Thursday, March 23, 2006

Upsets and tight finishes dominated the first weekend of the NCAA men's basketball tournament and the Bodog.com Sportsbook anticipates more of the same excitement as the teams whittle down to the Final Four.

With a record amount of sign-ups and a substantial increase in betting action for the first two rounds of March Madness, Bodog.com bookmakers expect the fierce wagering action to continue this weekend. The Sweet 16 round of the single-elimination college basketball tournament features an unpredictable mix of No. 1 seeds and Cinderella teams.

"No team from the Big Ten Conference survived the first weekend, while schools from smaller conferences put together impressive performances to advance," says Calvin Ayre, Founder and CEO of Bodog.com. "We can expect many more surprises and thrilling games as we count down to finding the nation's top basketball team."

Will the next round of Madness be all about the upset? The lower-seeded teams making noise include No. 11 George Mason, which upset Michigan State and defending national champion North Carolina last weekend to advance in the Washington, D.C. Region. On Friday, the Patriots face another surprise team, the No. 7 Wichita State Shockers, who ended the season for No. 2 seed Tennessee; George Mason is a 2-point favorite.

The other Cinderella in the field, No. 13 Bradley, is a 7-point underdog as it tries to knock off the Oakland Region's top seed, the Memphis Tigers, on Thursday. Memphis and the three other No. 1 seeds (Duke, Connecticut and Villanova) survived the first weekend of play. The four No. 1 seeds have never all advanced to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament. With all the upsets and parity of this year's tournament, could it be that 2006 turns out to be the Year of the No. 1?