NCAA Tournament: Friday Picks
- Updated: March 21, 2019
Welcome back to another round of picks for the NCAA Tournament. Hopefully you are enjoying March Madness and lining your pocket in the process. Brian Twinning and I have our favorite plays for Friday. I added a few extra because I love the card!
Kyle’s Picks
Iowa +3.5 vs Cincinnati
Looking for a 7-10 upset? Look no further than the Iowa Hawkeyes. The Bearcats are getting all the love coming into this game thanks in large part to their AAC tournament victory. Iowa on the other hand is far from sexy getting little fanfare. Give me the Hawkeyes plus the points.
Kansas State -4.5 vs UC Irvine
I’m all over Kansas State here. I will continue to fade teams getting all the love. This is much of the same K-State team that advanced to the Elite Eight a season ago. While I’m not sure I see a run like that this year, I think they will get by Irvine and cover the 4.5 points.
Wisconsin -2 v Oregon
The Pac 12 Tournament Champions are garnering a ton of love led by guard Payton Pritchard. This was an impressive feat even with the loss of Bol Bol who is a likely lottery pick in the upcoming 2019 NBA Draft.
That said, it’s Duck Hunt SZN. Buzzcut Brad (shouts to One Shining Podcast) and company are ready for this game. Ethan Happ will be a problem for the Ducks. The Badgers will win and cover the 2 points.
Bonus Friday Picks: Washington +3, Mississippi State -7, Ohio State +6
Brian’s Picks
Gardner Webb/Virginia – 1H Under 60.5
Virginia boasts the no.1 defense in college and Garner Webb is in for a tough day. Virginia will hound GWU all game and especially in the first half where they plan to make up for last year’s surprising loss to UMBC. GWU may be held to under 20 points in the first half of this one and with UVA’s snail pace on offense, I see this one taking the under in both 1H and game total.
Houston -11.5 vs Georgia State
One of my favorite selections to surprise in the Midwest region, the Houston Cougars made a habit of blowing out subpar opponents and no offense to Georgia State but they aren’t Cincy or even UCF.
Corey Davis Jr. and Armoni Brooks should be hitting on all cylinders as Kelvin Sampson’s team looks to avenge last year’s crushing buzzer beating loss to Michigan.
Buffalo -4 ½ vs Arizona State
While watching the abysmal performance of Arizona State against a St. John’s team who shot 26% from downtown, 57% from the charity stripe, and 32% overall, it became more apparent to me that the Sun Devils may have been better suited for the NIT.
Buffalo has made a habit of allowing teams who shot well to stay in games but eventually pulling away with their multitude of scorers. C.J. Massinburg, Nick Perkins, Jeremy Harris, and Dontay Caruthers, all return from last years team who crushed another Pac-12 team the Arizona Wildcats. I see a similar fate for ASU as Buffalo will announce their return to the tournament in an explosive way putting the rest of the West region on notice.
Good luck on Friday and all Tournament long. Keep checking back for more picks throughout the tournament.
