Alabama basketball odds vs BYU in NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, per ESPN

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Two of the top-scoring offenses in college basketball are set to collide Thursday night in Newark.

Up next for Nate Oats and the Alabama Crimson Tide in their quest for a second straight Final Four run is a Sweet 16 matchup in the 2025 NCAA Tournament with the BYU Cougars at Prudential Center in Newark.

Alabama (27-8 overall), the No. 2 seed in the East Region, opened March Madness with a closer-than-expected 91-80 victory over No. 15 seed Robert Morris last Friday in Cleveland. Mark Sears had 22 points against RMU, and the Crimson Tide followed with an improved effort in an 80-66 takedown of No. 7 seed Saint Mary’s Sunday. Chris Youngblood led Alabama with 13 points, one of six players to finish in double figures.

BYU (26-9), the region’s No. 6 seed, scored a 91-89 win over the No. 3 seed Wisconsin Badgers in the round of 32 last Saturday in Denver behind 25 points from top scoring guard Richie Saunders. The Cougars got a stop of Badgers star John Tonje at the buzzer on Wisconsin’s last possession at Ball Arena.

Ahead of Thursday’s Sweet 16 matchups, ESPN Analytics and its Matchup Predictor have made a prediction for who will advance to the East Region finals based on its popular College Basketball Power Index ratings, which are “meant to be the best predictor of performance going forward” and represent “how many points above or below average a team is.”

According to the data and metrics used by ESPN, Alabama has a 64.8 percent chance of beating BYU. The Crimson Tide are No. 6 in BPI with an overall rating of 19.0 — 12.2 for offense and 6.8 for defense. BYU is No. 23 overall in BPI with a 15.3 rating (9.7 offense, 5.2 defense).

Alabama is the top scoring offense in the nation, averaging 90.8 points per game. BYU is 25th at 81.2 PPG. ESPN adds that its metrics-based predictions “account for opponent strength, pace of play, site, travel distance, day’s rest and altitude.”

ESPN college basketball experts torn on Alabama vs BYU Sweet 16 matchup

ESPN Analytics’ odds may favor…

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Publish date : 2025-03-26 16:28:00

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