Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Phillies and Braves begin the baseball season, the Cavaliers meet the Spurs, and the Sprint Cup Series races in Texas. The women’s Final 4 goes today as well.
NCAA Final 4 Odds Men’s and Women’s
The college basketball odds sees Michigan State getting 7.5 from North Carolina in the men’s National Championship game. The Tar Heels are a prohibitive -390 moneyline favorite.
In the NCAA Women’s Final 4, the odds on Louisville-Oklahoma has the Sooners -4 according to BetUs Sportsbook. Stanford-Connecticut is the nightcap and Bet Online has Connecticut -10.
Tipping off on the hardwood . . .
San Antonio at Cleveland is just one of the marquee matchups on the NBA’s slate for Sunday. The Spurs and Cavaliers met back on February 27 in San Antonio, with Cleveland rolling to a 97-86 road win as a 4.5-point favorite. LeBron James scored 30 points and picked up 14 rebounds for the Cavaliers in that matchup, while Tony Parker led a Spurs team missing Tim Duncan with 11 points
It’s Portland at Houston and Utah at New Orleans in the biggest Western Conference contests on Sunday, while the desperate Suns will be on the road looking for a win against the Mavericks. Making up the rest of the day‘s schedule: New York at Toronto, Charlotte at Detroit, Philadelphia at New Jersey, Indiana at Oklahoma City, Golden State at Sacramento, and the Clippers at the Lakers. Kobe Bryant and company beat up on their co-tenant 108-97 back on January 21
Meeting up on the diamond . . .
The Phillies will host the Braves to get the 2009 baseball season started on Sunday night, with the first pitch scheduled for 8:05pm ET. With Cole Hamels on the shelf with a sore elbow the Phillies will send Brett Myers to the hill on Sunday night; Myers was 10-13 with a 4.55 ERA last season. The Braves will counter Myers with Derek Lowe, who they signed as a free agent over the winter. Lowe had a 14-11 record for the Dodgers in 2008, with a 3.24 ERA over his 34 outings.
The top baseball handicapper celebrates Palm Sunday by putting the sportsbooks money in the palm of bettors. GodsTips, which in the Cadillac Club scorephone days made it clear they are the best ever with baseball picks has handicapping specials up for baseball season.
Taking a trip around the rink . . .
The NHL offers up six games on Sunday, including Minnesota at Detroit in the 12:30pm ET national broadcast. The Red Wings last played on Wednesday night against the Blues, losing 5-4 thanks to four St. Louis goals from David Backes. Ty Conklin stopped just 33 of 38 shots for Detroit in that defeat. The Wild are below the playoff cutoff line in the West, and can’t afford a loss Sunday afternoon
Rounding out the National Hockey League schedule for Sunday: Atlanta at Washington, Pittsburgh at Florida, Colorado at Vancouver, San Jose at Anaheim, and Chicago at Columbus. The Blue Jackets are on track to make the playoffs this season for the first time in franchise history, and they beat the rival Hawks twice during March (5-3 on the road March 13, and then 4-3 at home March 18).
Rounding out the Roundup . . .
The Sprint Cup Series will be at Texas Motor Speedway for the Samsung 500 on Sunday afternoon, with Jimmie Johnson looking for his second consecutive victory. Johnson is listed at 5/1 on the Vegas odds chart to visit victory lane on Sunday, while Carl Edwards (who won both Texas events last season) is at 4/1. Other notables and their odds to take the checkered flag: Kyle Busch (5/1), Jeff Gordon (7/1), Matt Kenseth (8/1), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (15/1), Tony Stewart (18/1).
Finally, the drivers of Formula 1 will take to the track for the second weekend in a row on Sunday when they compete in the Malaysian Grand Prix. The Brawn-Mercedes team placed its drivers 1-2 on the podium last week in Australia, with Jenson Button taking the checkered flag and Rubens Barrichello finishing in second place. Lewis Hamilton originally finished fourth, but was later disqualified.
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