NCAA Tournament Preview: Friday Edition

The only reason the first Friday of March Madness is just a little less exciting than the first Thursday? All the brackets that were busted on Day One 😅

• It was a wild day of upsets and blowouts, with No. 2 Kentucky, No. 5 Iowa and No. 5 UConn all falling to lower seeds, and now the other half of the field gets their turn

• While picking from such a loaded schedule was nearly impossible, we’ll once put the spotlight on three games in particular you should keep an eye on

Our first stop is the earliest tip of the day, a 12:15 PM ET showdown between the Loyola Chicago Ramblers and the Ohio State Buckeyes, and take a look at how close the lines are ahead of the matchup 👇

#10 Loyola Chicago vs. #7 Ohio State Betting Preview (subject to change)

• Spread: Ohio State -1

• Moneyline: Ohio State -110 (bet $110, win $100), Loyola Chicago -110 (bet $110, win $100)

• Over/Under: 132.5

Loyola Chicago is no stranger to tournament success in recent years, with an improbable run to the Final Four in 2018 and a Sweet 16 appearance last year under their belt

• The players on the court may be overshadowed by the celebrity of Sister Jean, but these guys can ball. Led by First Team All-MVC and MVC Defensive Player of the Year Lucas Williamson, the Ramblers are especially stingy on the D, ranking top-20 in the nation in opponent PPG (61.7)

• However, Ohio State forward E.J. Liddell will be one of their toughest defensive assignments of the year. The Third Team All-American selection is putting up 19.6 PPG and 7.9 RPG this season

Liddell’s play has remained strong, but the streaky Buckeyes are in the midst of a cold spell, having dropped four of their last five games. If they have a run in them, the role players will need to start rallying around their star ⭐️

Virginia Tech vs. Texas Preview

My pick for the most intriguing matchup of the day is going down at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, where the red-hot Virginia Tech Hokies will face off against the Texas Longhorns. Peep how the lines are shaping up for the ACC-Big 12 battle 👇

#11 Virginia Tech vs. #6 Texas Betting Preview (subject to change)

• Spread: Texas -1

• Moneyline: Texas -115 , Virginia Tech -105

• Over/Under: 123.5

An automatic qualifier as the winner of the ACC Tournament, the Hokies likely wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for their surprise championship run

• Flashback to January 26, and Virginia Tech is 10-10 with a 2-7 conference record. They’ve gone 13-2 since, including four wins in four days at the ACC Tournament that featured a blowout finals victory over top-seeded Duke

• What makes that run even crazier is that their first conference tourney game ended like this 🤯

The Hokies are a well-rounded squad with a defensive identity, but their opponent today is even stingier on that side of the ball

• It’s been an up-and-down season for the Longhorns relative to preseason expectations, as they opened the year ranked #5, but one thing that’s remained constant is their smothering defense. Texas is one of just six teams in the country allowing less than 60 PPG (59.6)

• Their offense comes and goes, however, and lately it’s been mostly gone. The Longhorns have dropped three straight, averaging just 61 PPG over that span

Talent may lean towards Texas in this one, but momentum certainly favors Virginia Tech. We’ll see which will prevail today 😤

TCU vs. Seton Hall Preview

We kicked off with the first game of the day, and we’ll end with the last — the TCU Horned Frogs against the Seton Hall Pirates. Today’s lone 8/9 matchup, this one could go either way, and oddsmakers set the lines accordingly 👇

#9 TCU vs. #8 Seton Hall Betting Preview (subject to change)

• Spread: Seton Hall -.5

• Moneyline: TCU -109, Seton Hall -109

• Over/Under: 129

What makes this game even harder to predict is that TCU’s final month of the regular season was an absolute roller coaster 🎢

• Since February 12 the Horned Frogs are just 4-7, but three of those four wins were against ranked opponents, including two top-10 victories

• Seton Hall has a pair of top-10 wins on its resume as well from earlier in the season, and while they ended the regular season strong, the second half of their schedule has also been a mixed bag

Simply put, these teams have eerily similar profiles. This has the look of a game that could come down to a battle in the trenches, and that’s a script that favors TCU

• Regardless of whether or not their shots are falling, the Horned Frogs always hit the glass hard. Their rebounding margin ranks fourth in the nation

Then again, if First-Team All-Big East honoree Jared Rhoden, who has scored 25+ on four occasions, gets hot once again, TCU may not have the offensive firepower to keep up. Only time will tell which way this goes 🤷🏻‍♂️

For My Parlay Gurus

I may have been spurned by the Big Ten yesterday (looking at you, Iowa and Indiana 😠 ), and I hate to disappoint Sister Jean, but I got a feeling E.J. Liddell and the Buckeyes get back to their winning ways today. I'm locking in the Horned Frogs as well, check it out 👇

• Ohio State -1 vs. Loyola Chicago: -110

• TCU ML vs. Seton Hall: -110

$100 on this parlay would land a $264 payout — if we hit, make sure to email justin.schnell@itsovertime.com for $100*. First come, first serve 😉

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