March Madness Betting Advice: Double-Digit Seeds Who Can Reach the Sweet 16
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Everybody loves an underdog and March Madness is the perfect time to bet on one!
If you’re looking to hedge a bracket buster with a futures bet, here are some of SI Betting’s favorite double-digit seeds to make the Sweet 16.
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SI Betting’s Matt Ehalt:
My Golden Rule is to always check with KenPom when looking for underdogs that can make a run. San Francisco (21) is a great choice, but Kentucky is a powerhouse. So, not backing that. Let’s instead try South Dakota State with its No. 12 adjusted offensive efficiency. A team with an elite aspect of its game is always worth a potential investment, but it’s their draw that seals the deal. The Jackrabbits’ first-round game comes against an overrated Providence team, and then a potential game with Iowa. Would you be stunned if a Big Ten team doesn’t live up to its promise? Exactly. But, it’s really that entry game vs. Providence that has me thinking this is a possibility. I’m also getting 13-2 odds. Yeah, let’s take the Jackrabbits.
BET: No. 13 South Dakota State (+650)
SI Betting’s Frank Taddeo:
Virginia Tech is the No. 11 seed in the East. In their first-round game, the Hokies will face No. 6 seed Texas and are currently 1-point underdogs. Virginia Tech, fresh off their upset of Duke in the ACC championship game, heads into the tournament on a four-game winning streak with supreme confidence. The Hokies are one of the best teams from beyond the arc in the country (38.8%) and are flying under the radar. A potential second-round matchup with No. 3 Purdue may look daunting, but the Boilermakers length on the inside could be mitigated chasing a plethora of lethal three-point shooters around the arc. Besides being exceptional from three-point range, the Hokies rank 18th in points allowed at 61.3 points per game. Excellent three-point shooting combined with lock down defense – lets invest at odds of +350 to advance to the Sweet 16!
BET: No. 11 Virginia Tech (+350)
SI College Basketball’s Kevin Sweeney:
The Ramblers have been here before. Seven of Loyola’s top eight scorers from the team that went to the Sweet 16 last season are back, and the Ramblers have also added a pair of key transfers to the mix to round out what has been a rock-solid rotation for first-year coach Drew Valentine. This team shoots the three at a high level and really defends. They draw an Ohio State team that has lost four of five, including bad losses to Nebraska and Penn State. And should they knock off the Buckeyes, Loyola will get a crack at a Villanova team that won’t overwhelm them physically. That potential Round of 32 game would be rather low-scoring and would likely get won by whichever team makes more threes. Given the Ramblers are in the top 10 nationally in three-point percentage, I’ll roll the dice on them to find their way back to the second weekend for the third time in the last four NCAA tournaments.
BET: No. 10 Loyola Chicago (+400)
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SI Betting and Fantasy’s Kyle Wood:
Iowa State hasn’t been to the Sweet 16 since 2016. The Cyclones have a good shot of getting back there this year based on their draw in the Midwest Region. Their Round of 64 opponent is No. 6 LSU, which just fired coach Will Wade. The Tigers, a very good team, are without their coach for the biggest game of their season. What luck for ISU. If Iowa State makes it past LSU, Wisconsin stands in the way of a Sweet 16 berth and the Badgers have lost two games in a row to inferior opponents. The Cyclones don’t bring much momentum into March Madness—they’ve lost three straight—but defense travels. Iowa State has the No. 10 defense on KenPom and a seasoned guard in Izaiah Brockington who can run the offense. The Cyclones’ record doesn’t jump out at you, but they’ve played as tough a schedule as any team this season and they are certainly capable of winning a few games in the tournament.
BET: No. 11 Iowa State (+450)
SI Fantasy’s Craig Ellenport:
Michigan was a No. 1 seed last year and the Wolverines ended up losing to a No. 11 seed (UCLA) in the Elite Eight. Michigan is a No. 11 seed this time, but they’ve had their share of solid wins this season despite a less-than-stellar stretch run. They don’t need to be stellar just to reach the Sweet 16 (which is likely as far as they get). They’re actually favored to beat No. 6 Colorado State in the first round. Then, they’ll need to pull off the upset over No. 3 Tennessee to reach the Sweet 16. The Vols, a first-round loser in last year’s dance, might be ranked higher than they should be on the heels of a nice run in the SEC tourney. A tough matchup, but one the Wolverines can win.
BET: No. 11 Michigan (+250)
SI.com’s Dan Lyons:
There's a little college hoops program from the Windy City that you may be familiar with if you tune in around this time each year. The Ramblers may no longer have Porter Moser or last year’s tournament star Cameron Krautwig, but they return plenty of experience from that shocking run, while changing their style pretty substantially from 2020–21. Under Drew Valentine, a Moser assistant from 2017–21, the Ramblers spread things out, with five contributor who shoot at least 39% from three. They’re pretty balanced, with the No. 42 offense and No. 22 defense per KenPom, and have an advantageous first-round matchup with Ohio State, which sputters into the Big Dance. A potential second-round matchup with No. 2 Villanova looms large, but this Wildcats team isn’t as overwhelming as Jay Wright’s recent championship-winners, and a veteran Loyola squad won’t be afraid of the stage.
BET: No. 10 Loyola Chicago (+400)
SI Betting and Fantasy’s Bill Enright:
One of my go-to strategies when filling out my March Madness bracket is to ride with the hot teams coming off a strong run in their conference tournaments and the Hokies might be one of the hottest teams in the NCAA. Fresh off their ACC title, Virginia Tech has won eight of 10, including wins over Duke, North Carolina, and Miami, all of which are seeded higher in the tournament. The Hokies are lethal from behind the arc and will come out firing against a Texas team that has allowed their opponents to hit 38.5% of their three-point shots.
BET: Virginia Tech (+350)
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