Handicapping NCAA Tournament teams who performed poor but won
A win is a win, but an ugly win can be a tell-tell sign of things to come. Especially during the annual NCAA Tournament.
For sports handicappers, these ugly wins can create a real headache when determining whether a teams coming off an ugly win can play better and keep winning.
With that, here are some question that college basketball handicappers need to ask to help determine the ability of a team to bounce back or spiral further downhill.
First, handicappers need to take a look at the team they beat, quickly deciphering whether they won because they other team played bad, was bad or was just seeded lower because of their conference.
If their opponent was definitely dangerous, than an ugly win could be more acceptable. However, if their opponent barely deserved to be there, then it could be a real concern for bettors if a good team struggled to beat them.
Second, why did a team play so poorly?
Was just on factor, like poor defense, or poor shooting. Or was it taking far more fouls than they normally do, or turning the ball over much more than normal? These could be signs a team is slipping.
On the other hand, things like being more aggressive on the boards or shooting threes more during a game, but coming up short, could just be a team testing the waters for a future matchup.
If a college basketball handicapper can clearly identify reasons for a bad performance they can predict whether it is likely to happen again.
With that, a handicapper need to look at whether or not a team is 100 percent healthy.
Is it coming off a grueling NCAA basketball season that has taken its toll? Are there injuries to key players, or key players recovering from injuries, and could still be dealing nagging issues. Players who are playing but aren’t near 100 percent could explain a poor performance.
Finally, how experienced is a team coming off an ugly tournament win and how resilient as it during the regular season?
Are they a team that has shown it can bounce back from hardship during the season?
College basketball teams that have had experience bouncing back are going to be better prepared to bounce back when the pressure is high.
On the other hand, teams that have not shown the ability during the season to shake off are not likely to be a team that can recover even from an ugly win.
A team with a ton of older and experienced players is the more likely to work their way through an ugly win, leaning on its experienced leadership to keep a team focused.
