Pre-March Madness Betting Odds: South Florida Bulls and Pittsburgh Panthers

To close the regular season, South Florida Bulls starts its stretch of three road games in its last five. They are even quite the biggest surprise story of several in the Big East.
The Bulls managed to win three straight games since a 30-point drubbing by Georgetown, including 63-51 home victory over the Pittsburgh Panthers on February 8. South Florida has pushed five games above .500 for the first time in Big East play behind the league’s stingiest defense, which is yielding 58.6 points.

On the other hand, the Pittsburgh Panthers were surprisingly disappointing as they lost their dominance at the Petersen Events Center. The Panther’s loss to West Virginia there Thursday was their sixth – they’d dropped 12 home games over the previous nine seasons.

South Florida Bulls at Pittsburgh Panthers
When: 7:00 PM ET, Sunday, February 19, 2012
Where: Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The Panthers opened as 7 point favorites on several online sports book sites, check out the pre March Madness Betting lines at Sportsbook.com now. March Madness Betting is coming in so why not practice your picking skills now?

South Florida Bulls (16-10)
They won over Villanova match last Wednesday, a team that matched the Bulls’ most conference victories (9-9 in 2009-10) They held the Wildcats to 30.2 percent shooting and 21 points below their average.

Senior Augustus Gilchrist (10.6 points, 4.9 rebounds) is the lone double-digit scorer, but has posted only 15 points combined the past two games. Senior guard Hugh Robertson took the lead against the Pittsburgh, delivering 18 points by going a perfect 7 for 7 from the field and 4 of 4 at the foul line. South Florida's 12-point victory margin in the first meeting was its largest in the series, which it trails 5-4
South Florida's only NCAA Tournament appearances came in 1990 and 1992.

Pittsburgh Panthers (15-12)
The Panthers’ three-game skid that has followed a four-game win streak began in South Florida, whose 60.5 percent shooting February 8 was the second highest allowed (and 38 shots the second fewest attempted) during coach Jamie Dixon’s tenure. At the other end, Pittsburgh mustered 34.6 percent from the floor 918 for 52) and got a season-low four points from leading scorer Ashton Gibbs. He is coming off an eight-point, 2-for-11 effort in the 66-48 loss against the Mountaineers.

Pre – March Madness Betting Picks and Predictions: Panthers 68, Bulls 54