Tonight's Free Pick will be in the Sweet 16 game between the Xavier Musketeers and the Arizona Wildcats, which will take place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The game has a start time of 10:17 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on TBS. Current Vegas betting odds have the Wildcats listed as 10.5 point favorites, while the total is set at 135.5.
Analysis: The Xavier Musketeers lost to the Villanova wildcats in the Big East Tournament, but they got right back on track with a 19 point win over Ole Miss in the 2nd round of the Big Dance and then followed that up with a hard fought 8 point win over upstart Georgia State on Saturday. For the year the Musketeers are now 23-13 overall and have gone 5-3 on neutral courts. Xavier has gone 19-5-2 ATS in their last 26 NCAA Tournament games, but just 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games vs the Pac-12. Xavier has been a good offensive team this year, as they come in ranked 39th in scoring (73.7 ppg), 23rd in shooting (47.6%), 121st in 3 point shooting (35.5%) and 51st in FT shooting (72.9%). Defensively the Musketeers have not been that good this year, ranking 196th in points allowed (67.6 ppg), 208th in defensive FG% (43.7%) and 201st in 3 point defense (34.6%).
The Arizona Wildcats have won 13 games in a row and continue to look like one of the teams that have a shot at knocking off the Kentucky Wildcats. They still have some work to do, but they are playing really well right now and are 33-3 on the year after taking out Texas Southern and Ohio State in their first 2 games of the NCAA Tournament. The Cats have gone 12-3 ATS in their last 15 games vs. a team with a winning S.U. record and 14-4 ATS in their last 18 games following a S.U. win. The Wildcats have been a very good offensive team this year, ranking 20th in scoring (76.8 ppg), 5th in shooting (48.9%), 86th in 3 point shooting (36.2%) and 111th in FT shooting (70.8%). Defensively the Wildcats have been very good this year, ranking 15th in points allowed (59.0 ppg), 32nd in defensive FG% (39.4%) and 111th in 3 point defense (33.0%).
Pick: I am going with the Wildcats here. I know that Sean Miller has some ties with the Musketeers, but still this Arizona team is much better than a middle of the pack Big East squad that really didn't have too tough a slate to get here. Xavier played well down the stretch and to get into the Big Dance, but still this was just a 9-9 team in a mediocre Big East conference this year and they did lose by 17 points in a step up game vs Villanova in the Big East finals. Arizona come sin having won 13 games in a row and have outscored their opponents by 25 ppg in their last 7 games. This is a team that went 19-2 vs Pac-12 competition this year and we have seen just how good this conference has been in the Big Dance. The Pac-12 is clearly better than the Big east and Arizona really dominate their conference this year and they should dominate a Xavier team that just doesn't have the offense or the defense to keep up in this one. Arizona moves on with ease here.
-$25 of picks FREE! No Obligation - No Credit Card Required - Becoming a member is Fast and Free!
Stay on top of the latest odds and line moves for CBB Season with our real-time odds from Las Vegas and offshore!
College Basketball Free Picks: Xavier vs Arizona Betting
What college basketball bettors need to know about betting Xavier Musketeers vs Arizona Wildcats in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament on Wednesday (3/26/15) - a free pick from Pregame.com's Teddy Covers with added insight from Steve Fezzik.