Will David conquer Goliath

[mickey]

And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Phillistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead, and he fell upon his face to the earth....


After being priced correctly in their Final Four game against Michigan State, its shocking that Butler is getting so little respect in this game.The game open with Duke a -6′ point favorite and they’ve been bet up to -7 or -7′. Keep in mind that this game is being played on a theoretically ‘neutral court’ at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, but it just so happens to be Butler’s home town.And lest we forget, Indianapolis is also the ‘home town’ of the NCAA itself as they’re headquartered there.So while the stadium is an unfamiliar venue for both teams, for all intents and purposes this is a Butler home game. So factoring in at least a partial ‘home court advantage’ we’re expected to believe that Duke should be favored here by more than any team they faced with the exception #16 seed Arkansas Pine Bluff in the first round?

This line is clearly shaded for all of the ‘public’ money that comes in on this event.The average square will see the matchup, figure that he’s heard of only one of the two teams and bet accordingly.To be sure, Duke was a much better pointspread team this season–the Blue Devils have gone 23-14 ATS while Butler is only 17-20 ATS. And, of course, once the ball is tossed for the opening tip off anything can happen.Nevertheless, there’s no way to justify Duke as such a hefty favorite and Butler represents a great value as a contrarian play if nothing else.

+7

& Butler +11 & over 124.5 (tease)