. Wade poured in 32 points for Miami in that win, while Ray Allen led the Celtics’ attack with 27 points.

Also on the NBA schedule for Wednesday: Sacramento at Charlotte, Portland at Indiana, New Jersey at New York, Minnesota at New Orleans, Chicago at Oklahoma City, Denver at Memphis, Orlando at Milwaukee, Philadelphia at Phoenix, Washington at the Clippers, and Detroit at Houston. The Pistons and Rockets met on January 25, with Houston picking up a 108-105 victory in Detroit.

Taking a trip around the rink . . .

There are four games on the National Hockey League schedule for Wednesday night, including the Blackhawks in Columbus for a Central Division matchup. The Hawks and Jackets clashed on Friday, with Antoine Vermette scoring twice in a 5-3 Columbus victory. Rick Nash picked up his 33^rd goal of the season in that game, and Brent Seabrook, Kris Versteeg, and Patrick Kane replied for Chicago.

Rounding out the Wednesday slate: New Jersey at Carolina, Dallas at Calgary, and Nashville at Anaheim. The Predators and Ducks are both still gunning for one of the last playoff spots in the Western Conference, and Nashville will be looking for a repeat of their last meeting; Pekka Rinne stopped 28 of 30 Anaheim shots on February 5 as the Predators rolled to a 4-2 home victory over the Ducks .

Rounding out the Roundup . . .

Finally, the second round of the World Baseball Classic draws closer to a conclusion on Wednesday with action at both Miami‘s Dolphin Stadium and San Diego‘s Petco Park. In Miami it’ll be Venezuela vs. United States, with the winner of that matchup finishing in top spot in Pool 2. In San Diego it’ll be Cuba vs. the loser of Tuesday’s late-night matchup between Japan and Korea, and whoever comes out on top in that game will head to the Pool 1 championship on Thursday.