The Wichita State Shockers have, well, shocked some people in the past with their ability to rise to the occasion in the NCAA Tournament, and they might have one of their more formidable teams yet under coach Gregg Marshall. On Friday afternoon they will begin this year's Big Dance journey as they take on the Marshall Thundering Herd in an East regional game that is slated to get underway at 1:30 PM ET at the Viejas Arena in San Diego, which we admit is a heck of a place to have an East regional. BetAnySports customers will have their chance to place wagers in real time after the game begins, as they keep the action going with Live Betting Ultra.

Marshall (the coach), who did some giant-killing when he was the coach at Winthrop, has taken the Shockers to the Final Four in 2013 and the Sweet Sixteen in 2015, and for good measure, they won the NIT in 2011. Wichita State played its first season in the American Athletic Association (AAC), compiling a 14-4 conference record but losing to Houston in the post-season tournament. They lost two of three to the Cougars and split with Cincinnati. Currently they are 25-7 straight-up and 12-18 against the points, and they occupy the #4 seed in this region.

Marshall, the team, is guided by Dan D'Antoni, and he's the brother of Houston Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni, so you know this team is not going to be playing the slowdown game. The Herd has some credentials; they have beaten Middle Tennessee - who spent some time as a ranked team - twice, defeated Western Kentucky to win the Conference USA title and took Xavier to the wire in an 81-77 defeat. They are 24-10 straight-up and 20-11 against the points.

In the odds at BetAnySports against which we will make our NCAA Tournament picks, Wichita State is favored:

Wichita State Shockers -12
Marshall Thundering Herd +12

Over 166 points -110
Under 166 points -110

Wichita State is well-oiled; don't make any mistake about that. They are #4 in KenPom's rankings of Adjusted Offensive Efficiency, and part of that involves their ability to hit the offensive boards (10th in the nation). Marshall lacks greatly in this area (only 298th in Defensive Rebounding Percentage). Shaquille Morris (14 ppg, 5.5 rpg) provides some muscle up front, and there is something of an "X-factor" in Markis McDuffie, who missed eleven games this season with a foot injury but can explode at times, as he did with 26 points against SMU on Feb. 24. And guard Landry Shamet has hit 50% of his three-point attempts (30 for 60) in his last nine games.

But the Herd may be able to pump up the volume on the pace (they're 6th in Adjusted Tempo) and make things interesting here. They have an imposing talent in the backcourt in Jon Elmore, who averages 22.8 points, six rebounds, and 6.9 assists, which is seventh-best in the nation. CJ Burks, his backcourt mate, carries a 20.5-point average, and by the way, you don't want to foul these guys, as Elmore and Burks make 83% and 89% of their free throws, respectively.

The game-changer for D'Antoni may be 6-9 Ajdin Penava, who not only supplies some scoring presence inside (15.5 ppg) and can run the floor, but leads the nation in blocked shots by a rather wide margin over Sagaba Konate, who plays his college ball in the same state (for West Virginia) and, this weekend, in the same city (San Diego, for the regional). This is going to be fun, as we are definitely grabbing the points.

BetAnySports allows you to get better odds with reduced juice when you make your NCAA Tournament picks....... And keep the action going after the game tips off with Live Betting Ultra........... To make deposits, use 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 was furnished for news matter only)