March Madness Day 2 picks, odds & value bets – Friday, March 18

March Madness carries on this Friday with another 16 games. It is the second half of the first round and a continuation of the non-stop basketball. All of these teams will have their eyes on the second round, so get ready for some awesome games. These are the best bets available for Friday’s NCAAB slate.

Loyola Chicago Ramblers vs Ohio State Buckeyes

This line is simply created due to narrative and is completely undermining a strong Ohio State team. Loyola has had recent success in the tournament and was able to knock off a tourney favorite in last year’s March Madness. On the other hand, Ohio State lost a shocker to a lesser opponent in Oral Roberts. Now, despite Ohio State being the better team, this game is a true pick ’em. Ohio State has a good coach and while they have struggled in recent years, they have a history of being a good tournament team. Don’t overthink it. Take the Buckeyes.

Loyola is a good team but doesn’t play teams like Ohio State in their conference. Ohio State has two true NBA prospects in E.J. Liddell and Malaki Branham. If they play at the level they are capable of, Loyola will get blown out. It’s trendy to take Loyola, but if anyone looks at their actual talent, this game is easy. Obviously, March always has crazy upsets but the narrative against OSU has completely taken over. It may be close, but there is a clear talent gap and the Buckeyes should prevail.

Miami Hurricanes vs USC Trojans

This is a great matchup between two great coaches. While neither of them have a tournament title, Jim Larranega of Miami brought George Mason to the Final Four and Andy Enfield of USC brought Florida Gulf Coast to the Sweet Sixteen. At the time, both of these teams captivated NCAA basketball fans and their Cinderella runs proved their coaches legitimacy. Both of these coaches left their old teams and now are onto bigger and better things with Power 5 schools. This game will be hard fought, but USC plays in a better conference with stronger competition to prepare for this game.

USC will be the seven seed in this game after a strong Pac-12 season. Led by Isaiah Mobley – the younger brother of NBA ROTY favorite Evan Mobley – the Trojans have an NBA prospect that can take over this game. Mobley averaged 14.3 PPG, 8.5 RPG and 3.2 APG during the season. He is a stud who can do everything on the basketball court. Unfortunately for Miami, they have no one to guard him and KenPom has Miami as the 59th best team in the country. USC is rated as the 42nd team so take them -2 and watch Mobley cook.

Colgate Raiders vs Wisconsin Badgers

The 14th-seeded Colgate Raiders will not be scared by Wisconsin. They are a team full of upperclassmen who will not think the moment is too big for them. For smaller colleges, that is the mentality to have. While the third-seeded Badgers are more talented and will have some NBA prospects, Colgate has been building for this moment and have a true opportunity to shock the world. While they likely won’t win, taking Colgate +7.5 is good value against a Wisconsin team that limped into the tournament.

Wisconsin will have the best player in this game in Johnny Davis. Davis is an NBA lottery pick and in the running for the college basketball player of the year award. Unfortunately for him and the Badgers, however, he rolled his ankle in the Big 10 tournament and may be hobbled for this game. Even so, he will be hard to stop but Colgate has a bunch of guys who can shoot. For a less athletic team, they will need to hit threes at a high rate but they have the ability to do that. Colgate has the chance to win this game but it is safer to take them +7.5 and root for the upset.

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