March Madness Second Round Top Pick
NCAAB Pick: Creighton vs. Baylor – Under 145.5 (-110) at Bovada (visit our Bovada Review)
Picks Summary
- Creighton vs. Baylor: Under 145.5 (-110)
- Pittsburgh vs. Xavier: Under 151.5 (-108)
- Michigan State vs. Marquette: Under 141 (-110) & Marquette -2.5 (-110)
The Madness has only just begun. The First Round of the 2022-23 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament was great, but the Second Round is going to be even better – judging by the potential profit margins attached to our college basketball picks.
We’ve got three very tasty Under bets from Sunday’s slate for your consideration; each of these will be worth investing 1-2 units of your bankroll. What will our fourth bet be? Stay tuned to find out.
By the way, we’ll be using the overseas NCAAB odds as they appeared at press time, with the full Second Round schedule still being fleshed out. Let’s riggidy-roll.
Creighton Bluejays vs. Baylor Bears
Sunday, March 19, 2023 – 07:10 PM EDT at Ball Arena
This should be epic. No. 6 Creighton (Under 18-15-1) take on No. 3 Baylor (16-16-1 Totals) in what promises to be a close contest, with our preferred projections having the Bears on top 72-71; that’s 2.5 points below the 145.5-point total on the NCAAB odds.
Will They Go to Overtime?
Let’s hope not. These are indeed two evenly matched teams, with the Bluejays at No. 13 overall (No. 28 offense, No. 14 defense) on Ken Pomeroy’s efficiency charts, and the Bears at No. 14 (No. 2 offense, No. 97 defense).
The pace of this game should be fairly average at around 67 possessions per game, and Creighton’s very good at limiting opponents to just 12.4 free-throw attempts per game (No. 3), so that should help mitigate Baylor’s offense to some extent.
NCAAB Pick: Under 145.5 (-110) at Bovada
Pittsburgh Panthers vs. Xavier Musketeers
Sunday, March 19, 2023 – 12:10 PM EDT at Greensboro Coliseum
Another big-name clash, another chance to put the Under in our NCAAB picks. The projections have No. 3 Xavier (Over 21-13-1) beating No. 11 Pitt (Over 21-14) 77-72 or thereabouts, which again leaves us a 2.5-point gap below the 151.5-point total at U.S. betting sites.
Why Is the Total So Big?
It’s a pair of high-profile Over teams with great offenses and lousy defenses:
- Xavier: No. 9 Offense, No. 72 Defense
- Pitt: No. 27 Offense, No. 106 Defense
The Musketeers are also one of the faster teams in Division I at 70.4 possessions per game (No. 38). But they’ve got the Under at 3-1 in the postseason, and 7-4 in their past 11 games; the betting public doesn’t seem to have noticed those climbing totals yet.
NCAAB Pick: Under 151.5 (-108) at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
Michigan State Spartans vs. Marquette Golden Eagles
Sunday, March 19, 2023 – 05:15 PM EDT at Nationwide Arena
Another Big Six battle? Yes, please. This one has No. 2 Marquette (17-17-1 Totals) projected to win 71-68 over No. 7 Michigan State (16-16 Totals), leaving us the requisite old-school gap of two points below the 141-point total for a single-unit wager.
Why Bet the Under?
It may look like a saw-off with both teams splitting their totals thus far, but each of Marquette’s four postseason games went Under, as did both of Michigan State’s. This is big boy basketball now.
NCAAB Pick: Under 141 (-110) at BetOnline
Congratulations – you’ve made it to the fourth pick on our list, and it’s Marquette as a 3-point favorite at Wisconsin betting sites. That might seem silly when we just quoted their 71-68 projected win over the Spartans, but the Eagles are looking at somewhere around 71-72 points; we just rounded down for simplicity.
That still doesn’t leave us enough profit margin for more than a recreational wager, but Marquette’s the sharp side here over the more publicly adored Spartans. Bet accordingly, and may the sphere be with you.
NCAAB Pick: Marquette -2.5 (-110) at BetOnline
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
