March Madness Thursday Betting Preview

The Round of 64 of March Madness tips off Thursday with a pair of lower-seeded teams favored in their tournament openers.

First up in the South Region, the No. 11 seed Michigan Wolverines face the No. 6 seed Colorado State Rams as 2.5-point favorites at Bovada Sportsbook.

Michigan was knocked out of the Big Ten Tournament by a 74-69 loss to the Indiana Hoosiers as a 3-point favorite. The Wolverines haven’t won back-to-back games since early February and they’re 4-5 straight up and against the spread in their last nine. When favored, they’re only 2-6 ATS in their last eight.

Colorado State is 4-1 SU in its last five, but 1-5 ATS in the last six. As an underdog this season, the Rams are 2-2 SU and ATS. In their last four NCAA Tournament games, all as the underdog, the Rams are 1-3 SU and 2-2 ATS.

Boise State has won 6 of last 9 as an underdog

The other higher seed underdog is in the West Region where the No. 9 Memphis Tigers face the No. 8 Boise State Broncos as a 2.5-point favorite.

Memphis is 6-1 SU and 5-2 ATS in its last seven games and when favored has won five straight at 4-1 ATS. In the NCAA Tournament, the Tigers are 2-5 SU and 3-4 ATS in their last seven games.

Boise State won the Mountain West Tournament and is 8-1 SU and 6-3 ATS in its last nine games. As an underdog, the Broncos are a solid 6-3 SU and 7-2 ATS in their last nine.

Memphis and Boise State met up in last year’s NIT Tournament. The Tigers defeated the Broncos 59-56 as a 4.5-point favorite on their way to winning the tournament title.

Top-seeded Gonzaga opens as sizable favorite

Three No. 1 seeds have their tournament opener on Thursday, starting with the overall No. 1 seed Gonzaga Bulldogs facing the Georgia State Panthers as a 23.5-point favorite.

Gonzaga easily won the West Coast Conference Tournament last week and is now 19-1 SU and 11-8-1 ATS in its last 20 games. When favored by 20-plus points, the Bulldogs are 30-0 SU and 13-17 ATS in their last 30 games.

Georgia State has won 10 straight with an 8-1-1 ATS record. However, as an underdog, the Panthers are 1-5 SU and ATS in their last six.

Baylor begins defense of title vs Norfolk State

In the East Region, the No. 1 Baylor Bears are 21.5-point favorites vs the Norfolk State Spartans.

Baylor, the defending national champion, lost to the Oklahoma Sooners 72-67 as a 7.5-point favorite in the Big 12 Tournament. The Bears are 4-8 ATS in their last 12 games, and in the NCAA Tournament they’ve won six straight at 5-1 ATS.

Norfolk State has won six straight with a 4-2 ATS record. As an underdog this season, the Spartans are 3-3 SU and 4-2 ATS. Back in 2014, the Spartans lost to the Bears 92-51.

The other No. 1 seed in action Thursday is the Kansas Jayhawks in the Midwest Region. Their opponent will be the winner of Tuesday night’s First Four play-in game between the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders and the Texas Southern Tigers.