Tag: NCAA Tournament first-round upsets

The first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament is halfway done and there were plenty of upsets on Thursday. We’re down to 48 teams and by the time the dust clears Friday, we’ll be down to 32 teams standing for the national title. But the big question is, which teams will join No. 15 Saint Peter’s and No. 13 Richmond in posting first-round upsets.

After looking at NCAA Tournament odds and lines, here are Friday’s best first-round upset picks among our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.

The upsets and value plays will be mixed in throughout the day. One of the biggest potentials for an upset might be in a 13-4 game, so we’ll watch that very closely.

See also: Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports

Friday’s NCAA Tournament upset picks

Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 1:21 a.m.

Chattanooga (+300 ML) vs. Illinois (6:50 p.m. ET)

I kid you not, while typing this up, I said, “Alexa, play Chattanooga Choo Choo by Glenn Miller.” Just to give you an inside look at how I do things.

But that’s neither here nor there. If you make this play, and it comes through and you triple up, you’ll be playing this song all night too.

The Mocs were an impressive team all season long out of the Southern Conference, scoring non-conference wins at VCU and Loyola Marymount, as well as picking up wins over mid-majors UNC Asheville, Lipscomb, Middle Tennessee and Tennessee Tech. Are those teams Illinois, with a dominant big man Kofi Cockburn? Well, no. But the Mocs won’t be intimidated, as they’re battle tested. Chattanooga is a value play worth a roll of the dice. At the very least, you have to at least take the seven and a hook.

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Delaware +15.5 (-110) vs. Villanova (2:45 p.m. ET)

I don’t think the Blue Hens of Delaware aren’t going to spring the outright upset like above, but they should be able to keep it close. This would be a helluva FCS football game, by the way.

These institutions, separated by roughly 45 miles of road, which could take anywhere from 40 minutes to a half day depending on Philadelphia traffic, have met frequently over the years. Villanova has won each of the previous eight meetings dating back to Dec. 23, 2009, with the Wildcats holding a 5-3 ATS edge. Delaware covered a 13.5-point number in the most recent meeting Dec. 14, 2019.

The Blue Hens covered all three games in the CAA Tournament, cashing the Under in each game too, by the way. In fact, Delaware is on an 8-2 Under run, which is also something to consider for a nice parlay chance.

The Wildcats are just 5-10-1 ATS in the past 16 games, and 1-6 ATS in the past seven games when favored by 9.5 or more points.

Notre Dame (+160 ML) vs. Alabama (4:15 p.m. ET)

The Fighting Irish picked up a double-overtime win in the Wednesday play-in game against Rutgers in Dayton. Now, Notre Dame has an opportunity to follow a trend where teams go from the play-in game to win games in the Field of 64.

The Irish have a nice opportunity because the Crimson Tide has been ice cold lately. Since Jan. 8, Alabama has been very unbecoming of an NCAA Tournament team, going just 8-10 SU. The Tide is also 5-18-1 ATS across the past 24 games overall. Yes, you read that correctly.

Notre Dame is worth a roll of the dice on the money line here, as Bama has been a sub-.500 team over the past two calendar months and change, but the Irish are worth playing catching a couple of buckets, too, if you’d like a little insurance. The Tide is not high, and they’re not moving on.

Iowa State (+155 ML) vs. LSU (7:20 p.m. ET)

The Cyclones catch a break in this first-round matchup with the Tigers. LSU has controversy and distractions swirling the program, and head coach Will Wade was fired last weekend after notice of significant misconduct allegations. Kevin Nickelberry will handle the interim coaching duties in what might be LSU’s last appearance in the NCAA Tournament for a while.

Iowa State has a star in Izaiah Brockington, and while the Cyclones didn’t exactly light the world afire in the conference portion of the schedule, they did score wins over NCAA Tournament teams TCU, Texas and Texas Tech, while losing by one point against Kansas. In the non-league part of the schedule, the Cyclones also topped NCAA Tournament teams (the now departed) Iowa Hawkeyes, as well as Creighton and Memphis.

This Cyclones team is very talented when it wants to be, and hopefully it will use a 31-point beatdown from TTU in the Big 12 Tournament as fuel in this opening game.

