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Weekly Q&A with Doc's Sports Expert Handicapper Raphael Esparza
by Doc's Sports - 3/21/2017 This season's men's basketball NCAA Tournament moves to the Sweet 16 Round this week , and by the time Sunday night rolls around we will know which four teams will move on to the Final Four after winning their respective region. Doc's Sports expert handicapper Raphael Esparza has been on top of the action in college basketball all season long, and in this week's discussion we will tap into his insider's view of some of the top trending topics surrounding the 2017 Big Dance.


Doc's Sports: There was an interesting mix of big upsets and expected runs by the favorites in the first two rounds of the 2017 NCAA Tournament. Can you give a quick recap of the big winners at the betting windows in Las Vegas so far; the bettors or the books?

RE: From what I have heard, Thursday was pretty much a push with no clear winner. It does look like that most of the books still managed to post a small gain over the course of the entire four days based on a big take from Villanova, Duke and SMU going down in flames as heavily-bet favorites. The lone big win for a betting public that was chasing previous losses was on Sunday night with UCLA covering the four points against Cincinnati.

Doc's Sports: What was more shocking to you, the ACC losing eight of the nine teams it sent to this tournament in the first two rounds or the Big Ten sending three teams to the Sweet 16?

RE: By far it would have to be the Big Ten, which as a conference I was looking fade coming into this tournament. Michigan State hammering Miami and Michigan knocking out Louisville were my two personal highlights, but I am also impressed with both Wisconsin and Purdue. To me, the ACC in basketball is the SEC of football, and both are both highly overrated in my book.

Doc's Sports: Kansas reestablished itself as the favorite to win a national title with most books in town after cruising through its first two tournament games followed by North Carolina as a strong second-favorite. Can you give us one or two teams in the Sweet 16 at longer odds that might have a chance to upset the remaining field?

RE: Kansas probably deserves to be the favorite again with those two dominating wins. I have been touting Gonzaga and Oregon all season long, so I am still pushing for both teams to meet in the national title game. That being said, I might still go with a small play on West Virginia at +1500 given just how good the Mountaineers have looked so far.

Doc's Sports : Turning to the women's NCAA Tournament, everyone knows that Connecticut is an overwhelming favorite to win yet another national title coming out of the left side of the bracket in the Bridgeport Region. Looking at the remaining teams on the right side of the page, which one do you have facing the Huskies in the title game?

RE: I do not think anyone is betting against UConn getting back to the women's title game, but I still think that UCLA has a chance to cover in the next round. As far as my other pick for the title game it would have to be Notre Dame. No team left on that side of the bracket has what it takes to get past the Lady Irish.

Doc's Sports: College basketball continues to dominate the overall sports betting scene this week into this weekend, but is there anything else on your betting radar that has piqued your interest?

RE : The betting event at the top of my list would be Saturday night's rematch for the WBA light heavyweight title between the champ Jorge Linares and challenger Anthony Crolla. Linares landed a few crushing body shots in the last bout to help get the win, but I like Crolla this time around as a +185 underdog. I also like the "over" on 9.5 rounds in a fight that should go the distance.
