Friday at 10:10 p.m. ET, the No. 5 seeded Oregon Ducks will play the No. 12 Liberty Flames in the Round of 64. Oregon had a successful first season in the Big Ten, finishing 24-7 while ending the season on a strong note going 8-1. Liberty finished their season 11-1 and won the Conference USA championship. Here is my favorite pick for Oregon vs. Liberty.
Want to approach your March Madness Bracket with the same precision as the top 1% of bracket pool winners? Check out what the PoolGenius optimizer has to offer!
Oregon vs. Liberty (10:10 p.m. ET)
Liberty is a terrific shooting team, making 39 percent of its three-pointers this season. Their leading scorer, Taelon Peter, averaged 13.9 points per contest while shooting 46 percent from long range. A problem for Liberty is that the tallest player in their rotation is Isaiah Ahnen, who is 6’9″.
Oregon’s best player is 7’0″ senior center Nate Bittle. He scores 14.1 points per game while grabbing 7.4 boards. Bittle has scored 21 or more points in four of his last seven games. If he scores the ball at that level, it will be hard for anyone to stop him in the country. The Ducks are a -7.5 favorite over the Flames on DraftKings Sportsbook.
This is the ninth time Dana Altman has led the Ducks to the NCAA tournament. During that period, Oregon has made one Final Four, three Sweet Sixteens, and one Elite Eight. Although picking a No. 12 seed is popular to upset a No. 5 seed, this is not the matchup to choose the underdog. With Altman, Oregon has won at least one game in March Madness. The Ducks haven’t just been winning games; they have covered this spread in three of their last four contests.
College Basketball Pick: Oregon -7.5
Want to approach your March Madness Bracket with the same precision as the top 1% of bracket pool winners? Check out what the PoolGenius optimize has to offer!
