How to bet on Friday’s NCAA Tournament games
What are the East Regional champion's chances of winning it all? Losing the top two seeds didn't help.
Poor “Mattress Mack.” The day before the NCAA Tournament started, the excessive sports bettor/furniture mogul put up a million bucks at Caesars in Louisiana that the team that wins the East Regional will win the national championship. The odds were +260, but then top-seeded Baylor was dumped by North Carolina and No. 2 seed Kentucky was stunned by St. Peter’s.
The East was the only region to lose each of its top two seeds in the first weekend. DraftKings’ odds on the East are +400. Professional bettors always stress that they bet numbers, not sides. Mack’s original +260 is definitely a bad number now.
» READ MORE: St. Peter’s looks to be the first 15-seed to win in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16
Here’s a look at Friday’s games, which include the first regionals held at the Wells Fargo Center since 2016.
3-Purdue (-12.5) vs. 15-St. Peter’s (o/u 135.5), 7 p.m., CBS3
At the Wells Fargo Center.
Purdue came into the tournament on an 0-8-2 slide against the spread, but covered its two games last week. The Boilermakers beat Yale by 22 (line was 17) and Texas by 10 (line was 3.5). St. Peter’s is the fifth team seeded 14 or higher to reach the Sweet 16. None of the previous four won, but all covered. The Peacocks have covered nine in a row. Against the spread/Last five: Purdue 2-3, Saint Peter’s 5-0.
Pick: This actually is a David-Goliath matchup when you consider St. Peter’s tallest starter is 6-foot-8 freshman Clarence Rupert and Purdue’s is 7-4 sophomore Zach Edey. Rupert played his AAU ball in Philadelphia and is one of those fearless players St. Peter’s coach Shaheen Holloway brags about. Like the Peacocks getting 12.5.
1-Kansas (-7.5) vs. 4-Providence (141.5), 7:15 p.m., TBS
In Chicago.
Providence was picked to finish seventh in the Big East, and the Friars have been riding that perceived insult ever since. ATS/Last five: Kansas 4-1, Providence 3-2.
» READ MORE: Providence has developed a recruiting pipeline in Philly highlighted by Ed Croswell and Jared Bynum
Pick: Providence might not win, but should be able to score some and go over its team total line of 67.5
4-UCLA (-2.5) vs. 8-North Carolina (141.5), 9:20 p.m., CBS3
At the Wells Fargo Center.
UNC’s weak bench almost cost it in an epic collapse to Baylor last week when two starters were disqualified. Most troubling is that North Carolina couldn’t inbound the ball and the coaching staff showed zero imagination in fixing the problem. … Carolina’s Brady Manek did not receive any supplemental punishment for the elbow he threw that caused his ejection against Baylor. He has scored at least 20 in five of the last six games. … UCLA’s Jaime Jaquez is fighting an ankle injury. “If he can walk, he’ll play,” Bruins coach Mick Cronin said. Worth double-checking before placing a wager. ATS/Last five: UCLA 3-2, North Carolina 4-1.
10-Miami (-2.5) vs. 11-Iowa State (133.5), 9:35 p.m., TBS
In Chicago.
This is just the fourth meeting between 10 and 11 seeds in the 37 years since the tournament expanded. VCU-Florida State in 2011, Dayton-Stanford in 2014, and Syracuse-Gonzaga in 2016 were the others. … With due respect to St. Peter’s, Iowa State is perhaps a more compelling Sweet 16 story. The Cyclones were 2-22 last year. They are 22-12 this season, and their last three games have come in well under the over/under, which they’ve helped by scoring 41, 59 and 54 points. … Last week’s dunk by Isaiah Wong (Monsignor Bonner) against second-seeded Auburn already is Miami basketball lore. He’s 15 for 30 from the field and has 10 rebounds in the Hurricanes’ first two games of this tournament. ATS/Last five: Miami 4-1, Iowa St. 3-2.
Lines via DraftKings. Spread records via VegasInsider.com. Game times approximate.
Event description: While Villanova heads to San Antonio for the tournament’s South Regional, the East Regional is coming to Philly and The Inquirer will be in both locations every step of the way. Join college hoops experts Mike Jensen and Mike Sielski as they offer an insider’s look at Villanova’s tournament run and break down the rest of the field during a special edition of Gameday Central. Tune in Friday, March 25 at 2:15 PM as Jensen and Sielski chat with Inquirer columnist David Murphy on Inquirer LIVE.