With March Madness’ First Four games starting tonight, we can now officially say March Madness is under way. And yet, the main action begins on Thursday, as the Round of 64 kicks off with 16 games in one day.
To get you set for the big tournament, we have been previewing the Big Dance from almost every angle, including compiling expert Final Four and sleeper predictions from around the world, and breaking down possible upsets like No. 3 Duke vs. No. 14 Mercer. In keeping with that, today we turn to another possible upset, from the East region: No. 6 North Carolina vs. No. 11 Providence.
[sc:MarchMadness ]North Carolina Tar Heels vs. Providence Friars (7:20 PM EST)
Spread: UNC (-4) vs. Providence (+4); total: 143
After a double-digit winning streak during conference play, the North Carolina Tar Heels go into March Madness on a low. Their first test in the tournament will come from the Providence Friars, who finished their season on an absolute high after winning the Big East conference tournament.
Betting on the North Carolina Tar Heels
[sc:NCAAB240banner ]North Carolina’s massive twelve-game winning streak came to an end at the tail end of the regular season. The Tar Heels fell 93-81 to the Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor in their regular season finale, and were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Pitt in the ACC conference tourney.
Their season will be defined by the non-conference part of the schedule, when they took down then-No. 3 Louisville, No. 1 Michigan State and No. 11 Kentucky over a three week span last year. Star point guard Marcus Paige proved his big-game ability, with 32 points in the win over Louisville. He also finished the season strong with 25.5 PPG in his last two games.
In terms of tournament history, UNC has not exited in the Round of 64 since 1999. If they hope to keep that streak alive, they had better respect a tricky Providence team.
Betting on the Providence Friars
Providence surprised many by emerging as Big East tournament champions, just their second conference tournament title in school history. The Friars defeated St. John’s and Seton Hall en route to the final, where they toppled top-seeded Creighton 65-58 to ensure their first March Madness berth in a decade.
After scoring 30 total points on just 25% shooting in the first two tournament games, Bryce Cotton found his stroke against Creighton, scoring 23 points to lead the Friars. Prior to the tournament, Cotton had been an extremely consistent player, scoring 20 points in all but two conference games this season.
Prediction
Paige emerges victorious in this point guard shootout with Cotton to lead the Tar Heels through to the Round of 32 while covering the four point spread.
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