May Madness First Round Predictions

IT’S OFFICIAL, MAY MADNESS IS HERE!! After a crazy selection show with 6 Ivy teams making it and some significant snubs like Duke and Notre Dame, our tournament field is set. I have a feeling some dogs will be barking in this first round but no more delay, time for the picks.

**Odds provided by Draftkings Sportsbook**

Penn -3.5 vs Richmond O/U 26.5

This is one of the many games where I think the underdog has a true chance. Penn has shown all year that they play down to “lesser teams”. They have gotten into 1 goal battles with the likes of St. Joes and Penn State. They even played Dartmouth to a 16-12 finish and for those who do not know, Dartmouth is the worst team in the Ivy League. Penn has also played super well against great teams. It seems to be a matter of them playing to the level of whoever their competitor is. Richmond has had one of the quickest rises in recent college lacrosse memory, only becoming a Varsity program in 2014. Richmond has beaten some big time teams in their short history including a win this season over the defending national champion Virginia Cavaliers. I am really digging the Spiders to cover here. I think that the books are looking down upon Richmond coming out of the SOCON playing against the Ivy League Penn. I think the Spiders cover and if it will be close I think it will also go under so I am taking a twofer.

The Picks: Richmond +3.5, Under 26.5

UVA -2.5 vs Brown O/U 26.5

You want to talk about history and storylines? Look no further than this match up right here. Current Virginia Head coach Laura Tiffany was once the head coach of ,you guessed it, the Brown Bears. He was at the helm and they took their historic run to the national semi finals in 2016. About a month after that 2016 tournament he was named the new head coach at UVA. The last time these two teams played Brown came out on top. I know I know the Cavs are gonna be out for revenge and out to make a statement. They are the defending national champions and did not even get a seeded bid. As far as the numbers go, the Hoos have a 0.322 shooting percentage versus Brown who has a .293. UVA also is winning about 56% of their faceoffs while Brown is sitting at about 49%. The Cavss also just so happen to have the services of Tewaaraton finalist Connor Shellenberger (28G, 40A). I think Virginia might be too tall of a task for Bruno. If Brown covers I would not be surprised but I am not willing to step in front of the Hoos in May.

The Pick: UVA -2.5

Those are my predictions for this weekend's games. Stay tuned for another blog dropping soon with my predictions for next time. If you like my picks, or disagree with me, let me know on Twitter @t_hohenshelt. As always lets have ourselves a weekend and make some money, responsibly.

References:

https://brownbears.com/sports/mens-lacrosse/schedule/2022

https://virginiasports.com/sports/mlax/schedule/

https://pennathletics.com/sports/mens-lacrosse/schedule