Picking Thursday’s NCAA Tournament Games Against the Spread

ODB is 1-0 against the spread!

I have so much faith in these picks, I have put nothing on them. But if you want to bet on a man who spends many of his nights at Raising Cane’s, go for it.

Notre Dame (-6.5) v. Princeton- The Ivy League had a nice run with Harvard. Notre Dame is a good deal better. Mike Brey has done well in the tournament. I’ve got Notre Dame covering.

Virginia (-7.5) v. UNC Wilmington- UNC Wilmington finished 29-5 and offenses take forever to score against them. I like Virginia to win, but I’ll take the points.

Butler (-11) v. Winthrop- Winthrop is over-seeded, and Butler has two wins over Villanova. The Bulldogs have some bad losses. I think they’re too talented to not cover.

Gonzaga (-22) v. South Dakota State- Gonzaga is the #1 KenPom team. Maybe they’re overrated from beating bad teams. South Dakota State is a bad team. Gonzaga covers.

West Virginia (-14) v. Bucknell- The Mountaineers have cleaned up against some bad teams. The press is often too much for opponents. I’ll take West Virginia covering.

Florida (-10.5) v. East Tennessee State- The Gators have a few perplexing losses. East Tennessee State is a pretty solid team. I think they’ll cover.

Minnesota (-1.5) v. Middle Tennessee- Minnesota is ludicrously given a No. 5 seed. I have them losing this game, so give me the points.

Vanderbilt (-1.5) v. Northwestern- Vandy has 15 losses, but they also have some incredible wins. That’s how they made it. Northwestern should be happy to have finally made it to the tournament. They’ll lose by at least two points.

Maryland (-2) v. Xavier- Maryland is another Big Ten team that does not deserve such a high seed. Xavier has suffered some injuries, but they’ve been one of the most disappointing teams in the country. I think they’ll make it to the next round.

Villanova (-26.5) v. Mt. St. Mary’s- I think Villanova has a fantastic shot to repeat. I also think betting on any game with a line that big is awful. The backdoor cover potential is too much. But I’m not betting, I’m just taking Mt. St. Mary’s to cover.

St. Mary’s (-4) v. VCU- St. Mary’s is a good team. Still, something bothers me about how easily Gonzaga dispatched them. I think VCU keeps it within four.

Purdue (-11) v. Vermont- Caleb Swanigan would be a disaster for KU. Yet, the Boilermakers haven’t crushed everybody. I’ll take Vermont to keep this within 11.

Florida State (-12) v. FGCU- Dunk City was awesome. FGCU is good. They could easily cover—I think the Seminoles are just a little too good.

Wisconsin (-6) v. Virginia Tech- I don’t like the Big Ten, but I also don’t like the ACC after the top six. The Badgers will eek out a high single digit win for Bucky.

Arizona (-17) v. North Dakota- Sometimes you have to bet for stupid reasons. It snowed twice this week in Kansas City. I don’t like winter. Arizona doesn’t have snow. I’ll take Arizona to win by 20+.

Iowa State (-7) v. Nevada- The Clones mascot issues always give me hesitancy. This is a popular 5-12 upset. Nevada will be popular to gamblers.