The No. 12 seed Oregon State Beavers (19-12) take on the No. 8 seed Loyola Chicago Ramblers (26-4) Saturday in a Midwest Region Sweet 16 contest at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:40 p.m. ET on CBS. Below, we analyze the Oregon State-Loyola Chicago odds and lines, with March Madness NCAA Tournament picks and predictions.
The Beavers have been underdogs in all five of their postseason games to date, and they have won all five games outright. The Pac-12 Tournament champions sure picked the right time to get hot. They have scored 70 or more points in each of the five outings since losing 80-67 to Oregon in the regular-season finale March 7.
Overall they’re 12-1 ATS across their past 13 games, and they’re also 15-3 ATS across their past 18 as underdogs, too.
The Ramblers have certainly made 101-year-old Sister Jean proud, rattling off victories against Georgia Tech and Illinois to punch their ticket to the Sweet 16. Of course, the Sister had her Ramblers heading into this round and beyond on her bracket.
Loyola scored 71 points in each of its NCAA Tournament games so far while allowing 60 to Georgia Tech in the first round, and 58 against No. 1-seeded Illinois last time out. C Cameron Krutwig has been a man among boys to date, going for 15.0 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 3.2 APG, 1.6 SPG and 1.2 BPG in five postseason outings.
Oregon State vs. Loyola Chicago: Odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Thursday at 11:10 a.m. ET.
- Money line: Oregon State +240 (bet $100 to win $240) | Loyola Chicago -300 (bet $300 to win $100)
- Against the spread/ATS: Oregon State +6.5 (-110) | Loyola Chicago -6.5 (-110)
- Over/Under: 125.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
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Oregon State vs. Loyola Chicago: Odds, lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Loyola Chicago 63, Oregon State 57
Money line (ML)
Loyola Chicago (-300) will cost you three times your potential return, and that’s not a good long-term betting strategy. It’s not a good short-term strategy in the NCAA Tournament, either, as we have witnessed numerous upsets thus far.
This year’s Sweet 16 features the lowest average seed of any year since the tourney expanded to 64 teams back in 1985.
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Against the spread (ATS)
OREGON STATE +6.5 (-110) is worth playing lightly, although it might require a backdoor cover in the final ticks.
The Beavers have been red-hot against the number, but Loyola Chicago is no slouch, either, going 5-0 ATS across five postseason games.
Over/Under (O/U)
UNDER 125.5 (-110) is the way to go, although it is likely to be rather tight. The Under is 6-3 in the past nine games for the Ramblers, which should come as no surprise since they have the nation’s best scoring defense at just 55.7 PPG allowed.
The Ramblers are more like the Amblers on the offensive end, going low and slow. They’re a good shooting team, but they average just 71.6 PPG to check-in 174th in the country.
Oregon State has been on an Over run lately, going 7-1 across its past eight games, but the Beavers haven’t played a lockdown defense like Loyola’s.
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