Today's picks: Why Virginia can cover against North Carolina, plus more college basketball, golf and soccer best bets for Thursday

Jonathan Coachman is joined by top sports betting experts Chip Patterson, Mike McClure and Justin Perri on the Early Edge podcast, powered by SportsLine. Get highlighted plays for college basketball, golf and soccer for Thursday, March 10, and you can stream the show live every morning on the SportsLine YouTube page.

The crew gets into the story lines that could affect bettors, and Mike has an update on golf and the Players Championship. The tournament got off to a late start because of rain before the first round in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. That means soft conditions at TPC Sawgrass, so the course is playing about as easy at it will all weekend.   

The battle for college basketball's NCAA Tournament spots really ramps up Thursday, and Justin is keeping a close eye on the Michigan vs. Indiana matchup at 11:30 am. ET, with both teams right on the cusp of getting into the Big Dance. 

Chip chimes in and says you can enjoy the ride with the Cinderella teams but you need to be careful. "You need to know when to say goodnight to Cinderella," Patterson says. "Do your research, don't just think that every story is going to have a fairy-tale ending."     

Coach then starts in on the picks, and the SportsLine Play of the Day comes from "Buckets" Jon Eimer, who is on Bayer Leverkusen Draw No Bet (+155) in its soccer matchup with Atalanta (3 p.m. ET). Atalanta is the favorite in the Europa League Round of 16 first-leg matchup, but Buckets likes this at plus-money.

Mike has a first-round matchup play in the Players Championship, going with Matthew Fitzpatrick -120 over Russell Henley. "I love Matthew Fitzpatrick here in this spot," McClure says. "He's played incredibly well at these Pete Dye courses, plays very well in conditions like this." Henley has missed three straight cuts at the Players, so this is a fade of him, as well.

Coach steps in and offers his own pick on the Players, taking Jason Day -123 against McKenzie Hughes. Day is grieving the loss of his mother, and Coach expects him to harness that emotion and have a strong day in the easier conditions at Sawgrass. 

Then it's time to jump into college basketball, and Justin has three picks on what will be a huge day. His first pick is Fordham +6 against George Mason (noon ET). "I like this team probably to keep this within a bucket, so it feels like I'm getting an extra 2.5, three points here," Perri says of the Rams. "I think they're tougher than people expect."

In the later games, Perri likes Iowa -8 against Northwestern (2 p.m. ET) and expects the Hawkeyes to pull off another double-digit win against the Wildcats. He also is taking Kent State -6.5 against Miami (Ohio) (4 p.m. ET), pointing out that the Golden Flashes are 8-1-1 ATS in their last 10.

Chip also is all-in on college basketball to wrap things up. He is jumping on Virginia Tech -1.5 against Notre Dame (7 p.m. ET). The Hokies won the regular-season meeting, which featured little defense. 

Patterson also is fading Ohio State and betting Penn State +5 in their 9 p.m. ET matchup. "Ohio State's really been kind of been skidding to the finish line, with befuddling defeats," Chip says, and he loves this Nittany Lions team, which always plays hard.

Finally, Chip also is on another underdog, going with Virginia +4.5 against North Carolina (9:30 p.m. ET). "The starting five for North Carolina played every dadgum minute of the second half against Duke," he says, so they could be fatigued. And when these teams met earlier this season, UNC won 74-58 but was on fire from three-point range. Patterson doesn't expect a repeat of that.  

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