#march-madness

#march-madness

The men's NCAA Basketball Tournament begins on Tuesday, March 17 with two of the First Four matchups. These are the four games that are used to determine the final four teams in the main 64-team bracket. To some, they're known as the "play-in games" although they've officially been part of the men's tournament since 2011.

Bart Torvik's T-Rank is such a staple within the college basketball community that the predictive team ranking metric is on the list of criteria that the NCAA Selection Committee uses to determine the field. But Bart Torvik goes much deeper than just one number. It's a hub for team and player statistics, with a deep repository of free data.

Underdog Fantasy is primarily known as a daily fantasy sports platform, but it has grown into one of the more versatile options for college basketball. During March Madness, Underdog typically offers player pick markets where you select whether a specific player will go over or under a projected stat line. These picks usually cover categories like points, rebounds, assists, three-pointers made, and combined stats like points plus rebounds plus assists.

Charleston (SC) is outscoring opponents by 16.4 points per game with a +509 scoring differential overall. It puts up 74.5 points per game (44th in college basketball) and gives up 58.1 per contest (33rd in college basketball). The Cougars post 14.2 more points than the Pride allow (60.3).

Michigan's +607 scoring differential (outscoring opponents by 18.4 points per game) is a result of scoring 87.3 points per game (10th in college basketball) while giving up 68.9 per contest (56th in college basketball). The Wolverines score 17.2 more points than the Boilermakers give up (70.1).

Duke outscores opponents by 19.6 points per game (scoring 82.5 per game to rank 47th in college basketball while allowing 62.9 per contest to rank third in college basketball) and has a +647 scoring differential overall.

The Dupont Circle bar is playing the tournament across 15 screens with the volume on. Pair game play with $13 cheesesteak egg rolls, $13 smoked chicken nachos, $7 Miller Lite, and $10 Tito's palomas.

Kent State averages 85.6 points per game (17th in college basketball) while giving up 79.9 per contest (328th in college basketball). It has a +176 scoring differential overall and outscores opponents by 5.7 points per game. The 85.6 points the Golden Flashes average are 7.2 more than the Bobcats allow.