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. 5 seed UConn will face No. 12 seed New Mexico State in the first round on Thursday. Here’s an early look at what we can expect from the Huskies and Aggies 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: Thursday, March 17
Game time: 6:50 p.m. ET
TV channel: TNT
Location: Buffalo, New York, KeyBank Center
Odds: UConn -7
No. 5 UConn
The UConn Huskies reached the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row, and they’re having their best season under head coach Dan Hurley, who is in Year 4 in charge. They have been a solid team all season long on both ends of the floor without a whole lot of weaknesses to speak of.
UConn has three players scoring more than 13 points per game including RJ Cole, Adama Sanogo and Tyrese Martin. They will be relied on heavily to handle the scoring load. Cole runs the show as the team’s leader in assists, while Sanogo and Martin do a great job crashing the boards.
Record: 23-9, 13-6 Big East
KenPom adjusted offensive efficiency: 21
KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency: 35
Against The Spread: 13-18-1
Over Total: 18-14
Odds to win NCAA Championship: +7000
No. 12 New Mexico State
The Aggies won the WAC conference tournament to punch their ticket to the dance. New Mexico State is coming into the NCAA Tournament winning 11 of the last 14 games. Head coach Chris Jans has made this program a WAC powerhouse, and will be hoping to make some noise in the bracket. Teddy Allen is the player to watch here, but he’ll need some assistance for the Aggies to pull off the upset. Sir’Jabari Rice and Johnny McCants are the ones most likely to step up.
Record: 26-6, 14-4 WAC
KenPom adjusted offensive efficiency: 87
KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency: 73
Against The Spread: 17-12
Over Total: 16-13
Odds to win NCAA Championship: +50000