March Madness if here, and major Conference Tournaments get underway this week, with Selection Sunday on the horizon. Make sure you’re keeping your eyes on the DraftKings Sportsbook betting splits when doing your research, available for free on DK Network.
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Big Ten Conference Tournament Winner
The Big Ten Tournament is a tough bracket that features a lot of capable winners. Michigan State has been the hot team to end the regular season, but I have to question Sparty’s ability to stay hot for this long — through a conference tournament and all the way into the NCAA Tournament. Would winning the conference tournament improve MSU to a 1-seed? It feels like Tom Izzo and company are close to locked into a 2-seed without much to gain.
Maryland has been a popular pick on the bottom half of the bracket, and a team I do really like. The Terps have a very talented starting five, but lack depth — which isn’t ideal when you have to play everyday in a conference tournament. That left me looking for a “sleeper” on the bottom half of the bracket that can make a run to the title game. I landed on Purdue.
The path to get to a matchup against Maryland is pretty favorable for the Boilermakers. They’ll face the winner of a USC/Rutgers matchup, and will be a sizable favorite. Assuming they advance, next up would be a Michigan team that’s really been struggling. All those close wins have caught up to the Wolverines, who have now dropped three in a row. I’d favor the lower-seeded Boilermakers in that one, particularly with the tournament taking place in Indianapolis — which should provide a semi-home floor for Purdue.
Purdue is more than capable of competing with Maryland on a “neutral” floor, and has the bigs and guards to challenge the Terps. Maybe more importantly, Purdue has the depth, so playing its third game in three days shouldn’t be an issue in that matchup. The Boilermakers have terrific veteran guard play, and are a very good team at the free throw line — both of which I put a lot of value in come March. They ended the season with a bad loss at Illinois, so they come into the Big Ten Tournament hungry.
Purdue has as good a chance as anyone on the bottom of the bracket to make a run to the Big Ten Championship Game, which at +650 creates strong value. Then we can see if Michigan State is waiting there, or perhaps a lesser opponent that would maybe even leave Purdue favored. The Boilermakers have to play one extra game compared to the top-four seeds, which leaves them at the longer price. But Purdue has the depth and the horses to overcome that, which makes +650 an attractive price.
Big Ten Pick: PURDUE (+650) – Risk 0.5-units to win 3.25-units
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All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.
The contents contained in this article do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment.
