Creighton vs. San Diego St. Bracket Prediction: March Madness Odds
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Jeremy Perry
The Creighton Bluejays have overachieved this season. Two teams which have had solid seasons now get to play each other for the right to potentially play the top-seeded Kansas Jayhawks in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Creighton vs. San Diego State NCAA Tournament Point Spread and Betting
This is an 8-versus-9 game in the NCAA Tournament, so naturally, the point spread is not going to be very large in this contest. Creighton and San Diego State have both won a lot of close games and have played very tough defense. A lot of people are going to take the under in this game and it’s cashed in six straight Bluejays’ games off a loss and four in a row in the NCAA Tournament.
Creighton has been a good bet overall as they are 9-2 ATS in their last 11 and have covered four straight on neutral sites. San Diego State has covered seven of 10, though, and nine of 12 against teams with a winning percentage above .600.
Creighton Bluejays (9)
If it seemed like a crushing blow to lose a core rotation player who regularly played 34 minutes per game, the Creighton Bluejays didn’t seem to notice. Ryan Nembhard was that 34-minute-per-game player who gave coach Greg McDermott a lot of production and leadership at both ends of the floor. When he got injured in February, it was easy to think that Creighton would fall apart. Instead, the Blue Jays rallied. Their freshmen stepped up as role players. Their defense didn’t suffer. Big man Ryan Kalkbrenner played even better interior defense as an elite rim protector. The Jays grew stronger instead of getting weaker after the Nembhard injury. They crushed Big East regular season champion Providence in the Big East Tournament semifinals. They nearly beat Villanova in the Big East final. McDermott delivered his best coaching performance in his tenure at Creighton.
San Diego St. Aztecs (8)
The Aztecs were scuffling in early February. They were swinging and missing in the big games they needed to win in order to make the NCAA Tournament. They had to find a way to win close games and make the key plays at the offensive end of the floor which had been lacking for much of January. When the pressure was at its height, San Diego State responded. The Aztecs won big road games at Wyoming and Fresno State and then beat Colorado State in the Mountain West Tournament to solidify their status as an NCAA Tournament team. San Diego State plays great defense every year, and 2022 was no exception. The offense was horrible early in the season, but it recovered enough to bring the Aztecs to March Madness. They are exactly where they expect to be this time of year. SDSU’s experience in March, compared to a younger Creighton team, will probably make the difference.
CREI
SDSU