The Madness is finally here.
The best three weeks of wagering in American sports starts on Thursday afternoon or morning, so get those employment excuses ready and have your betting apps by your side.
Let’s enjoy the next 63 games together, and make some piles of money on them too. We’ll start with the best bets on Thursday.
2024 March Madness picks: Thursday, March 21
McNeese State +6.5 vs. Gonzaga
Will Wade’s got a strong-*$! team that’s lost once since November, and they are a matchup nightmare for the reeling Bulldogs, who lost two out of three to the only decent defensive team they’ve played in the calendar year 2024 in Saint Mary’s.
The Cowboys can shoot it (39.4% from 3, seventh-best in the country), but their ability to get stops and turnovers will be the difference here. They force a turnover on 23.1% of possessions, and while the Zags are one of the better ball-handling teams by the metrics, there aren’t any elite defensive teams in the WCC outside of SMC. And the Gaels don’t force turnovers, they just force bad shots and rebound.
This likely comes down to the last possession, and thus we’ll take two possessions worth of points.
Oakland +8.5 1H vs. Kentucky
More of a bet on the slightly-underheralded Golden Grizzlies than against the Wildcats, the Oakland Zoo was in it late with both Illinois and Ohio State earlier this year, so they won’t be intimidated by the jersey. But the lack of depth for the underdog here might cause them problems in the second half.
UK probably pulls away and wins (??), but they’re going to get punched in the mouth early by a veteran Grizz that starts five upperclassmen.
Oregon -1 vs. South Carolina
Look y’all: I was at the Pac-12 Tournament for each of the final three days. You want no part of the Ducks right now.
Jermaine Couisnard and Jackson Shelstad are playing their best basketball of the season with tremendous confidence at the right time, and N’Faly Dante is an absolute monster in the paint on both ends. He’d be an easy All-American if not for his injuries earlier this season.
Meanwhile Auburn ran South Carolina off the floor in the SEC Tournament, and if you can’t force Oregon into turnovers, they have too many weapons to beat you. The Gamecocks are good, but they’re 307th in turnovers forced per defensive possession. That’s just a matchup problem against a team playing out of its mind of late.
