2010 March Madness BYU vs. Florida Picks & Predictions

Last Updated on March 18, 2010 8:00 am by drew

BYU-Florida Pick

The real feeling of March Madness kicks off Thursday at 12:20PM ET as

Florida faces off with BYU in the West Regional of the NCAA Tournament.

Bet March Madness
This contest will take place from the
Ford
Center in

Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma. The Cougars are the No. 7 seed while

Florida is the No. 10 seed.
Oddsmakers from online sports book Sportsbook.com have made BYU 5-point favorites over Florida on Thursday afternoon. The over/under has been set at 147.

BYU is 29-5 overall this season and the Cougars finished 13-3 in the Mountain West Conference. The Cougars are making their fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance and 25^th overall in school history. BYU averages 83 points per-game on offense which ranks second in the nation. Defensively, the Cougars allow 65.2 points, which ranks 82^nd. Jimmer Fredette leads BYU, as he averages 21.7 points and 4.7 assists per-game. Fredette shoots 44.8 percent from 3-point land.

Florida is making its first tournament appearance since 2007 and this will be the Gators 15^th overall showing. The Gators are 21-12 on the year and they finished 9-7 in the SEC. Florida posts 71.6 points per-game on offense, ranking 99^th in the NCAA while allowing 65.4 points per-game, which ranks 87^th in the country. Kenny Boynton leads

Florida, scoring 13.6 points per-game. He is one of five Gators that averages in double figures and Chandler Parson and Alex Tyus each average 12 points and 6.8 rebounds per-game.

BYU has always been a puzzling team as they have had reasonable matchups in past tournaments, yet they have yet to win a tournament game since 1993. The Cougars seem to have the right offense and defensive combination to top
Florida, but an off game from Fredette could play into

Florida’s hands, as they have more depth. As surprising as it may sound, BYU may have faced tougher competition in the MWC than
Florida in the SEC and we think the Cougars will have the right game plan and defeat

Florida by more than the 5-point spread that is listed.

Our NCAA Tournament Free Pick for this matchup is: BYU -5 and UNDER 147
March Madness Betting Trends
The total has gone OVER in 4 of

Florida‘s last 6 games

Florida is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games

BYU is 21-4 SU in its last 25 games

The total has gone OVER in 7 of BYU’s last 10 games

BYU is 6-3 ATS in its last 9 games

March Madness Injury Report
BYU

[G] 02/13/2010 – Lamont Morgan Jr. out indefinitely ( Knee ) 

[F] 03/12/2010 – Tyler Haws is upgraded to probable Thursday vs.

Florida ( Eye ) 

FLORIDA

[G] 11/13/2009 – Adam Allen out for season ( Knee ) 

[F/C] 01/03/2010 – Kenny Kadji out for season ( Back ) 
March Madness Game Odds
BYU Cougars -5 Over 147

Florida Gators +5 Under 147
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Posted: 3/18/10 8:00AM ET