The Ohio Bobcats (18-13, 10-8) and Ball State Cardinals (20-11, 11-7) meet Thursday in a 1st-round matchup in the Mid-American Conference Tournament. Tip from Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland is at approximately 1:30 p.m. ET (ESPN+). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Ohio vs. Ball State odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
Ohio enters the tournament with 7 wins in the last 9 games overall, while going 6-2 ATS in the last 8 outings.
The Bobcats had a fantastic offense in the regular season, averaging 78.6 PPG to rank 32nd in the country, while hitting 3-pointers at a 37.2% clip, good for 39th overall. Ohio struggles defensively, however, allowing 72.9 PPG, ranked 265th in the nation.
Ball State dropped 3 straight games to close the regular season, although 2 losses were to No. 1-seed Toledo, and to the defending MAC champ and 3-seed, Akron.
These teams played just once in the regular season, with the Bobcats winning 76-71 in Athens as a 2-point favorite with the 145 Over just coming through.
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Ohio vs. Ball State odds
Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Wednesday at 10:07 p.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Off the board (OTB)
- Against the spread: Ohio -1.5 (+100) | Ball State +1.5 (-120)
- Over/Under (O/U): 152.5 (O: -105 | U: -115)
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Ohio vs. Ball State picks and predictions
Prediction
Ohio 79, Ball State 75
Moneyline
The moneyline was OTB at the time of publishing. However, check when a moneyline is made available as Ohio would be worth a roll of the dice at what should be a favorable price.
AVOID, and focus on the spread instead, for now.
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Against the spread
The play is OHIO -1.5 (+100) at even-money.
The Bobcats pounced on the Cardinals in the first and only meeting of the regular season, and Ohio was money from downtown in that game. It hit 48% (10-of-21) from behind the arc, and it will likely go right back to that well in this tourney action. Ball State +1.5 (-120) was horrific defending against the 3 all season, allowing 38.0%, which ranked 354th in the country. That will be the difference.
Over/Under
OVER 152.5 (-105) is the lean, especially with the aforementioned 3-point shooting prowess of Ohio, and the inability for Ball State to guard at the perimeter.
The Over is also 4-0 for Ohio in the last 4 games against teams with a winning percentage over .600, while Ball State has cashed the Over at a 5-1-1 clip in the last 7 games overall, and 4-1 in the last 5 against teams with a winning overall mark.
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