March Madness has finally arrived! We had a pretty good run through the end of the regular season and into Conference Tournaments, but now the big dance is here. Time to lock in some college basketball bets on DraftKings Sportsbook!
Here’s how I’m going to construct these articles during the NCAA Tournament. Rather than just give bets with unit size, I’m going to write up all the bets/leans I’m considering. That way you get more content and insight on more games. But with that said, please be careful. These aren’t all games that I’ll ultimately bet on.
It’s still pretty early as I write these articles. Plenty of time to lock in bets, and also wait for some of these numbers to move in our favor. For my official plays, I’ll continue posting the play to Twitter, but will loop you back to these articles for the analysis.
Everything below is what jumps out to me for the First-Four round in Dayton, which is played on Tuesday and Wednesday. Let’s crush this tournament!
East Region
No. 12 Wyoming vs. No. 12 Indiana — 9:10 pm ET (Tuesday)
Indiana -4 (-110)
I came into the tournament ready to fade the Big Ten, and I still will be in a lot of spots. But they just have so many teams in the field, including two with pretty strong matchups in the play-in round.
This isn’t a home game for the Hoosiers, but it should be a pro-Indiana crowd in Dayton compared to the cheering section the Cowboys have. Indiana enters tournament play on a 6-1 ATS run, and put on a strong showing in the Big Ten tournament that ended in a heartbreaking loss.
Wyoming was very good on the road this season, but if you want to compare just neutral court numbers, the Cowboys were 1-3 ATS, compared to a perfect 4-0 for Indiana. Following a 21-3 start to the season, Wyoming limped to the finish line, going just 4-5 down the stretch. Feels like two teams going in opposite directions right now.
South Region
No. 16 Wright State vs. No. 16 Bryant — 6:40pm ET (Wednesday)
Bryant +3.5 (-110)
Going by the numbers here, these two teams have performed extremely similarly. Both dominated conference play and were able to finish the job and get into the big dance, and will now have to battle it out for the right to play on Friday.
Simple handicap on this one — I think it should be much closer to a pick’em game, where the line opened. A lot of movement has gone Wright State’s way, and I think it’s become too much. This Bryant team is going to play with a lot of intensity, and has a very skilled and veteran backcourt that’ll come to play. This should be a close game, so I’ll take the points.
West Region
No. 11 Rutgers vs. No. 11 Notre Dame — 9:10pm ET (Wednesday)
Rutgers +1 (-110)
Same story with wanting to fade the Big Ten, but I can’t do it in this matchup. Notre Dame feels like it got to where it is by beating up on the bottom teams in a very down year in the ACC. The Irish have a massive home win over Kentucky early in the season as their signature victory, but not a ton else that makes you think they’re very dangerous. Notre Dame was 14-1 at home, but had far less success on the road, going just 1-4 SU/ATS.
Then there’s Rutgers, which thrived in the underdog role this season, actually posting a winning record outright as a dog at 9-7. The Scarlet Knights are 9-2 ATS in their last 11 games as a dog, and come in far more tested from conference play than the Irish. Notre Dame has lost its last seven to Big Ten competition, and I look for that trend to continue in another tough matchup.
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