Just because the regular season is over doesn’t mean the hoops have to stop or slow down. Au contraire, things are just starting to heat up and Wednesday’s slate on the college basketball schedule features matchups from all four postseason tournaments. The biggest takes place in Dayton, Ohio, where the North Dakota State Bison are a 4.5-point favorite to beat North Carolina Central in a NCAA Tournament First Four game. The winner gets No. 1 overall seed Duke. Arizona State is a slim 1.5-point favorite over St. John’s in the last First Four game.
BookMaker.eu will have college basketball odds and live betting options for every game on the Wednesday schedule.
College Basketball Schedule for Wednesday, March 20, 2019
NCAA First Four
North Carolina Central vs. North Dakota State ( -4.5, 132.5 ), 6:40 p.m. ET (truTV)
St. John's vs. Arizona State ( -1.5, 153 ), 9:10 p.m. ET (truTV)
NIT First Round
Toledo at Xavier ( -7, 143 ), 7 p.m. ET (ESPN3)
Norfolk State at Alabama ( -16, 143 ), 7 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
Harvard at Georgetown ( -5, 152 ), 7 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
Wichita State at Furman ( OFF ), 7 p.m. ET (ESPN3)
Sam Houston State at TCU ( -13.5, 146.5 ), 9 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
Butler at Nebraska ( -5.5, 144.5 ), 9 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
CBI First Round
Grand Canyon at West Virginia ( -5, 149.5 ), 7 p.m. ET
Howard at Coastal Carolina ( -11.5, 162.5 ), 7 p.m. ET
Stony Brook at South Florida ( -6.5, 139 ), 7 p.m. ET
Southern Miss ( -10.5, 136.5 ) at Longwood, 7 p.m. ET
UAB at Brown ( -1.5, 142.5 ), 7 p.m. ET
Central Michigan at DePaul ( -5, 167.5 ), 8 p.m. ET
Loyola Marymount ( -1.5, 140 ) at Cal Baptist, 10 p.m. ET
CIT First Round
Green Bay at East Tennessee State ( -11, 155.5 ), 7 p.m. ET
Texas Southern at New Orleans ( -1.5, 159 ), 8 p.m. ET
Grambling at UT Rio Grande Valley ( -10.5, 143.5 ), 8 p.m. ET
Presbyterian at Seattle ( -4.5, 147.5 ), 10 p.m. ET
Wednesday Opening Lines Report
Unlike the NCAA Tournament, the other postseason events are all hosted on campus sites in the first few rounds, and the opening lines are reflective of that. Five of the six NIT first round games see the home team as a favorite. The Wichita State at Furman matchup has yet to hit the board.
The visitors are getting at least five points on the opening line with two of the five posted spreads reaching double figures. Could it be the power conference bias? Alabama got a No. 1 seed in the NIT and opened as a 16-point fave over Norfolk State. The Spartans won the MEAC regular season title but blew a 10-point halftime lead in a loss to NC Central in the tournament final.
TCU won 20 games this season, but went just 7-11 in the Big 12 to fall into the NIT. Oddsmakers weren’t swayed as they opened the Horned Frogs as 13.5-point chalk over Sam Houston State.
We also see double digit spreads in a few other games on the schedule. Coastal Carolina is laying 11.5-points to Howard in an opening round CBI matchup. Meanwhile, two CIT first round games feature double digit opening lines. East Tennessee State is favored by 11-points over Green Bay and UT Rio Grande Valley is spotting Grambling 10.5 points.
Of the 17 games on Wednesday that are hosted on campus, just two have the visiting team as a favorite and both are part of the College Basketball Invitational. Southern Miss tied for second during the C-USA regular season and reached the 20-win mark by knocking off Marshall in the conference tournament. The Golden Eagles are a 10.5-point favorite over Longwood, who squeaked into the postseason with a 15-17 overall record.
Loyola Marymount of the West Coast Conference will travel to Cal Baptist as a 1.5-point favorite for a first-round CBI game. The Lancers are in their first season as a recognized DI program and jumped at the chance to host a postseason game after compiling a 16-14 overall record.
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