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The NCAA Tournament is the single greatest betting event perennially. With the thrills, chills and heavy favorite spills, the Madness always delivers. What Elite Eight pick has the attention of The Gaming Juice’s Brad Evans?
No. 2 Tennessee (30-7) vs. No. 1 Houston (33-4)
Date: Sunday, March 30
Time: 2:20 p.m. ET
TV: CBS
The pick — Tennessee +3.5 (-110, BetMGM)
This year’s NCAA Tournament is equivalent to a thousand LeBron James pre-tip chalk tosses.
Maybe a byproduct of the NIL era. Maybe the result of power conference expansion. Or maybe the still-alive teams are just that damn good.
Whatever the driving force, the 2025 Big Dance is as snooze worthy as the tourney in 2008, when all four No. 1 seeds advanced, coincidentally, to San Antonio for the Final Four.
On Saturday, Duke and Florida will get the first crack at punching their tickets to Alamo City. Auburn and Houston get their opportunity 24 hours later.
Speaking to the latter, the Cougars are the most vulnerable of the upper crust.
Thanks to Kelvin Sampson’s brilliant in-bounds play that sprung Milos Uzan for the game-winning layup against Purdue, the Fightin' Jim Nantzes survived to the Elite Eight. Only one boot-step away from making the three-hour drive west to San Antonio, Houston has a legitimate shot of making its second Final Four since the Phi Slama Jama days in 1984.
Rocky Top, however, is a daunting climb.
For the love of the basketball gods, show some respect to Rick Barnes. Unfairly lambasted for prior March failures, Tennessee’s venerable head coach is in the Elite Eight for the fourth time in his storied career. Oh, and he also has a Final Four appearance on his resume.
The Volunteers are wonderfully balanced, ranking top-30 nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency and adjusted defensive efficiency over the last 30 days. They have an outstanding floor general in Zakai Zeigler, supreme scorers in Chaz Lanier and Jordan Gainey and proven brawn in the post.
The last characteristic is most important. Igor Milicic Jr. and Felix Okpara are a dynamic interior duo who could give the Cougars headaches. Remember: Houston is largely dependent on securing second and third chances per possession. A team that thwarts those bonus opportunities poses a matchup problem.
Unless L.J. Cryer and Emanuel Sharp pierce UT with repeated arc arrows, the Cougars could quickly become one-dimensional on offense.
In a game sloths would describe as painfully slow (123.5 total at BetMGM), every possession will be valued. Bank on Tennessee being fully prepared for the rock fight.
Smokey shouldn’t lift a leg on your bankroll. This -EV bettor is backing the Vols on the standard line with a little sprinkle on the ML.
Get nasty, Knoxville.
Season record: 33-30, +1.62 units
BONUS TIME — Michigan State +5.5 vs. Auburn (-110, BetMGM)