Day 1 of March Madness had a few interesting results.
We saw No. 1 overall seed Duke survive a scare from No. 16 Siena. No. 11 Texas took care of business vs. No. 6 BYU, as did No. 5 Vanderbilt over No. 12 McNeese State.
These three winners are the teams that I’ve zeroed in on for my best college basketball bets today as we head to Round 2 of our March Madness predictions.
Find out why I like Duke, Texas, and Vanderbilt in my March Madness best bets.
March Madness Best Bets for Saturday
All college basketball odds used for these March Madness Round 2 predictions are current as of Friday, March 20, and courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.
Duke -11.5 (-102) vs TCU
Duke shockingly defeated Siena by only six points after entering the game as 28.5-point favorites. It was a game where the Blue Devils trailed by 11 points at halftime.
This feels like a wake-up call for one of the tourney favorites. Expect them to learn their lesson here. They can’t take any opponents lightly in this tournament, so I’m betting on a strong start en route to a 12+ point victory.
- See where Duke sits in the March Madness winner odds.
TCU is coming off a hard-fought victory over Ohio State, crashing the glass for 12 offensive rebounds. But that’s going to be a lot more difficult vs. Duke, who were 38th in offensive rebounds this season (TCU was 72nd).
After a disappointing result in the opener, Duke should cover in the Round of 32.
Texas +5.5 (-110) vs Gonzaga
Texas continued the trend of a First Four team advancing to the Second Round. After surviving with a 68-66 win over N.C. State, the Longhorns cruised to victory over BYU.
They won that game by eight points despite shooting 50% from the free-throw line. Center Matas Vokietaitis was a major problem, putting up 23 points and 16 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Gonzaga was only able to beat Kennesaw State by nine points. The Zags entered that game as 20.5-point favorites.
I think they’re going to have a tough time against a battle-tested Longhorns squad that has wins over Missouri, Texas A&M, Georgia, and Vanderbilt this season. Give me Texas plus the points.
Vanderbilt -2.5 (-112) vs Nebraska
Vanderbilt had some challenges in a 10-point win over McNeese State, coming into that game as 12.5-point favorites. But this is a team that beat No. 1 Florida 91-74 as recently as March 14.
We saw Tyler Tanner drop 26 points in the Commodores’ first-round victory. He could pose a problem for Nebraska in this one.
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The Cornhuskers dominated Troy, winning by 39 points to start their tournament. The problem is that we’ve seen them struggle against tougher competition recently.
Nebraska lost by 16 to Purdue on March 13 and 20 to UCLA on March 3. Facing a Vanderbilt team that is 11th in Pomeroy’s rankings could be a daunting task.
