NCAA Sweet 16: Betting Picks and Predictions

The Sweet 16 is here. This is the lowest average of seeds in this round in recent memory. We also have a guarantee that a double digit seed will be in the Elite 8.

Villanova -5 vs Michigan

Michigan was the Pre-season #1 team due to Hunter Dickinson’s rate and Juwan Howard securing the #1 recruiting class in the country. This team is hot and certainly has the talent level to show why it was ranked as the Pre-season #1. Dickinson has been shooting the lights out from deep, which poses a problem for Eric Dixon and Jermaine Samuels. The only consistent part of Nova’s game other than it’s defense of Colin Gillespie, so I’ll be taking the hot hand in Michigan +5.

Arizona -1.5 vs Houston

Benedict Mathurin is one of the best prospects remaining in the field and those who were unaware of him saw his poster in the round of 32. While TCU was a hot team, Zona had more trouble that they should have. Houston has the stronger defense, im seeing smart money on Houston, and the ESPN Power Index has the Cougars at a 60% win chance, so my play is Houston +1.5

UCLA -2.5 vs UNC

This battle of blue bloods features a team that lost in the big game last year and a team that is faring well in the first year without its HOF coach. Jaime Jaquez seems to be playing on his banged up ankles and Juzang is equally banged up. Armando Bacot and Brady Manek are a dynamic duo with a diverse combined skill set that can expose the paint bound UCLA bigs. I’m riding with the Tar Heels +2.5

Miami -2.5 vs Iowa State

Heavy sharp money has come in on Miami and the under. It seems the public is heavily favoring the Canes, as they were Dukes only barrier from taking the regular season ACC title. Fading such a heavy choice could be a play, but I’ll be taking the Iowa State Team Total Under 65.5 points.