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The NCAA Tournament gets underway Thursday afternoon, but the best upsets should be during the evening slate of games. Everybody loves an upset during March Madness, and there will be plenty in the late session.

After looking at NCAA Tournament odds and lines, here are Thursday’s best first-round upset picks among our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.

There are going to be a lot of bummed-out fans from the power conferences, as some big-name teams are going to be catching flights home early, including a four-time national champion.

See also: Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports

Thursday’s NCAA Tournament upset picks

Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 8:15 a.m. ET.

New Mexico State (+230 ML) vs. Connecticut (6:50 ET)

We get the 12-5 matchup between the Aggies and the Huskies out of the West Region in Buffalo. New Mexico State dominated Abilene Christian in the WAC title game, and it has now won and covered three games in a row. G Teddy Allen is going to be a handful for UConn.

The Aggies are a strong defensive team, too, and NMSU figures to give the Huskies a lot of trouble. We’ve seen UConn go all the way to the promised land four times, but we’ve also seen plenty of early exits, including last season as a seven-seed against Maryland.

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Vermont +4.5 (-107) vs. Arkansas (9:20 p.m. ET)

I don’t trust Vermont to win this one outright, but the Catamounts made a lot of noise in the America East Conference this season. They’ll give Arkansas all it can handle.

UVM has a nice combination which is a recipe for success. The Catamounts shot 48.6% from the field, ranked 15th in the country during the regular season, and allowed just 61.5 PPG to check in at 20th in the nation.

Arkansas is obviously a huge step up in the quality of competition, but UVM won’t be fazed. It played Providence well earlier in the season, and gave Maryland a nice run, too.

The Razorbacks have dropped two of their last three games, and this doesn’t look like the same team which went all the way to the Elite Eight last season before checking out against Baylor.

Akron +13.5 (-108) vs. UCLA (9:50 p.m. ET)

The Zips of Akron bounced rival Kent State by 20 points in the MAC Tournament championship game, winning their eighth consecutive game. Akron is also 7-1 ATS across its last eight outings, so it enters this tournament on a serious roll.

UCLA is a tough out, obviously, as G Jules Bernard, G Jaime Jaquez Jr. and G Johnny Juzang are one of the better triumvirates in the nation. However, the Bruins have had lapses. This team lost to a bad Arizona State team 87-84 on the road Feb. 5 as a 10.5-point favorite, a matchup very similar to this one.

The Bruins are also just 5-5 SU/ATS in their previous 10 games either on the road or at a neutral site. Akron nearly topped a power conference team back in November, losing a heartbreaker at Ohio State on a tip-in at the last second. The Zips can definitely hang, and they’ll give the Bruins all they can handle, especially since Akron is a solid defensive squad.

Creighton (+120 ML) vs. San Diego State (7:27 p.m. ET)

This one won’t be considered much of an upset as it’s just an 8-9 game, but the Bluejays of Creighton have been playing good basketball of late. Creighton won two games to get to the Big East Final before falling to Villanova 54-48 in a defensive affair. Creighton covered all three tourney games, too.

The Bluejays have actually covered nine of their last 11 games overall. You won’t need the points here, however. The cadre of Ryans, which include F Ryan Hawkins, C Ryan Kalkbrenner and G Ryan Nembhard, will give the defensive-minded Aztecs problems.

San Diego State is a tremendous defensive team, ranking second in the country during the regular season with 58.3 PPG allowed. However, it has a hard time scoring and that kind of basketball typically isn’t good for long-term success in the NCAA Tournament. You need to have a good combination of defense and solid scoring, and San Diego State is awful offensively. It shoots just 43.5% from the field, and the Aztecs are horrible at the free-throw line, too, at just 69.7%.

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Follow Kevin J. Erickson on Twitter. Follow SportsbookWire on Twitter and like us on Facebook.

College sports coverage from USA TODAY Sports Media Group:

Alabama / Arkansas / Auburn / Colorado / Florida / Georgia / Iowa / LSU / Michigan / Michigan State / North Carolina / Notre Dame / Ohio State / Oklahoma / Oregon / Penn State / Rutgers / Tennessee / Texas / USC / Wisconsin / College Football News

Gannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. See Tipico.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ only. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA).

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