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March Madness: Stand by for the ultimate knockout b-ball competition

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Nick Shiambouros walks you through the betting for the NCAA's showpiece event

The official name for the greatest three weeks of college basketball in America is The NCAA Division 1 Men's Basketball Championship but for most it is called "March Madness". This unique and very American tradition sends fans around the nation into a frenzy with games taking place simultaneously over the opening rounds on Thursday and Friday. The tournament ends with the final on April 7th.

There are a total of 327 teams in Division 1 but only 65 are invited to the tournament each year. I know the numbers do not add up but Mount St Mary's beat Coppin State on Tuesday to make it a round 64 for the start on Thursday. The teams for the tournament are chosen by a selection committee which is made up of select university athletic directors and conference commissioners.

There are 31 teams who automatically qualify because they have won their respective conference. Thirty of these teams win their tournament through conference tournaments. There is one league that believes that it is above holding a tournament to qualify and that is none other than the Ivy League. This year Cornell - one of 12 teams trading at [1000.0] to win - is the representative for the Ivy League and will no doubt be thrashed by Stanford in the first round on Thursday.

The remaining 34 invitees are left in the hands of the selection committee. Believe it or not the committee is locked up in a hotel to debate who is in and who is out and every year teams that do not make it are very vocal in their displeasure at being left out of this historic tournament. The announcement is made on the Sunday before the tournament and this day is referred to as Selection Sunday.

The NCAA have kindly provided free live coverage for everyone who registers at www.ncaa.com Just follow the link to March Madness On Demand and you will be directed to the easy steps to obtain your free pass.

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Now on to the tournament and the teams that I think will go deep in the competition. North Carolina ([5.3]) are the favourites to win and in Tyler Hansbrough they have a player who will ensure they'll go a very long way indeed. This forward has put up some huge numbers this season and his hunger for success will ensure that they will be very tough to beat. Hansbrough has had his jersey retired by the university and this honour has only been granted to seven other players in its history. To put this in to perspective Michael Jordan is on this very elite list.

North Carolina take on Mount St Mary's on Friday and I think [1.01] is a big price in this game.

Another name to look out for is Michael Beasley who plays for Kansas State University and in my view this is the best college basketball player in America. Beasley and Bill Walker will give USC plenty to think about in a mouth watering first round clash. USC are deserving favourites but at [2.34] my money will be on Kansas State on Thursday. This game starts at 11.10 pm UK time and I assure you it will be worth staying up for.

The team that I think will win the whole event is the Kansas Jayhawks. Currently they are [6.0] on the exchange and after they slaughter Portland State on Thursday they could shorten even more. They have a balanced team with some very talented players like Mario Chalmers and Darrell Aurther and if you leave Brandon Rush alone from the three point circle he will simply destroy you. In addition they have a great coach in Bill Self.

Duke University are lively outsiders in the competition and have been matched at around [21.0] on the exchange. Mike Krzyzewski is one of the finest coaches in college basketball and he knows what it takes to win a championship. His team may lack the depth of his bitter rivals North Carolina but they are a well-run unit and may well make it to the final eight or even beyond.

On the exchange we will be offering in-play markets on every game in the NCAA tournament as well as outright and handicap markets.

In England Soccer is referred to as the beautiful game by many. In the United States basketball certainly lives up to that name and the NCAA tournament has all the excitement and drama that you could ever wish for. Every game is sold out and the atmosphere in the arenas around the country is electric.

I will be writing updates to the competition as it progresses and I hope everyone enjoys the tournament which begins on Thursday. Good luck to everyone and I would recommend you stay up late in to the night to watch the action on Thursday, there's no horse racing on Friday so why not?!

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