March Madness is finally upon us! Hopefully by Friday’s games you won’t have crumpled up your March Madness Bracket yet. In Friday’s set of games one particular matchup stands out as one a lot of people are mixed about. The 7–10 matchup between Oklahoma State and Georgia Tech is one of the more puzzling games to predict this year. Both teams have looked ugly at times and both have looked unstoppable. Only one can move on.
NCAA Basketball Betting: # 10 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (22-12, 7-9 in ACC) vs. #7 Oklahoma State Cowboys (22-10, 9-7 in Big 12)
Spread: Cowboys -1.5
Over/Under: 136.5
Money Line: Cowboys -125, Yellow Jackets + 110
Georgia Tech comes into the NCAA tournament making it in with a tremendous run in the ACC Conference tourney. Going only 7-9 in the regular season, Georgia Tech which started the year in the top 25, quickly fell off the public’s radar as they struggled to in the last half of the season losing five of their last seven regular season games. Led by two potential lottery picks at forward; Derrick Favors (12.5 points, 8.5 rebounds) and Gani Lawal (13.1 points, 8.7 rebounds), the Yellow Jackets have one of the most formidable frontcourts in the country. Georgia Tech’s problem has been their guard play. They have been blown out by teams with good guards or teams that can disrupt the touches to their big guys.
Oklahoma State was an up and down team this season and were blown out by Kansas State in the Big 12 quarterfinals. Guards James Anderson and Keiton Page lead the scoring attack for the Cowboys as they play a perimeter game that utilizes good shooting and ball handling at guard. Anderson is the third leading scorer in the NCAA this season and the highest from a major conference at 22.6 points per game with 5.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists. Anderson is a star and the facilitator of the offense.
Bovada Review: Prediction
Georgia Tech is the hotter team, coming off an impressive run to the ACC final. Coming up just short to Duke, the Yellow Jackets were able to hold Duke to under 60 points and play the game at their tempo and speed. Oklahoma St. provides a different type of challenge for the Yellow Jackets as they will be facing one of the best guards in the country and do not have anyone to play him defensively, while they should be able to expose the lack of size on Oklahoma St. underneath. Come tournament time, guard play usually is the determining factor on moving on as if the big guys can’t get the ball in position to score, no matter how good they are, they will struggle to win ball games. The ACC was also a weaker Conference this year than in previous seasons and the Cowboys come from the Big 12, where a lot of the bigger athletes play. GT will not be able to stop Anderson and the rest of the Cowboys as they advance to the second round.
NorthBet.com Final Score: Oklahoma St. 73 – GT 67.
March Madness Betting: Take OK ST -1.5.
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