Much like Thursday’s games there aren’t a lot of surprises on the opening line for Friday’s 16-game first-round NCAA Tournament slate. The only lower seed listed as a favorite in the entire 32-game first-round is No. 9 Central Florida, which is giving a single point to No. 8. VCU. Three No. 1 seeds hit the hardwood, and just like Gonzaga they are all laying more than 20-points. And they would prefer similar results to the Zags, who covered in a win over FDU. The top overall seed and favorite to win the national championship, Duke opened as a 26.5-point favorite over the Bison of North Dakota State. Virginia will get plenty of attention as the Cavs look to get past the first round this year. They’re spotting Gardner-Webb 22-points, which is the same amount North Carolina is favored by over Iona.
BookMaker.eu will have college basketball odds and live betting options for every game on the Friday schedule.
College Basketball Schedule for Friday, March 22, 2019
No. 10 Iowa vs. No. 7 Cincinnati ( -4, 137.5 ), 12:15 p.m. ET (CBS)
No. 9 Oklahoma vs. No. 8 Ole Miss ( -1, 142.5 ), 12:40 p.m. ET (truTV)
No. 14 Northern Kentucky vs. No. 3 Texas Tech ( -13, 137 ), 1:30 p.m. ET (TNT)
No. 13 UC Irvine vs. No. 4 Kansas State ( -4.5, 119 ), 2 p.m. ET (TBS)
No. 15 Colgate vs. No. 2 Tennessee ( -17.5, 148 ), 2:45 p.m. ET (CBS)
No. 16 Gardner-Webb vs. No. 1 Virginia ( -22, 129 ), 3:10 p.m. ET (truTV)
No. 11 Arizona State vs. No. 6 Buffalo ( -4.5, 157 ), 4 p.m. ET (TNT)
No. 12 Oregon vs. No. 5 Wisconsin ( -2, 116.5 ), 4:30 p.m. ET (TBS)
No. 9 Washington vs. No. 8 Utah State ( -3, 135 ), 6:50 p.m. ET (TNT)
No. 16 North Dakota State vs. No. 1 Duke ( -26.5, 149.5 ), 7:10 p.m. ET (CBS)
No. 14 Georgia State vs. No. 3 Houston ( -12.5, 141.5 ), 7:20 p.m. ET (TBS)
No. 12 Liberty vs. No. 5 Mississippi State ( -6, 133.5 ), 7:27 p.m. ET (truTV)
No. 16 Iona vs. No. 1 North Carolina ( -22, 166 ), 9:20 p.m. ET (TNT)
No. 9 UCF ( -1, 145 ) vs. No. 8 VCU, 9:40 p.m. ET (CBS)
No. 11 Ohio State vs. No. 6 Iowa State ( 5.5, 139.5 ), 9:50 p.m. ET (TBS)
No. 13 Saint Louis vs. No. 4 Virginia Tech ( -10, 126 ), 9:57 p.m. ET (truTV)
Friday Opening Lines Report
There wasn’t much madness on Thursday with the better seeds winning 12 of the 16 games straight up. It proved a little more difficult against the spread as those same teams went just 7-9 covering the line. Does that mean chaos will ensue on Friday? One team hoping that’s not the case is Virginia, especially after what happened last year.
We all know about the tragic events Virginia endured over the last 12 months after becoming the first No. 1 seed to lose to a 16-seed. The Cavs were a 20.5-point favorite on the closing line against UMBC and lost – by 20! UVA used that as a galvanizing moment in program history and beat everybody not named Duke during the regular season. The Cavs were upended in the ACC tourney semis, but they will be judged on what happens starting Friday.
The Cavs are laying 22-points on the opening line to the Gardner-Webb Bulldogs, so that has to be comforting. At least it’s not 20.5-points. This is a different UVA team, though. The Cavs can score unlike any other in Tony Bennett’s tenure, and they are deadly from three-point range. The defense is still what makes the team, but they have the weapons to come back.
The biggest opening line of the day is in favor of No. 1 overall seed Duke, which opened as a 26.5-point favorite against NDSU. The Bison won the lottery in the First Four, taking down North Carolina Central to arrange this matchup. Now they have to try and stop the ACC player of the year and future No. 1 NBA draft pick Zion Williamson, who led the Dookies to the ACC tournament title after returning from a sprained knee.
Williamson is unstoppable now that he has custom-made shoes. Including the game he exited after about a minute, the Duke Blue Devils went 3-3 during his absence, including a narrow one-point victory at home over a dreadful Wake Forest squad.
Don’t feel bad for the ACC with the league’s third top-seed in the Tournament in action and also favored by 22-points. The Tar Heels fell to the Dookies in the ACC semis and open up play against Iona.
The most interesting matchup is the 8/9 tilt between Central Florida and VCU. The Knights are the lower-seed in the matchup, but they are giving a point on the opening line. This is the only first-round matchup that has a worse-seeded team as the favorite on the betting line.
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