It was quite a weekend in the NCAA college basketball tournament with some major upsets happening and some of the top ranked teams in the tournament holding on to survive into the Sweet Sixteen. Florida Gulf Coast is currently the talk of the tournament as they became the first 15 seed to advance to the Sweet Sixteen in the tournaments history. There are now 8 Sweet Sixteen games to take place next Thursday and Friday evenings and we have the odds and our picks for you right here:
We are using BetOnline.ag for all of the odds seen below….
Marquette vs Miami (FL) -5.5
Marquette is one team that has really been given a mulligan in this tournament because they really had no business beating Davidson in their first round game. Marquette had to hit basically three desperation threes in the last minute of their game with Davidson and even that shouldn’t have been enough to win the game. It was Davidson turning the ball over with only a few seconds left that gave Marquette the chance to drive for a layup and the win. The second round was another battle with Marquette coming out with a 2 point win over Butler. Miami on the other hand dominated their first round match, as expected, but they had to dig deep against Illinois and won the game with the help of a questionable out of bounds call late. I like Miami to win this game, but I think the spread might be too much. Marquette is a strong team and they will be in it to the end. I just don’t see them having the same last minute heroics against the Hurricanes.
Play: Marquette +5.5
Arizona vs Ohio State -3.5
The Pac-12 has had a strong run so far in the tournament with Arizon and Oregon showing that the Conference means business. That said Arizona has had a very easy road to the Sweet Sixteen, defeating 11 seed Belmont and 14 seed Harvard both by around 20 points. That won’t be the case against Ohio State and I don’t think they will be able to keep up with the superior opposition. Ohio State had a scare against Iowa State, but I expect a more dominant performance against Arizona.
Play: Ohio State -3.5
Syracuse vs Indiana -5.5
This is the most intriguing game on Thursday. Both of these teams found themselves in battles in their second round games, but their talent came through in the end. One thing is for sure they will both be in another battle on Thursday. I like Syracuse plus the points in this one because their style matches up well against Indiana and they have the talent to stick with the Hoosiers.
Play: Syracuse +5.5
La Salle vs Wichita State -4
La Salle had to win 3 tough games last week to make it this far, while every other team in the tourney only had to win 2. La Salle squeaked out their last two games by a field goal each and they will be in tough against a fierce Shockers team. I think Wichita State beat the tougher opponents thus far and if they continue to play like they did last weekend they should get past La Salle as wel, which will be it for the A-10 Conference that started the tournament off so strongl.
Play: Wichita State -4
Check back tomorrow four our Sweet Sixteen predictions for Friday this week. And check out the college basketball page for more info on betting on the NCAA tournament.
Arizona • indiana • La Salle • Marquette • Miami • Ohio State • syracuse • Wichita State
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