Among those elements of March Madness, the College Basketball Invitational, better known as the CBI, is unique in that its championship is decided by a best-of-three series. And this series could conceivably end on Wednesday night, as the San Francisco Dons pay a visit to the North Texas Mean Green at 8:30 PM ET in Denton, TX, and televised by ESPNU. If UNT wins, the series stays at the "Super Pit" for the deciding Game 3 on Friday. BetAnySports customers will have the opportunity to get reduced juice, which afford them better March Madness odds and then after the game gets started, they can place wagers with the action in progress with Live Betting Ultra.

In Monday night's Game 1, San Francisco came out and blitzed North Texas, virtually from the beginning, and never really let them in the game after the first six or seven minutes, en route to a 73-62 victory. However, the Dons scored only 26 points in the second half.

North Texas came into the CBI with a losing record (15-17), but through the first three games played like anything but a sub-.500 squad, in that they rolled through all three, winning by a combined 64 points. In those first three games, they reached at least 90 points, which is something lofty indeed for a team that averaged only 74 on the season. Part of it involved coach Grant McCasland going to a slightly smaller lineup and turning up the pace. It seems everyone caught fire in one way or another during this three-game run, and that includes the team's leading scorer, Roosevelt Smart,, the had outbursts of 34 and 31 in the first two games. Jorden Duffy, the 6-1 junior who has missed a dozen games with a variety of injuries, had 31 points against Mercer, 19 against Jacksonville State and is 14-of-21 from three-point range (67%) in the CBI.

Until Game 1 of the championship series, San Francisco had played things a lot closer in the CBI, winning its three games (against Colgate, Utah Valley and Campbell) by a total of twelve points. There is great tradition in this program; the Dons won the 1949 NIT, and the last national tournament championships they captured were the NCAA titles in 1955 and 1956, behind Bill Russell. Head coach Kyle Smith brought his Columbia team to a title in the CIT (College Insider Tournament) two years ago. He is a former assistant at Saint Mary's, and USF beat the Gaels, as well as Nevada (which got to the Elite Eight) this season, so they probably have the better overall resume.

Very little was expected from North Texas, which finished 8-22 last year and made a coaching change, bringing over McCasland, who spent one year at Arkansas State, bringing the Red Wolves' win total from eleven to 20. For the most part, they are going to put four guards on the floor, and they are expected to contribute on the glass; for example, Woolridge averages 5.3 per game, with the aforementioned Smart pulling down 4.2. Both of these teams have done a pretty good job on the defensive boards thought the season, although there were 26 offensive rebounds in Game 1.

San Francisco's balance is kind of remarkable, in the sense that they have four starters averaging between 10.3 and 11.2 points per game. And in Game 1, they had five different players in double figures, not reaching into the bench all that much, even with a big lead much of the way.

In the college basketball odds on Game 2 of this CBI Championship Series, as they are posted at BetAnySports, the Mean Green is now favored at home to even it up:

North Texas Mean Green -3
San Francisco Dons +3

Over 143 points -110
Under 143 points -110

In Game 1, the big problem for North Texas, a team that had allowed its opponents to shoot just 22% from the beyond the arc in the first three games (and was eleventh in the country in that category this season), was that they continually left people open at the three-point line in the first half, as USF hit a dozen triples. They were also outhustled for rebounds. And San Francisco point guard Frankie Ferrari was relatively unfettered as he pranced through the halfcourt. The Dons looked "in sync" offensively, and UNT looked befuddled with the ball movement. The 46-30 advantage at the half turned out to be too much to overcome.

North Texas may have something to build on, in the respect that they seemed to figure out how to defend the Dons on the perimeter in the second half. One thing they might consider is to run San Francisco off the three-point circle a little more often, as USF was a paltry 12-of-35 (34.3%) on its two-point attempts.

But if they are going to shoot threes themselves, they need to do a better job than 4-for-21 (19%) or they are just wasting trips down the floor. between Michael Miller and Duffy, two recent additions McCasland has made to the lineup, they were just 1-for-11 from long range.

This stuff doesn't automatically change itself just because they are playing at home, although it should be noted that even when it lost at the Super Pit, the Mean Green was right in the thick of things (e.g., OT loss to Western Kentucky, two-point defeat to NCAA-bound Marshall), with the exception of a double-digit loss to UT Rio Grande Valley, a CBI participant.

And Zach Simmons, the freshman, has really been coming on lately. In Game 1 he had 22 rebounds - eight of them on the offensive end - and he is now 18 for 25 from the field over his last four games. Simmons also had 17 rebounds in an earlier game against South Dakota, and since he constitutes the "muscle" on this roster, he'll be under pressure to stay out of foul trouble.

We'll look for some positive carry-over from Game 1, as we watch North Texas win and cover to even this series up.

BetAnySports is the right place to play when it comes to the rest of the March Madness tournament action, as you get a nice free play bonus and then take advantage of reduced juice to give you better odds....... With Live Betting Ultra, you can place wagers even after the game tips off, and you can open an account using your Visa card, person-to-person transfers and the virtual currency of Bitcoin, which is fast and easy with their automated system, and NEVER incurs a transaction fee!

(The preceding information has been furnished for news matter only)