NCAA Tourney Picks – Worst Teams against the Spread

When making your NCAA Tourney Picks this March, remember, all teams aren’t created equally.

As a matter of fact, quite a few clubs enter with less than impressive resumes, especially against the spread. Here are a few to be very wary of:

VCU Rams (23-11 SU, 13-20 ATS): Of every team that made this year’s NCAA Tournament, none was more surprising than the VCU Rams. Breaking down their schedule, they really don’t have any impressive wins other than UCLA back in November. And against fellow CAA teams which made the NCAA Tournament (George Mason and Old Dominion) they were a combined 2-3 this season. Wait, why are they in again?

Still, the Rams are in, and when you’re making your NCAA Tourney picks be very wary of them. This is a club which went just 13-20 against the spread this season, and a meager 2-6 against the spread in the last eight. What’s even more concerning is that they were just 2-3 straight up in their last five overall.

There’s not a lot to like with this VCU Rams team, and ultimately, we can’t see them making it past USC in their opening round game Tuesday night.

Kansas State Wildcats (22-10 SU, 11-15): While Kansas State made a valiant run at the end of the season just to make it to the Big Dance, that doesn’t take away from the fact that they were a betting headache all year. Keep that in mind when making your NCAA Tourney Picks.

To their credit, Kansas State did turn things around, winning their last six regular season games, to clinch up this bid, and did beat both Kansas and Texas in the process. But K-State did have a stretch where they lost five of seven earlier in the season, and the Wildcats also had three losses this year against NIT team Colorado.

Again, the Wildcats are playing better of late, and did cover in four of their last six games. Still, they were just 1-4 straight up on neutral courts this year, an ominous sign, especially going against a 30-3 Utah State team in the first round of the tournament.

West Virginia (20-11 SU, 12-16 ATS): Finally, we’ve got Big East heavyweight West Virginia. Much like Kansas State, this was a club that made a deep run in the NCAA Tournament last year, advancing all the way to the Final Four. This year, it’s been a different story though.

The Mountaineers are certainly no lock in the NCAA Tourney Picks, as they enter this one a miserable 3-7 against the spread in their last 10, even as they went a respectable 5-5 straight up over that stretch. A first round Big East Tournament loss to Marquette certainly didn’t little to calm anyone’s fears.

West Virginia has the skill and talent to beat anybody, but the youth and relative inexperience to lose to anyone too.

They’re a very dangerous team to take in the NCAA Tourney Picks.