NCAAB March Madness Sweet Sixteen South & Midwest Betting Odds

Friday will see the eight remaining teams from the South and Midwest regions duking it out for a chance to advance from the Sweet Sixteen to the Elite Eight. Online sportsbooks all have Alabama, Houston, and Creighton as massive favorites, with Texas vs. Xavier shaping up as the tightest contest.

All betting odds are provided by Betway.

No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 5 San Diego State Odds - 6:30PM, March 24th

Alabama cruised through the first two rounds of the tournament, beating both of their opponents by 20+ points. Their elite offense comes up against a different beast in San Diego State, however, as the Aztecs rank 25th in the NCAA allowing just 63.1 points per game to opponents.

San Diego State will need to supplement that stingy defense with some more well-rounded scoring, if Matt Bradley is the only double-digit scorer again like he was in the first round against Charleston, the Crimson Tide are going to roll over the Aztecs easily.

The Tide have enough offensive talent to pressure San Diego State’s solid defense, though while they’re 12-3 straight up in non-conference games this season, they’re just 6-8-1 against the spread in those spots, which means they’re likely to win a tight one here. 

No. 1 Houston vs. No. 5 Miami Odds - 7:15PM, March 24th

Miami was very impressive in an upset win over Indiana, and guards Isaiah Wong and Wooga Poplar are going to have to impress again if they expect to make it two straight upsets. The issue for the Hurricanes is that they’re not a very good defensive team, ranking outside of the top 100 in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency metric. That’s far from ideal considering they’re going up against the ninth best offense in the nation.

Size is also a big issue for Miami here, as their starting five man, Norchad Omier, is just 6’7”. Miami will need him to play smart and avoid foul trouble if they’re going to give one of the best rebounding teams in the country a run for their money. It’s also worth noting that the ‘Canes have gone 7-2 ATS as underdogs while Houston has been a shaky team ATS.

No. 6 Creighton vs. No. 15 Princeton 9:00PM, March 24th

It wouldn’t be March Madness without at least one Cinderella Story, and this season the Princeton Tigers have taken on that mantle. Princeton relied heavily on big man Tosan Evbuomwan to win in the first round, but his limitations were glaring in their second round win, as he was rendered largely ineffective by Mizzou’s Kobe Brown. With Creighton employing seven-footer Ryan Kalkbrenner as their best player, it could be another tough game for Evbuomwan.

Blake Peters stepped up and went 5-for-8 from deep off the bench to help Princeton overcome Missouri, but considering the sophomore usually only scores six points a game, a repeat performance seems unlikely. Creighton’s got the size advantage, and their wide array of scoring options (five players averaging double digits this year) will make it really tough for Princeton to keep the dream alive here.

No. 2 Texas vs. No. 3 Xavier - 9:45PM, March 24th

Xavier would seem to have the edge in two pretty crucial areas: size and three-point shooting. But as we’ve seen, the three-ball can desert you at any given moment. Texas is the much more well-rounded team, with several players who can go off for 20 points if need be. They’ve been led by the strong guard duo of Marcus Carr and Sir’Jabari Rice this season, but in the tourney it has been forward Dylan Disu that has carried the Longhorns to victory twice.

The 6’9” Disu will need to once again over perform on the scoreboard and on the glass to give the Longhorns a good chance of winning this one. The elite suffocating defense of Texas has been their calling card all season, though, and a healthy dose of that dizzying defensive pressure could be the deciding factor in what will surely be one of the best games of the Sweet Sixteen.