No. 4 Providence vs. No. 13 South Dakota State preview for March Madness first-round matchup

The NCAA Tournament begins on Tuesday, March 15th with the First Four, and then moves on to the first round on Thursday, March 17 and Friday, March 18. No. 4 seed Providence will face No. 13 seed South Dakota State in the first round on Thursday. Here’s an early look at what we can expect from the Friars and Jackrabbits in this year’s March Madness Tournament.

Once the odds from DraftKings Sportsbook are made available for this game, we’ll add that information below. We’ll also add the game time and TV channel once it’s settled.

Game date: Thursday, March 17
Game time: 12:40 p.m. ET
TV channel: truTV
Location: Buffalo, NY, KeyBank Arena

Odds: Providence -1.5

No. 4 Providence

Providence experienced a highly successful campaign, claiming its first ever outright Big East regular season title. The Friars were extremely money under pressure, posting a 15-2 record in games decided by single digits.

Center Nate Watson has been a huge catalyst to their success, averaging 13.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Al Durham and Jared Bynum also provided a mean backcourt tandem for the Friars this season.

Record: 25-5, 14-3 Big East
KenPom adjusted offensive efficiency: 31
KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency: 78
Against The Spread: 17-13
Over Total: 16-14
Odds to win NCAA Championship: +8000

No. 13 South Dakota State

Following in the footsteps of program legends such as Nate Wolters and Mike Daum, the Jackrabbits are back in the NCAA Tournament after the most successful season in their history. The Jackrabbits went 18-0 in the Summit League, have won a program-record 30 games and haven’t lost since Dec. 15. Good luck to the team that has to slow down this offense; the Jackrabbits rank first in the nation in effective field-goal rate (59.7%) and 3-point percentage (44.9). Only Gonzaga scores more points per game in Division I than the Jackrabbits, who pour in an average of 86.7 per night.

Douglas Wilson and Baylor Scheierman are the team’s leading scorers, with each chipping in about 16 points per game. Wilson is an interior scorer while Scheierman has sunk 47.3% of his 169 3-point attempts. Scheierman also puts up 7.7 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game.

Record: 30-4, 18-0 Summit
KenPom adjusted offensive efficiency: 12
KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency: 222
Against The Spread: 18-14-1
Over Total: 16-14
Odds to win NCAA Championship: +40000