William Burns

Burns' Selection // Canada [Goal Spread] .

Slightly disrespectful to us Canadian's to be getting our home nation at slight plus money here. Canada has been up and coming in soccer for many years now and I believe it has surpassed Mexico in recent years. Canada finished fourth in last year's Copa America, which was a huge success for this country. Jesse Marsch has this squad playing very well right now and I don't see that changing here. Yes, Mexico is going to put up a fight and definitely has a chance. However, times have changed for Mexico and it doesn't have the same lethal attack as it did a decade ago. Canada's attacking play should be strong enough to score a few this evening, and I'll gladly take the 0.0 spread in this matchup.

Score Prediction: 2-1 Canada.

Burns' Selection // Florida Panthers [ML] .

I know this is a huge favorite. But, I can't keep this one off of my slate. Florida should be able to win this game very easily and I believe that this one should be considered on everyone's bet slip. The Panthers are the defending champs and are not about to lose a third consecutive game, especially against a non-playoff team. Florida has beaten CBJ seven straight times, and has outscored them 32-9 over those seven games.

Looking at the Blue Jackets this season, they've done a solid job, I'm not going to lie. But, they are still outside of a playoff spot right now and I don't see them making their way back into one. There are too many teams fighting, and good teams at that. Florida is the much stronger team here. Expect an easy victory.

Score Prediction: 4-1 Panthers.

Burns' Selection // Wofford Terriers @ Tennessee Volunteers [Under] .

Although Wofford's SOCON final against Furman was a high scoring one, I don't believe that this one will be high scoring whatsoever. Both teams rank in the bottom 35 of the country in pace, according to KenPom's adjusted tempo rankings. Wofford averages just over 75 PPG, but it's not going to be able to put up that many points here this evening against one of the toughest teams in the field.

Tennessee's team is built on defense this season. Even though it's been an "attack the paint and shoot foul shots" type of focus for the Volunteers recently, I don't see them putting up that many points either in this one. The Vols played another team of this level earlier this year (Norfolk State) and allowed just 52 points. Expect this one to finish below the number.

Score Prediction: 69-53 Tennessee.

Burns' Selection // Utah State Aggies [ML] .

Although the Mountain West (other than SDST,) hasn't been too successful in recent years at the tournament, I'm expecting this year to be the conference's year. Utah State is a team that got a very favorable draw in my opinion. If it were to win this game, Tennessee is the "worst" two seed in my opinion. The Aggies have tremendous guard play and have the ability to knock down three after three if the Bruins aren't playing their best.

Talking about UCLA, it's been kind of flying under the radar this season, I'll give it that. However, the Bruins do not have a real leader on their team and nobody is going to lead them to the promise land. Yes, they are solid defenders, but that doesn't mean it'll be able to match the speed of play that the Aggies play at. This is a tough spot for UCLA and I expect them to lose in the opening round. UPSET ALERT.

Score Prediction: 81-66 Utah State.

Burns' Selection // High Point Panthers [ATS] .

High Point comes into this tournament scorching hot. 14 straight victories it's been for this team and I could see it reaching the Sweet Sixteen this season. The Panthers match up extremely well with Purdue as they've got great on ball defenders and a rebounding machine in Juslin Bodo Bodo. I believe that High Point will dominate the glass and its extremely efficient offense will be enough to keep them close in this game.

Purdue is a team that has looked very good at times this season. But, the Boilermakers have loads of inconsistencies and they finished the season very poorly. I'm not going to call for the outright upset here. But, I do expect High Point to make this a very very close game and I would not be shocked one bit if the Panthers move on to face the winner of McNeese State/Clemson.

Score Prediction: 83-81 Purdue.

Burns' Selection // Georgia Bulldogs vs. Gonzaga Bulldogs [Over] .

Georgia might not be the highest of scoring teams, especially in its conference (SEC.) However, its accustomed to playing high scoring teams as the SEC is go, go, go. Having said that, I believe that this is actually a good matchup for UGA to succeed. It's averaging 75.6 PPG, which isn't going to be enough though (meaning they'll need to score a lot today.) UGA put up an average of 77.0 PPG in the SEC tournament.

On the other hand, Gonzaga averages the most points in the country outside of Alabama. The Zags are averaging 86.6 PPG and love to score. That's simply what they do. Even tho Gonzaga only scored 58 points in the WCC Championship game, it's going to want to open this tournament up with a bang.

In the end, I'm expecting a fast paced game with tons of points. Both teams are going to expect a win and it should be tight throughout, leading to lots of buckets and makes down the stretch. Look for this one to go "over" this number comfortably.

Score Prediction: 86-75 Gonzaga.