The second round of the NCAA Tournament has been an absolute blast so far, with Sunday’s action featuring some exciting games: A bracket-busting upset of No. 2 Ohio State by No. 7 Duke, a “they had us in the first half” game between No. 11 Middle Tennessee and No. 3 LSU, capped off by a down-to-the-wire overtime thriller between No. 2 Stanford and No. 7 Iowa State. We also won our bet in other close match-up of the day, with No. 5 Baylor upsetting an Elizabeth Kitley-less No. 4 Virginia Tech team.
Today, we’re going to be putting our chips behind another upset as this exciting second round of tournament basketball continues. If you’re hungry for more college basketball content, check out our other college basketball articles and college basketball betting tools!
Women’s March Madness Best Bet: Tennessee-North Carolina State
I’ve been on my soapbox about No. 6 seed Tennessee for a minute now, ever since their near upset of No. 1 overall seed South Carolina in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament earlier this month.
To rehash a bit, Tennessee beat South Carolina through 39 minutes and 58 seconds of game time, only to allow an open, buzzer-beater 3 from Gamecocks center Kamilla Cardoso, who was 0-for-1 from 3 heading into the game.
Tennessee played South Carolina as closely as anyone has this season in this game, showing a much higher ceiling than its record (20-12) or seeding in this tournament suggests. The Lady Vols held South Carolina 10 points below its scoring average in that game while overcoming the Gamecocks’ crushing defense to score close to their season average.
South Carolina is the golden standard in college basketball; if Tennessee can hold it down and rise to its defense, it can do that with anyone in the field, and that definitely includes North Carolina State. Lady Vols guard Rickea Jackson is one of the top players in this tournament, slated as a top-3 pick in the WNBA Draft. I look to her to take over in this game as she did against South Carolina, stepping up once again when the moment matters most.
I picked Tennessee to make the Elite 8 in my pre-tourney ‘Hot Takes’ piece with my friends over at HerHoopStats, and I’m putting my money where my mouth is today. My best bet is splitting a unit between Tennessee +5.5 and its moneyline. I’m also betting on this being a tight defensive matchup and putting a second unit on Tennessee-North Carolina State under 140.5.
Best Women’s March Madness Bet Today: Tennessee +5.5, Tennessee Moneyline and Total Under 140.5
