No matchup in the first round has raised more eyebrows and created more of a backlash in the direction of the Selection Committee than that of the 7/10 pairing between Wichita State and Dayton. The former is the No. 10 seed and the latter the No. 7. However, Wichita State has been lined the decided favorite by the linemakers putting the committee’s seeding of the two teams under the microscope with magnification set to 1.21 gigawatts.
This war on the floor will go down Friday, March 17, 2017, at 7:10 p.m. ET at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The game will be televised live on CBS. We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every NCAA tournament game on Friday’s college basketball schedule.
Odds at BookMaker.eu
Wichita State -5.5
Dayton +5.5
Over/Under 145.5
Once Wichita State’s name was called on Selection Sunday as a 10 seed, it immediately drew criticism. After lines for the first round opened, the Selection Committee immediately became the butt of a number of memes and jokes. The South region’s No. 10 seed opened as 6.5 points favorites over the No. 7 seed. Dayton is currently the only No. 7 seed to not be favored in their respective matchup.
With the Flyers possessing one of the more experienced teams in the country, bettors immediately hammered them lowering the spread a full point to where it currently sits at -5.5. Only 57 percent of the action is riding the Shockers, so the bigger money looks to have grabbed Dayton plus the points early on. With each club sporting scoring defenses ranked amongst the top-50, it comes as no surprise to see the total plummet to 145.5 after opening at 148.
Key Matchup
Ten players log at least 12 minutes a game for Wichita State head coach Gregg Marshall. The defense forces an average of just under 14 turnovers per game, and does it by employing a full court press a majority of the game. With 50 fouls to work with, it’s gotten away with taking chances to force all opposition into a number of miscues. Dayton possesses one of the best and more experienced backcourts in the country in Charles Cooke and Scoochie Smith. It will be up to the duo to at the very least limit the miscues to their seasonal averages of just over 2.0 per game. Anything more, and they’ll play right into Wichita’s strength.
Key Stat
73.4% – Both of these teams are eerily similar when it comes to free throws. Each averages taking 24.0 shots per game. Each sends its opposition to the charity stripe roughly 19 times per game. Each team’s percentage of points from free throws is roughly over 21.0 percent. Where the two teams drastically differ however is in conversion rate. Wichita State hits its throws at just over 73.0 percent. Dayton checks in a tad under 69.0 percent. With both defenses likely to determine this game’s final outcome, a few misses here or there could ultimately send one of these two teams packing.
Free College Basketball ATS Pick
It’s an utter shame the Selection Committee paired these teams against one another in the first round. Each has the makeup to be a giant killer, but we’ll only get to see one of them advance. These teams are almost mirror images of one another. It’s scary how evenly they rank out in a number of different categories.
In the end, I believe the Selection Committee will end up getting it right. Dayton is the more experienced of these two teams, and still has some horses on it from when the team that made an Elite 8 push a couple year’s back. Wichita State was pretty much throttled by all the tougher opposition it faced this season. While that occurred much earlier in the season, the team has to show me it’s deserving of being so highly regarded by the linemakers before I buy in. In Archie Miller I trust – bring it home Flyers!
College Basketball Odds: Dayton 70, Wichita State 69
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