Five Bold 2019 March Madness Betting Predictions

As the NCAA men’s basketball tournament — known as March Madness for the chaos that ensues each year — approaches, it’s time to think about your sports betting. The top seeds are already largely in place, barring some sort of major injury or collapse, as Virginia, Kentucky, Gonzaga and Duke look to sit astride the four brackets — although the case of Duke’s Zion Williamson is interesting, as many are calling for him to sit out the rest of the season after his knee injury, even after he recovers, because he plans to enter the NBA draft at the end of the season anyway. Others, including Kobe Bryant and Giannis Antetokounmpo, are calling for him to return to the court for Duke when he is healthy and finish the season, and that decision will largely play a major role in Duke’s prospects for a title. We don’t know what Zion will do, but we do have five bold March Madness betting predictions for you to consider as you start toying with your own bracket.

Five Bold 2019 March Madness Betting Predictions

🚨 Latest NET Rankings! 🚨 1. Gonzaga 2. Virginia 3. Duke 4. Houston 5. Kentucky 6. Michigan State 7. Tennessee 8. North Carolina 9. Michigan 10. Texas Tech Updated daily: 👉 https://t.co/WcAiGNRwth pic.twitter.com/4L892786ZB

— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) 1 de marzo de 2019

Gonzaga won’t make the Final Four

Sure, the Bulldogs are one of the more transcendent programs in the country, and they have picked up some solid wins in non-conference play, but they haven’t been tested in Big West play, which means that they’ve gone two months without a tough game. In their region, they could see the likes of LSU, Florida, Kansas, Michigan and other teams that are more battle-tested and could give the Bulldogs a shock to end their season early.

Houston won’t make the Sweet 16

The only quality opponent that Houston beat this season was LSU, on a neutral floor. Other than that, their non-conference schedule was filled with tomato cans, and the American Athletic Conference is down this year. The Cougars’ lone loss this season has come against Temple, a team that will be lucky to make March Madness at all, and so once they run into a more battle-tested team, their season will come to an end, in the second round if not the first.

Syracuse will make the Elite 8 — if they stay off the 8/9 line

That 2-3 zone frustrated Duke down in Durham, and it almost beat Duke when the Blue Devils came to the Carrier Dome. It did beat Louisville at home, and it is really just a lack of a go-to scorer that is keeping the Orange from contending this year. If they can stay off the 8/9 line (and therefore avoid a matchup with a 1-seed in the second round), then they will frustrate enough teams to make it to the Elite 8.

Michigan State will make the Final Four

Tom Izzo has his Spartans peaking at just the right time, as the Spartans took down Michigan last weekend, and even without two key players, his system has the team rolling. We’ll see how they look in the Big Ten Tournament, but as a team in one of the stronger basketball conferences, the Spartans are separating themselves with gritty defense and rebounding, with enough clutch scoring to get big wins.

Texas Tech will make the Elite 8

The Red Raiders just dealt Kansas a 91-62 rout at home last weekend and then avoided what would have been an awful loss in a trap game, holding off Oklahoma State, 84-80, on Saturday. They head to TCU Saturday with a chance to solidify their fortunes in the Big 12. Texas Tech has a salty defense and has the scoring to pour points in, whether in transition or in the fullcourt game. That well-rounded nature of their team means that they will be able to beat opponents in multiple ways and show that their test of Duke in the early going was anything but a fluke.