With the conclusion of the First Four of the March Madness betting tournament, sportsbook players can turn their attention to the First Round of games that will be played this Thursday and Friday. With the NCAA Tournament offering more matchups than one can care to count, bettors should have no problem finding an NCAA basketball tournament line with their name on it.
Latest College Basketball Public Picks & News
- Looking over First Round March Madness Betting Matchups from the East
- Breaking Down West’s First Round of March Madness Betting Action
- USC vs. Providence – Sportsbook Preview – March 15, 2017
With so many matchups to choose from, there is a spectrum of sportsbook odds to select, from teams being pegged as titanic favorites, to some extremely close, almost impossible to predict matchups.
Obviously different tastes have different preferences, but one contest that should appeal to all is the contest between the Florida Gators and East Tennessee State. The NCAA basketball tournament lines aren’t predicting the most heated of matchups, but this should still offer an invaluable opportunity for players to turn a profit.
Florida vs. East Tennessee St. – Thursday, March 16
When: 3:10 pm ET
Where: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
TV: NCAA Live Stream
NCAA Basketball Tournament Line:
Florida Gators -10 (-110) 144 ½ (-110) -525
East Tennessee St. Buccaneers +10 (-110) 144 ½ (-110) +415
Florida Gators
Coming off a season in which they failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, the Gators are more than ecstatic about competing in this year’s March Madness betting tourney.
Florida slides into this contest flashing a 24-8 record and after posting a 14-4 record in the SEC, the Gators were able to finish second in the conference. Unfortunately for Florida, they didn’t find too much success in the SEC Tournament this year, failing to advance past Vanderbilt in the quarterfinals. Nevertheless, Florida is hopeful that they can make their impact in the NCAA Tournament.
To help them accomplish that, the Gators will turn to leading point-scorer KeVaughn Allen. Allen is currently averaging 13.9 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per matchup. Second in points for Florida is Canyon Barry who is currently putting up an average of 12.1 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 0.6 assists per outing.
East Tennessee State Buccaneers
Like the Gators, East Tennessee St. failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament last year. However, their first place finish the Southern Conference made it difficult for the NCAA commission to turn a blind eye to the Buccaneers this season.
East Tennessee St. rides into their matchup against Florida with a 27-7 record that includes a 14-4 record in Southern Conference play. In the SoCon tournament, the Buccaneers made it to the championship game where they overcame UNC Greensboro to win an automatic bid to this year’s March Madness.
The Buccaneers will turn to TJ Cromer to lead them to a sportsbook upset victory Thursday afternoon. Cromer is leading East Tennessee in points with his average of 19.1 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per contest. Second in points for the Bucs is Desonta Bradford who is averaging 10.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game.
