2018 March Madness Betting Predicition for Sweet 16

Just last Tuesday, there were 68 teams set to compete for the 2017-18 NCAA men’s basketball title. Now we’re down to 16 — and there have been some major upsets along the way. Only two 1-seeds remain, as Virginia went down in historic fashion to UMBC in the first round (who would then lose to Kansas State) and Xavier lost to Florida State in the second round. There are also only two 2-seeds (Duke and Purdue) and two 3-seeds (Michigan and Texas Tech). We also have three 5-seeds, a pair of 7-seeds, a pair of 9-seeds, and a pair of 11-seeds, with a 4-seed rounding out the final 16. Take a look at some of our March Madness betting predictions for the regional semifinals, set for Thursday and Friday.

2018 March Madness Betting Prediction for Sweet 16

Where we stand heading into the #Sweet16!#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/dHvjOjxVd7

— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 19, 2018

Nevada will move to the Elite Eight

The 7-seed Wolfpack take on 11-seed Loyola-Chicago. The Ramblers have hit game-winning shots while trailing, 82-81, in each of their first two games in March Madness. However, they take on a Nevada team that may have some issues on defense but can score in bunches. Nevada trailed 2-seed Cincinnati by as many as 22 points in the early going, but the Bearcats showed their traditional colors down the stretch — living by the jumper, and dying by the jumper. Their outside shots stopped falling, but they didn’t compensate by penetrating to the rim, and Nevada whittled away at their lead and ended up taking the win. I thought that Nevada’s 7-seed was a little harsh, and they’re showing everyone by taking down Texas and Cincinnati. They are favored by just a bucket over the Ramblers, so I’m making this one of my priority wagers.

Kentucky will win in a big rout as well

John Calipari sells his recruits each season on what he calls a “gap year” — a season playing in the NCAA while he does everything he can to get his top players where they need to in the NBA. This means that he has to get a group of talented freshmen to mesh well each season and play his scheme. Even midway through conference play, it looked like Kentucky might put up a clinker of a season, but then things jelled down the stretch, and Kentucky won the SEC Tournament. They are playing dominant defense to go along with that talented offense, and the results speak for themselves. That 5 ½-point line should be no problem for them to cover against a Kansas State that showed some spunk in Big 12 play but is nowhere close to the Wildcats’ talent level.

“Press Virginia” will go home on Friday night

Fifth-seeded West Virginia has used their swarming press to rousing success in a 17-point win over 12-seed Murray State and a 23-point win over 13-seed Marshall. However, now they face top-seeded Villanova, who has the speed and talent to take down Bob Huggins’ team. How do you beat West Virginia? You cycle the ball from the inbound receiver back to the middle and stay out of the corners. The Mountaineers are fast and well-conditioned, but in the first two rounds of the Big Dance they faced teams with inferior speed — and who hadn’t been accustomed to this kind of defense. Now they might be facing one of the top five quickest teams in the country, and when the Mountaineers run into elite talent, especially away from home, they usually flame out. I see Villanova winning and covering that five-point spread.

Get ready for the Orange

Once again, Syracuse is in a tournament that people didn’t believe they deserved a spot in — and they are still winning. They beat Arizona State in a First Four play-in, beat an overrated 6-seed in TCU by five, and then took down 3-seed Michigan State by two in the round of 32. Now the 11-seed Orange face 2-seed Duke as 11 ½-point underdogs. With that 2-3 zone, Syracuse slows down the pace, and they face a Duke team that switched to a zone midway through ACC play. When the two teams met in ACC play, Duke won at home by 16. However, this is a neutral-site game, and Syracuse has their tournament mojo going. I think Duke wins — but I’d take Syracuse to cover.