NCAA Tournament: March Madness Betting Odds & Notes (March 28)

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The 2024 NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 round tips off on Thursday night. It’ll feature a rematch of last year’s National Championship Game as Connecticut, the No. 1 seed in the East Regional bracket, will take on the No. 5 seed in the region San Diego State. But believe it or not, that might end up being the least exciting game of the evening since it’s the only contest with a double-digit spread.

To help you get ready for all the action, we’ve assembled a bunch of interesting betting nuggets for the four March Madness matchups on the schedule. Read through them below and be mindful of them when putting in your bets on the games.

(2) Arizona vs. (6) Clemson

• Arizona has been the betting favourite in all 10 of its last 10 games and the Wildcats failed to cover the spread just three times over that span, while Clemson has been 8-1 against the spread this season when the Tigers have been the betting underdog.
• Arizona has gone under the game total in eight of its last 10 games, including all four of its postseason games up until this point, while Clemson has gone under the game total in seven of its last 10 games, including all three of its postseason games.
• Arizona has shot 37.3% from three-point range this season (19th-best in the nation), while Clemson has held opposing teams to 33.1% on three-pointers this year and just 25% on three-pointers through its three postseason contests.
• Arizona has averaged 87.6 points per game this season (third-best in the country) and scored an average of 16.3 fastbreak points per game (second-best in the nation), while Clemson has given up an average of 70.6 points per game (116th overall).
• Clemson’s leading scorer PJ Hall (18.5 points per game) has averaged 3.09 personal fouls per game this season (75th-highest in the country) and recorded four fouls in just 19 minutes against New Mexico during the opening round of the NCAA Tournament before fouling out against Baylor after playing just 20 minutes.

(1) UConn vs. (5) San Diego St.

• Connecticut has failed to cover the spread in just three of its last 15 games and has covered the spread in seven straight games in which the Huskies have been double-digit favourites, while San Diego State is just 2-4-1 against the spread this season when the Aztecs have been a betting underdog.
• Connecticut has gone under the game total in seven of its last 10 games, including going under in four of its five postseason matchups, while San Diego State has gone under the game total in six of its last 10 games with two of the games that went over going to overtime.
• Connecticut went 13-3 straight-up during Quad-1 games this season, including 11-5 against the spread in these contests, while San Diego went just 4-9 during Quad-1 games this year, including going 4-8-1 against the spread in these contests.
• San Diego State gave up an average of just 67 points per game this season (33rd-lowest in the nation) and finished 16-2 when holding opponents to 67 or fewer points, while Connecticut averaged 81.6 points per game (17th-best in the country) and finished 2-3 on the year when scoring under 67 points.
• Connecticut and San Diego have met once before in a Sweet 16 game during the 2011 NCAA Tournament when the No. 3-seeded Huskies beat the No. 2-seeded Aztecs 74-67 and covered the spread as a pick ‘em.

All odds courtesy of

(1) North Carolina vs. (4) Alabama

• North Carolina has gone 6-3 against the spread this season when favoured by five or fewer points, while Alabama has gone just 3-5-1 against the spread as an underdog getting five or fewer points.
• North Carolina has gone over the game total in four of its five postseason games, while Alabama has gone over the game total in 25 of its 34 games this season, including going over in eight of its last 10 games and 15 of its last 20 games.
• Alabama has been the top-scoring team in the country this season, averaging 90.7 points per game and 89.7 points through its three postseason games, while North Carolina has just the 99th-best scoring defence, allowing an average of 70 points per game this season.
• North Carolina has averaged 81.1 points per game this season, including an average of 83.7 points per game during its last three postseason matchups, while Alabama has given up 80.9 points per game this season (15th-worst in the nation) and 86.3 points per game over its last three contests.
• North Carolina and Alabama squared off in an early season matchup during the 2022-23 season with the Crimson Tide winning a four-overtime game, 102-100, and pushing against the -2 spread in a contest that easily topped the over/under game total that was set at 155.

(2) Iowa State vs. (3) Illinois

• Iowa State and Illinois have been two of the hottest teams in college basketball since the end of February, as the Cyclones and Fighting Illini have both gone 9-1 and 7-3 against the spread during this stretch.
• Illinois has gone over the game total in eight of the Fighting Illini’s last 10 games, including all five of the team’s postseason contests, while Iowa State has only gone over the game total in two of its last 10 games with both of those games taking place during the postseason.
• Illinois has averaged 84.6 points per game this season (sixth-highest in the country) and has kicked things up a notch by averaging 88.3 points per game over its last 10 games, while Iowa State has held opposing teams to just 61.3 points per game (fourth-lowest in the country) and has managed to allow opponents to score an average of just 57 points per game in its last 10 matchups.
• Iowa State went 4-0 against the spread this season when favoured by two or fewer points, while Illinois went 4-1-1 against the spread this year in the six games in which the Fighting Illini were betting underdogs.
• Iowa State and Illinois have almost identical records, but the Cyclones have gone 7-5 against Top 25 teams so far this season, while the Fighting Illini have only assembled a 1-3 record against ranked teams.