Ohio State Advances To Sweet Sixteen In Betting Upset - 03-18-07
March 18 - A number one seed came perilously close to elimination in 2007 March Madness action yesterday, but even though Ohio State ultimately advanced in overtime against Xavier it was still a major betting upset as the underdogs got the ATS cover.
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It looked like the first true Cinderella story at this year's Men's NCAA Tournament when Xavier held a 9-point lead with under three minutes to play. With 9 seconds left Xavier was still up by 2 points with 2 free throws to come, and Ohio State's star player Greg Oden had fouled out.
But Xavier connected with only 1 of the 2 free throws and Ohio State drained a 3 point shot to tie it up and send the game to overtime. That clearly broke the spirit of Xavier and Ohio State ended up winning by a comfortable 7 points.
From a sports betting perspective it wasn't quite comfortable enough. The line for the game closed at 7.5 points in Las Vegas to 8.5 points at Bodog.com, and the final result was a disaster for anyone who sided with the #1 seed.
The Buckeyes were the first team through to the Sweet Sixteen stage of the Tournament but were hardly convincing in getting there. Our feeling is that they will be fortunate to get to the Final Four and unlikely to win it all.
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