Four of the eight teams which were in the Elite Eight last season still have a shot to make a repeat appearance in 2016. Two of those teams, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Wisconsin Badgers, made great escapes from their Round of 32 games just to reach the point to play against each other in Philly.
NCAA Tournament Odds
Wisconsin Badgers +1
Notre Dame Fighting Irish –1
Over/Under 131.5
HOW THEY GOT HERE
Sometimes you can only describe a team's ascent in the NCAA Tournament by calling it the magic of March.
Wisconsin found itself down three with just a dozen ticks of the clock left against Xavier, and that's when Bronson Koenig took over. Koenig knocked down six threes for the game, but the most important were his last two. The first tied the game against the X-Men at 63, and the second won the game at the buzzer.
It's the second time that Wisconsin has proven to be the better team in the dying moments, as it did similar to Pittsburgh in a 47-43 game which easily could've gone the other way. The Badgers made the stands they've needed to make on defense, and that's why they're still here in the tourney and why live bettors should take them dead seriously even after starting just 9-9 this year.
Notre Dame though, had an even grander escape. The Irish were down by a point in the dying moments against Stephen F. Austin when Rex Pfleuger made himself a hero. The bench man averages just 2.3 points per game, but he got his hands on the offensive rebound on what could've been the last shot of the game, tipped it up and ultimately into the hoop to take what would've been the end of the season and turned it into the game which sent the Irish back to the Sweet 16.
Mike Brey's team has done a fantastic job rebounding on both ends of the court in clutch spots in this tournament, as it had two buckets in the closing three minutes against Michigan as well in the opening round which came off of offensive rebounds.
This is a far tougher battle on the boards, though. The Badgers aren't the biggest, but they definitely are rough and tough, and they battle for every single board on the inside. Live bettors will want to watch the battle on the glass for sure if these first two games for each side are any indicator.
KEY MATCHUP
The matchup in this game to watch is really more about pace than it is the players on the floor. The Badgers don't have the horses to run with the Irish if they really get up and at it, and everyone, including those guys in the Wisconsin locker room, knows it. Notre Dame managed to push Stephen F. Austin a bit more than it wanted to be pushed, and that's all that Brey could've really asked for from his team.
However, there's the slow pace which the Lumberjacks want to play at, and then there's the pace which the Badgers play. There are times that watching paint dry for 20 seconds would be more exciting than the Wisconsin offense operate, but the ball always seems to be in the hands of the right shooter at the end of the shot clock. The Fighting Irish aren't good about defending for a full 30 seconds, and they weren't good at all against the Southland champs last weekend. If they can close out on shooters late in the shot clock, that will probably be the key both for spread and total bettors in live betting.
KEY STATS & TRENDS
Being a short underdog is nothing new for Wisconsin. The Badgers have been short pups in each of their first two NCAAB games of the dance, and they've managed to win both games SU.
The under is 10-1 in Wisky's last 11 games overall.
The Fighting Irish are also strong under candidates having gone 7-3 towards the under in their last 10, though bettors will probably remember the high-scoring affair against Stephen F. Austin and shy away. That's where live bettors can find some real advantages against the spreads and totals, though.
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook! The Sweet 16 showdown between the Wisconsin Badgers and Notre Dame Fighting Irish will start at 7:27 p.m. ET on Friday, March 25, 2016, at the Wells Fargo Center. The contest will be broadcast on TBS.
