Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: Michigan State and North Carolina battle for the NCAA Tournament crown, and teams around baseball start their campaigns.
Tipping off on the hardwood . . .
The NBA has a rare night off on Monday to give the hoops spotlight to the NCAA Tournament’s championship game. The league returns with nine games Tuesday.
Finishing off the Madness . . .
Michigan State will be gunning for the upset on Monday night when they take on North Carolina in the championship game of this year’s NCAA Tournament at Detroit’s Ford Field. The Spartans bounced Connecticut by a final score of 82-73 in their Final Four meeting on Saturday, getting 21 points from Kalin Lucas and 18 points from Raymar Morgan. The Huskies had been listed as 4.5-point faves at BetUs Sportsbook.
North Carolina had no trouble getting past Villanova in their half of the Final Four on Saturday as Ty Lawson scored 22 points in an 83-69 victory. Wayne Ellington was good for 20 points in that contest, while Tyler Hansbrough picked up 18 points and 11 rebounds. The Tar Heels managed to cover that 7.5-point spread.
The oddsmakers opened the Tar Heels as a 6.5-point favorite to win the title on Monday night, but that line quickly moved to North Carolina -7.5 at Bet Online. The total for the game is sitting at 152 points. The Michigan State/UConn matchup on Saturday went OVER the posted total of 134.5, while UNC/Villanova played UNDER the listed 160-point total. Tipoff for Monday night’s college hoops finale is 9:21pm ET.
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Who covers?
A sweep of Final 4 Wise Guys on North Carolina and Michigan State means the Dream Team of GodsTips, anchor of OffshoreInsiders.com is 8-2 the last 10 in the Big Dance. Make that 10-2 after we again, yes again sweep the National Championship side and total. We start out baseball where we left off the last quarter century—underdog Atlanta wins.
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Sports headlines…
Sean Miller is leaving Xavier to become the head coach at Arizona…In what used to be the traditional opener, at press time the NY Mets and Cincinnati Reds are in a pitcher’s duel. We are monitoring it in 700 WLW now. Get all the baseball betting information.
Meeting up on the diamond . . .
The Yankees will roll out their new ace pitcher, the expensive CC Sabathia, when they open their season late on Monday afternoon in Baltimore. The lefthander went 17-10 overall in 2008 with a 2.70 ERA, but he was a stellar 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA after being traded from the Indians to the Brewers. The O’s will counter with their ace, righthander Jeremy Guthrie, who went 10-12 with a 3.63 ERA last year.
The Red Sox will host the Rays in the marquee American League matchup on Monday, with Boston’s Josh Beckett (12-10, 4.03 ERA in 2008) taking on Tampa Bay’s James Shields (14-8, 3.56 ERA). Elsewhere around the Junior Circuit it’ll be Kansas City at the White Sox, Cleveland at Texas, Seattle at Minnesota, Oakland at the Angels, and Detroit at Toronto. Righthander Roy Halladay, who won 20 games last season, will get the ball for the Blue Jays on Monday night.
A dozen National League clubs also take to the field on Monday, with the Mets at Cincinnati, Colorado at Arizona, Washington at Florida, Pittsburgh at St. Louis, the Cubs at Houston, and the Dodgers at San Diego. Los Angeles will use righthander Hiroki Kuroda to begin their campaign; he was 9-10 with a 3.73 ERA in 2008. San Diego will counter with righthander Jake Peavy, who is coming off a season in which he went just 10-11 with a 2.85 ERA for a last-place Padres club.
Taking a trip around the rink . . .
There are just three games on the National Hockey League’s schedule for Monday, with Detroit at Buffalo, Los Angeles at Calgary, and Ottawa at Montreal. The Canadiens romped to a 6-2 win over the rival Maple Leafs on Saturday night, getting 36 saves from Jaroslav Halak and four points from Alexei Kovalev. Habs defensemen Andrei Markov and Mathieu Schneider both left the matchup with Toronto with injuries, but both are expected to be able to play Monday night.
Rounding out the Roundup . . .
Golf’s biggest event is on the schedule for this week, with Tiger Woods seeking another Masters victory. Woods entered the week as the big 2/1 Vegas favorite to pick up the green jacket; the tournament begins at Augusta Thursday morning.