Multiple times each week, The Gaming Juice’s resident action seeker, Brad Evans, will attempt to blast the ‘books with his favorite selections on sides, totals, props, teasers or parlays. As always, fade or follow Brad’s picks — fading is encouraged — but that’s up to you.
Sledgehammer Special — Colorado -2.5 vs. Boise State (-110, MGM)
Bill Walton loves his bike, random fjord in Washington and everything Conference of Champions.
Probably sitting cross-legged in his teepee with incense bellowing in the foreground, he’s reflecting on his favorite authors, joy of peanut butter and unforgettable NCAA Tournament moments forged by Pac-12 members.
Goodbye Pac-12, old West Coast friend. Your after-dark action, accompanied with Walton’s colorful calls, always accentuated the gummy high.
With an unexpected four teams in its final March appearance — Arizona, Washington State, Oregon and Colorado — the Pac-12 is hoping to go out with a bang. As for the peaking Buffs, they could get the conference starting off strong Wednesday night in Dayton.
[ NCAA Tournament picks: Brad's Bracket | East | Midwest | South | West ]
Reaching its pinnacle at the most opportune time, Tad Boyle’s bunch is a First Four participant not to immediately dismiss. Over the last 30 days, Colorado ranks No. 13 overall, according to BartTorvik’s advanced analytics. As an unsurprising result, the Buffaloes enter the Big Dance having won eight of their last nine games.
Equipped with locked and loaded gunners, CU is a fantastic offensive team. Since mid-February, it’s No. 40 nationally in effective field-goal percentage offense, shooting 52.9% from two and a blistering 40.5% from three. In fact, KJ Simpson, Tristan da Silva, Cody Williams, J’Vonne Hadley and Luke O’Brien all shoot at least 37% beyond the arc. Also, the Buffaloes are impactful inside the 3-point line, where 54.1% of their scoring occurs, and they’re solid at the free-throw line, where they shoot 77.8%.
Defensively, Colorado is no pushover. Over its last eight games, it ranks No. 82 in effective field-goal percentage D, surrendering only 24.6% from three. Extremely long and athletic — the starting five ranges in height from 6-foot-2 to 6-11 — the Buffs are capable of capturing multiple NCAA Tournament wins.
As for Boise State, it's an under-seeded team with no business being in Dayton. Standing at 7-3 in true road games, it performed quite well away from Potato Land.
Not far behind Colorado in BartTorvik’s rankings over the past month at No. 22, the Broncos are a respectable No. 135 in eFG offense and No. 156 in eFG defense over that span. They’re fierce on the glass, too. O’Mar Stanley, Cam Martin and Tyson Degenhart are why they’re inside the top 75 nationally in offensive and defensive rebounding percentage.
Colorado, which averages a ridiculous 1.209 points per possession since Feb. 17, is a volcano spewing magma. The Buffaloes have better athletes. They have better weapons. And they’re sizzling at the perfect time. For those reasons, I’ll run with Ralphie.
Season record: 20-17, +5.58 units
BONUS NIT TIME — Indiana State -7.5 vs. SMU (+100, MGM)
DOUBLE BONUS TIME — Grambling-Montana State UNDER 135 (-110, MGM)