Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers vs. Villanova Wildcats March Madness Betting preview
Date: Thursday, 16th March
Place: KeyBank Center
March Madness Odds:
Mount St Marys +26½ (-110) – +6000
Villanova -26½ (-110) – -15000
The Mount defeated New Orleans 67-66 on Tuesday in the First Four to advance to the round of 64 in the NCAA tournament. Junior Robinson scored 23 points and Miles Wilson added 17 and 11 rebounds. Robinson is the smallest player in Division I basketball, but that didn’t prevent him – nor did UNO’s defence for that matter – from nailing the game-winning jumpshot with 1:27 remaining. He’s like Tiny Elvis up in here. This is only The Mount’s second win in the NCAA tourney, which comes nine years after the first – a 69-60 victory over Coppin State in the opening round. The ‘Neers made good use of the pressure defense, forcing 14 TOs and translating them into 19 points. Now the Mount has to face their biggest challenge yet.
Champagne Villanova routed St.John’s, got sweet revenge on Seton Hall, and blew out Creighton to win their fifth Big East Men’s Basketball Tournament and make their fifth straight appearance at the NCAA tourney, where the Wildcats are of course, the current, reigning, defending champions as well as the team to beat. Nova earned the No. 1 ranking in the Final AP Poll of the regular season poll for the first time in school history and were named No. 1 seed in East region. Additionally, shooting guard Josh Hart was named the Big East Player of the Year.
Kansas State Wildcats vs. Cincinnati Bearcats March Madness Betting preview
Date: Friday, 17th March
Place: Golden 1 Center
March Madness Odds:
Kansas State +3½ (-110) – +155
Cincinnati -3½ (-110) – -175
K-State beat Wake Forest in the First Four 95-88 on Tuesday. Wesley Iwundu had 24 points and seven assists, Kamau Stokes added 22 points, and DJ Johnson had 18 points and six rebounds. The Wildcats had their first win in the NCAA tournament since 2012. Kansas State will try to make it two in a row for the first time in seven years when they face UC in the round of 64. The Bearcats defeated Tulsa, Connecticut, and SMU for their first American Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament title since 2004, and their seventh consecutive trip to the Big Dance as the No. 6 seed. The Bearcats lead 6-1 in the all-time series against K-State and have prevailed in the last six encounters, the most recent of which ended in an 86-70 victory for Cinci in the Armory Fieldhouse on December 2nd, 1968. The two schools have met each other in three neutral site games in which UC holds a 2-1 lead. The last time the two teams met in a neutral site was on March 19th, 1961, in Lawrence, Kan., where the Bearcats won 69-64 in the NCAA Midwest Region championship game to clinch a berth in the Final 4 prior to UC winning two straight national titles. Though the March madness odds for this game have yet to be determined, all signs point to the Bearcats as March madness betting favorites.