Friday Sweet 16 Betting Preview

The two remaining No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament see action Friday as the Sweet 16 continues.

The first No. 1 seed on the court is the Villanova Wildcats in the East Region. They’ll face the No. 5 West Virginia Mountaineers as a 5.5-point favorite at Bovada Sportsbook. Villanova has won seven straight at 5-2 against the spread, and in the tournament is 9-1 straight up and 8-2 ATS in the last 10.

West Virginia is a lackluster 3-8 ATS in its last 11 against opponents from the Big East. The Mountaineers are also 1-4 SU and 2-2-1 ATS in their last five Sweet 16 games.

The other East Region game on Friday is the No. 2 Purdue Boilermakers vs the No. 3 Texas Tech Red Raiders as a 1.5-point favorite. Purdue has been a nightmare for bettors for a few months now with a 2-12-1 ATS record in its last 15 games. However, when favored by 1.5 points or less, Purdue has won five straight at 3-1-1 ATS.

The Red Raiders have also been a bad bet recently with a 1-7-1 ATS record in their last nine games. As an underdog this season, Texas Tech was 2-4 SU and ATS.

The other No. 1 seed in action Friday is the Kansas Jayhawks in the Midwest Region. They take on the No. 5 Clemson Tigers as a 5-point favorite.

Kansas has won five straight at 4-1 ATS, but the Jayhawks haven’t been kind to bettors in the Sweet 16. In the last 14 games in the Sweet 16, Kansas is a solid 10-4 SU, but only 5-8-1 ATS.

Clemson heads into Friday’s game having covered in four straight, which includes two SU wins as the underdog. This season as the underdog Clemson was 4-6 SU and 6-4 ATS.

The conference matchup trends here heavily favor Kansas. The Jayhawks have won seven straight SU vs ACC opponents, while Clemson is 0-4 SU and ATS in its last four vs Big 12 opponents.

Finally, also in the Midwest, the No. 2 Duke Blue Devils are 11.5-point favorites against the No. 11 Syracuse Orange.

Duke’s recent history in the Sweet 16 leaves a lot to be desired, as the Blue Devils are only 3-5 SU and ATS in their last eight. They did face Syracuse earlier this season, on February 24, and won 60-44 as a 13-point favorite.

Syracuse has three upset wins in the tournament and in its last eight tournament games overall is 7-1 SU and ATS. Facing a double-digit spread as the underdog may be the end of Syracuse, though, as the Orange are 2-10 SU and 5-6-1 ATS in their last 12.