College Basketball Opening Odds
(The Spread) – The NCAA Tournament field is pared down to 32 teams now and half of those squads will return to the court Saturday in eight more games to continue March Madness.
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With the Big East having so many teams in the tournament field, two round of 32 games will involve a matchup between squads from that conference. One of those tips off Saturday as third-seeded Connecticut squares off with sixth-seeded Cincinnati. The Huskies enter play with a record of 27-9, while the Bearcats are 26-8.
Oddsmakers and online sports book Sportsbook.com have made Connecticut 3.5-point favorites, while the over-under has been put at 130. According to the latest trends, Connecticut is 2-1 against the spread versus Cincinnati over the last three seasons. Two of the past four games in this series have gone over the total in the last three seasons. Cincinnati is 15-25 ATS against conference opponents over the last two seasons.
Connecticut has saved some of its best basketball for the end of the season as it won five games in five days at the Big East Tournament and then cruised to an 81-52 victory over Bucknell in the NCAA Tournament first round. Cincinnati shook off an embarrassing loss to Notre Dame in the conference tournament to post a 78-63 win over Missouri to advance in the NCAA’s.
The Huskies won the lone game between the two this season, prevailing 67-59 at Cincinnati. Kemba Walkerpaces Connecticut at 23.4 ppg, while Cincinnati’s Yancy Gates puts in 11.9 per game.
Beginning the day will be a contest between fourth-seeded Kentucky and No. 5 seed West Virginia at 12:15PM EST. The Wildcats are 3.5-point favorites, while the over-under is 132. Florida follows against UCLA at 2:45PM EST, where the Gators are 5-point favorites and the over-under is 131.5. No. 1 seed Pittsburgh squares off with 2010 runner-up Butler at 7:10PM EST with the Panthers a 7.5-point favorite and an over-under of 128.
No. 13 seed Morehead State faces 12th seed Richmond at 5:15PM EST. Richmond is a 3.5-point favorite and the over-under is listed at 126. Third-seeded Brigham Young faces No. 11 Gonzaga at 7:45PM EST. Gonzaga is a 1.5-point favorite and the over-under is 149. No. 4Wisconsin and No. 5 Kansas State do battle at 8:40PM EST. Wisconsin is a 3-point favorite, while the over-under is 126.
Saturday March Madness Opening Odds & Totals
513 West Virginia +3.5 (132)
514 Kentucky -3.5
515 UCLA +5 (131.5)
516 Florida -5
517 Butler +7.5 (128)
518 Pittsburgh -7.5
519 Cincinnati +3.5 (130)
520 Connecticut -3.5
521 Morehead State +3.5 (126)
522 Richmond -3.5
523 Gonzaga -1.5 (149)
524 Brigham Young +1.5
525 Temple +5.5 (125)
526 San Diego State -5.5
527 Kansas State +3 (126)
528 Wisconsin -3
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