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The NCAA tournament might not be quite as chalky as last season, when all four No. 1 seeds made the Final Four, but it’s close.
There have been some upsets this year but as we enter the Elite Eight, it’s still possible we get three No. 1 seeds in the Final Four. All three are favored to win this weekend. We’ll see if there’s more chaos, or more predictability.
Yaxel Lendeborg of the Michigan Wolverines celebrates a win over the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Sweet 16. (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
(Jamie Schwaberow via Getty Images)
Here are the Elite Eight picks, with odds from BetMGM:
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Best bets for Friday’s Sweet 16 games
Illinois (-6.5) over Iowa
Illinois’ prize for beating Houston, the No. 2 seed in the region, is a date against the No. 9 seed for the school’s first Final Four trip since 2005. It’s not like Illinois didn’t deserve to be in a great spot. It’s a team that easily could have been a No. 2 seed and maybe even a No. 1 with a little more luck. They had four overtime losses in their first nine games before the NCAA tournament. It’s a huge, well-coached team that has a tremendously efficient offense and a potential NBA lottery pick in freshman guard Keaton Wagler. They’re not a normal No. 3 seed.
Iowa is tough for a No. 9 seed though. They’re also very well coached and have a NBA first-round pick at guard in Bennett Stirtz. Iowa beat Florida and came back from an early deficit to beat Nebraska in the Sweet 16 already so the Hawkeyes won’t be intimidated. But when these teams faced off this season, in Iowa City, the Illini won 75-69. That might be a preview. The Illini’s size was a factor in that game, hitting 62.1% of their field-goal attempts inside the 3-point line. Iowa has had a great run but Illinois is the far better team.
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Arizona (-6.5) over Purdue
There has been no more impressive team in the NCAA tournament than Arizona. They’ve won by 34, 12 and 21 points. The Sweet 16 blowout of…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/mens-college-basketball/betting/article/2026-ncaa-tournament-odds-picking-every-elite-eig-game-182916671.html
Author : Frank Schwab
Publish date : 2026-03-28 18:29:00
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