Sports Betting Weekend: Sweet Madness

The long weekend gets started with the second day of the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament on Friday. Two No. 1 seeds are in action, with the Virginia Cavaliers taking on the Iowa State Cyclones and the North Carolina Tar Heels facing the Indiana Hoosiers.

The Cavaliers are a 5-point favorite at online sportsbook Bovada which could bode well for them. Virginia has won their last four games both straight up and against the spread when favored by five points or less. The Hoosiers are a 5.5-point underdog, but have solid history against UNC at 3-1 SU and 4-0 ATS in their last four.

The other two March Madness games on Friday are the No. 7 Wisconsin Badgers versus the No. 6 Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the No. 11 Gonzaga Bulldogs versus the No. 10 Syracuse Orange.

The Irish are a small 1-point favorite at Bovada, but they’re up against a Badgers squad that has covered in six of their last eight games in the Sweet 16. Syracuse may be the higher seed, but they’re a 4-point underdog versus Gonzaga and in their last five games as a ‘dog they are 0-5 SU and 3-2 ATS.

In NBA hoops this weekend the game to watch is on Saturday when the San Antonio Spurs visit the Oklahoma City Thunder. In two matchups this season each team has picked up a win SU, but the Thunder are 2-0 ATS.

Also on tap in the NBA this weekend, the league’s best takes on the league’s worst when the Golden State Warriors host the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday. In January the Warriors barely got past the 76ers 108-105 as a huge 17-point favorite.

On the ice the surging Pittsburgh Penguins have a busy weekend coming up with back-to-back road games against the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers.

Heading into Thursday night’s action the Penguins had won six straight games. Pittsburgh is 2-0 against Detroit this season and 2-4 in their last six trips to New York.