The NCAA Tournament is off until the Final Four gets underway in San Antonio on Saturday, but the NIT Final Four takes place on Tuesday in Indiana. North Texas will face UC Irvine with a chance to play in the title game on the line. Let’s breakdown picks and a prediction for the game below.
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North Texas vs. UC Irvine (Tuesday 7pm ET)
I know this is only the Final Four of the NIT, but these two teams have NCAA Tournament caliber defenses. UCI ranks 19th in the country in defensive efficiency, while North Texas is 42nd, hence the low total we have set for this one. While the Anteaters have a slight edge defensively, North Texas has been significantly more efficiency on offense. Neither team really lights it up, but UCI is 175th on offense, while the Mean Green are 118th on that side of the ball.
I think the physicality of North Texas is what ultimately makes the difference in this game. Both teams are riding hot streaks into this one, but it’s the Mean Green that’ve been tested more recently. They’ve held their own against a big Memphis front court in AAC play this season, and in the NIT, just went on the road and got a win as an underdog against a Big 12 team in Oklahoma State.
UC Irvine has been playing good basketball, but has been priced as a pretty sizable home favorite in its first three NIT games. Heading out to Indy to face a North Texas team that really plays a physical brand of basketball could be a wakeup call for the Anteaters. Betting splits are sharp to the lower-seeded Mean Green, and I’ll back them to reach the NIT Final on Tuesday.
NIT Pick: North Texas Moneyline (-125) 1-unit
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All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.
