Gonzaga and Arizona are heading home and suddenly Kansas is the last No. 1 seed left standing for college basketball betting action ahead of tonight’s Midwest and East region Sweet 16 Matchups.
The No. 1 Jayhawks take on No. 4 Providence tonight, with the Jayhawks -7 favorites. We’ve also got our eyes on No. 4 UCLA as a -2 favorite over No. 8 North Carolina and No. 10 Miami as a -3 favorite over No. 11 Iowa State.
Friday’s College Basketball Betting Lines To Back
Kansas -7 over Providence
We were leaning Providence +7.5 early in the week, but Kansas is available without the hook now and we think it’s a good number for the Jayhawks. The Friars caught a massive break with Richmond taking out Iowa.
To their credit, they took advantage with a 79-51 win. But they caught a few lucky bounces in that game too. Richmond shot just 1 of 22 from 3-point range while Providence went scorched earth and hit 12 of 22 from downtown. That won’t happen against Kansas’ defense. Providence is a strong defensive team that excels on the perimeter, but Kansas isn’t reliant on the 3-point shot.
This is a balanced offensive team that can get to the rack, hitting 19 of 20 free throws in a second-round win over Creighton. Providence could struggle to keep up. We’re on Kansas -7 over Providence.
North Carolina +2.5 over UCLA
While we flipped our first pick from earlier in the week, we’ve been locked in on this one. North Carolina was incredibly impressive in wins over Marquette and No. 1 Baylor. No one seems to know how to handle the Tar Heels’ offense when it’s going like this, scoring 93 points or more in three of the last five games.
They needed overtime to do it against Baylor after blowing a 25-point lead, but we actually think the composure to regroup and drop the hammer in OT is a positive sign moving forward. UCLA will try to slow it down and make it ugly. That’s a tall order tonight. We’re on North Carolina +2.5.
Miami -3 over Iowa State
We can’t trust the Cyclones in this spot. The defense has been very impressive, no doubt. The point totals are alarming. Iowa State has been held under 60 points in four of the last five games, a stretch that includes a 53-36 loss to Oklahoma State and a 72-41 loss to Texas Tech. Credit Iowa State for making it work with tough wins over LSU and Wisconsin, but the 3-point numbers suggest they got away with a couple.
LSU shot just 4 of 19 from deep while the Cyclones were 12 of 37 – yes, they hit 12 threes and still scored just 59 points. The Badgers were even colder than LSU and hit just 2 of 22 from deep. The Hurricanes don’t overly-rely on the three, they have size and they can rip off quick scoring runs at any time. Iowa State is in deep trouble if it falls behind by a few possessions at any point. We’re on Miami -3.
