The No. 1 UConn Huskies will begin their title defense against the No. 16 seed Stetson Hatters on Friday at 2:45 p.m. ET on CBS at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. We’re going to go over the odds on DraftKings Sportsbook and give you our best bet for the game.
2024 March Madness picks
No. 1 UConn vs. No. 16 Stetson best bet
What else needs to be said or analyzed about this UConn team? They’re favored to win it all and repeat as champions for the first time since Florida back in 2006 and 2007. The Huskies are the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament after winning it all as a 4-seed last season. UConn finished first in the Big East at 31-3, losing just two games in conference play. The Huskies would go on to defeat Marquette to win its first Big East Championship in over a decade.
As a result, UConn enters the tournament as the No. 1 team on KenPom. The Huskies have the top-ranked offense in the Nation led by Tristen Newton, Cam Spencer and Alex Karaban. The 7-foot-2 sophomore Donovan Clingan has become an X-Factor this season, averaging 12.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game in just 22 minutes per contest. Spencer is the sharp-shooter at nearly a 45% clip from range. And the Huskies’ Big 3 of Spencer, Newton and Karaban all shoot over 80% from the charity stripe. This is the most complete team in college basketball.
Poor Stetson. Of all the No. 1 seeds, this is the last one you’d want to face as a 16-seed. We have seen some 16-seeds defeat No. 1s in recent seasons but it’s not going to be in this game. The Hatters do have a decent offense, so expect them to put up some points in garbage time. Also don’t expect Stetson to be too overwhelmed; the Hatters did play No. 1 seed Houston earlier in the season.
Stetson finished second in the ASUN Conference this season at 22-12. So they aren’t like one of those 16-seeds that is super used to winning all the time. The Hatters did get hot in the ASUN tourney to pull off the championship. They also have a very good guard in Jalen Blackmon, who averages 21.5 points per game while shooting 39% from distance and 91% from the free throw line.
Betting lines
Friday odds
Spread: UConn -27.5
Total: 146
Moneyline: UConn -9000, +2500
Opening odds
Spread: UConn -26.5
Total: 145
Moneyline: UConn -8000, +2200
All odds are courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook
Best bet: UConn ML/Under 144.5 (-105)
It’s not easy to bet on the 1-16 games because you aren’t finding any value in the spread or moneyline. I will say, KenPom has Stetson losing by 23 points and the spread is 26.5, so there’s value on Stetson to cover the spread. But if you’re looking to bet the spread, wait and do it in-game. chances are you’d be able to get Stetson at a better number early in the game and hope they have an easier time in the second half.
For this bet, we look at that Houston game for the Hatters early in the season. The Cougars defeated Stetson 79-48 and we’ll use that sort of as a baseline. If that type of score were to happen again, we’d see the under hit. Even if UConn runs the score up to 90 points, the Huskies have a good enough defense to hold the Hatters in check. Really it’s up to you, but combining UConn ML and U144.5, you buy a little bit of value on just betting the under straight up.