We’re setting up a three-step bet for Sunday’s March Madness slate.
The pre-game story: Not the flashiest Kentucky Wildcats team we’ve seen in recent memory, but they’re still damn good. We’re backing them and the UConn Huskies to win and we’re also taking the Creighton Blue Jays to an alternate split.
Check out our top March Madness second-round picks for March 19.
NCAA basketball odds at 3:09 p.m. ET on 03/18/2023.
March Madness Second Round Bet Picks
Parlay: Kentucky ML + UConn ML + Creighton +6.5 (+224)
Kentucky ML (-167) : Kentucky hasn’t reached the Sweet 16 since 2019 – which is a long time for a program of this stature. That said, we expect the Wildcats to keep dancing after Sunday’s showdown with the Kansas State Wildcats.
NCAA Parenthesis: Play support here
Kansas St. lost back-to-back games heading into the tournament but was never really in danger of losing to the No. 14 Montana St. Bobcats on Friday. Even so, we are more bullish on the Kentucky trend.
John Calipari’s team has won six of its last eight games, the only losses being a pair of losses against Vanderbilt, a team that clearly had Kentucky’s number.
Other than that, the Wildcats have beaten tournament teams like Auburn, Arkansas, and Tennessee over the past month.
Other parade legs
UConn ML (-200) : We take a little more chalk supporting the Huskies on the moneyline. UConn has won seven of its last eight games before this game with its only loss to the Marquette Golden Eagles in the Big East Tournament.
UConn only lost this game by two points and Marquette is a more tried and tested team than the St. Mary’s Gaels.
St. Mary’s has been an impressive 27-7 this season, but they’ve been 2-3 in Quad 1 games and have lost both games to the Gonzaga Bulldogs this year. Gonzaga has the best offense in the country based on Ken Pom’s adjusted offensive efficiency rating and Uconn is not far behind, ranking fourth.
The Huskies play a much slower pace than the Zags, but we still think they’ll be able to fill the basket with ease.
Creighton +6.5 (-286) : Creighton has a good chance of winning this game, but we’ll buy some points out of caution.
The Blue Jays have the 14th best adjusted defensive efficiency in this country and they should be able to slow down the blistering Baylor Bears offense.
It helps that Creighton can also fill the bucket. Greg McDermott’s team has scored at least 70 points in four of its last five games.
Looking to get started? register here.
Disclaimer This content has been produced in partnership and therefore may not meet the standards of impartial or independent journalism.
.
<a href=”
