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The NCAA Tournament begins on Tuesday, March 15th with the First Four, and then moves on to the first round on Thursday, March 17 and Friday, March 18. No. 8 seed Seton Hall will face No. 9 seed TCU in the first round on Friday. Here’s an early look at what we can expect from the Pirates and Horned Frogs in this year’s March Madness Tournament.
Once the odds from DraftKings Sportsbook are made available for this game, we’ll add that information below. We’ll also add the game time and TV channel once it’s settled.
Game date: Friday, March 18
Game time: 9:57 p.m. ET
TV channel: truTV
Location: San Diego, California
Odds: Seton Hall -1
No. 8 Seton Hall
The Pirates finished fifth in the Big East and went into the conference tournament on a five-game win streak. They picked up a win against Goergetown (who hasn’t?), but lost to UConn in their second game. Seton Hall was one of the better defensive teams in the conference as they gave up the fourth-fewest points per game, had the second-most rebounds per game and the third most blocks per game.
Record: 21-10, 11-8 Big East
KenPom adjusted offensive efficiency: 75
KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency: 26
Against The Spread: 13-16-1
Over Total: 10-20
Odds to win NCAA Championship: +20000
No. 9 TCU
Jamie Dixon is headed to his second NCAA Tournament in his time at TCU. They are led by second-year guard Mike Miles who is averaging 15 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. Throughout the season, the Horned Frogs showed they can compete with highly ranked teams.
The strongest part of TCU’s game is what they do on the offensive glass. Looking at their big wins, they had a ton of offensive rebounds. They average 13 offensive rebounds per game which ranks 10th in the nation.
Record: 20-11, 8-10 Big 12
KenPom adjusted offensive efficiency: 80
KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency: 24
Against The Spread: 18-11-3
Over Total: 14-17-1
Odds to win NCAA Championship: +15000