NCAA Best Bets for Sunday, March 19, 2022

We are still doing fairly well overall in the tournament, but Friday was a bit of a letdown in some ways. Still, we march on as even if a bet dies, we don't go bust - unlike our brackets.

Texas vs. Purdue

I was a Texas doubter, and for some reason, I really like this Purdue team that keeps letting me down. I am going to once again take Purdue though as I think the line is too low. If Texas covers the spread, I'd just expect them to win the game outright, something they are certainly capable of doing. However, I think this is a game where Purdue's defense really will come back together. They shouldn't have much trouble scoring and if they can put together a few defensive stands, we should easily cover the short -3 number in favor of Purdue.

Iowa State vs. Wisconsin

Again, not a Big10 cheerleader or something here, but if I am putting my money on a team in this game, it will certainly be the Badgers. Iowa State is actually a solid program but it definitely was a challenge to beat the LSU team they took down. Their previous four games were against better opponents and they lost badly in two of them and by seven to a strong Baylor team. Wisconsin was my most disappointing pick in any of the conference tournaments but they may have had their eyes on this big dance instead. If they can defend well enough against Iowa State's ball movement - and they should be able to - I think Wisconsin can win by double digits. They should control the glass too. I'll take Wisconsin -4.5 at -110.

Ohio State vs. Villanova

Okay, this is where I stop picking Big10 teams to win games. I can't see the Buckeyes winning over Villanova. I expect Villanova to be stifling on defense and to really frustrate the entire Ohio State roster. The bigger question mark right now is this: Can Villanova score enough, consistently enough, to win this game. Ohio State had a great defensive outing against Loyola (it also helped that they shot poorly even on open shots) but Villanova has more talent on their roster and a good opportunity to win this game by a sizeable margin. I'll take Villanova -5.5 at -110.

Totals:

These are the total that I'm going to be playing for Sunday:

Miami/Auburn over 144.5
Texas/Purdue over 134
Notre Dame/Texas Tech under 132.5