Montana St. vs. Texas Tech Bracket Prediction: March Madness Odds
The first West Region game from the 2022 NCAA Tournament on Friday afternoon features No. 14 Montana State facing No. 3 Texas Tech from San Diego. The Red Raiders are 15-point favourites to win on the college basketball odds.
Montana St. vs. Texas Tech NCAA Tournament Point Spread and Betting
The winner of this West Region game between No. 14 Montana State and No. 3 Texas Tech will play either No. 6 Alabama or No. 11 Rutgers/No. 11 Notre Dame in the Round of 32 on Sunday also from San Diego. Texas Tech would certainly be favoured vs. both and Montana State an underdog.
Since 1985, No. 14 seeds are 122-22 all-time vs. No. 3 seeds. In 19 of those 36 NCAA Tournaments, at least one No. 14 seed has beaten a No. 3 seed. It did happen last year when Abilene Christian edged Texas 53-52. Just two 14 seeds have advanced past the second round: 1986 Cleveland State and 1997 Chattanooga.
To win the West, Texas Tech is +498 and Montana State +12300. The Red Raiders lead the all-time series 3-1, but they haven’t played since January 1996.
Montana St. Bobcats (14)
Montana State (27-7) swept the Big Sky regular-season and tournament titles and closed on a six-game winning streak. The 27 wins are the school’s most since the late 1920s. Danny Sprinkle was named Big Sky Coach of the Year and junior forward Jubrile Belo (13.0 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 1.8 bpg) was named the league’s Most Valuable Player and Defensive Player of the Year. Belo is the first player in school history to reach 1,000 career points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks and is first all-time in program history in blocks (127) and seventh in field goal percentage (60.5).
It’s the fourth NCAA Tournament appearance for the program and first since 1996 when Sprinkle was a freshman player on the team. The Bobcats are 0-3 all-time in the Big Dance. They played one power conference school this season, losing at Pac-12 team Colorado on Nov. 9 in overtime. Montana State is 4-1-1 ATS in its past six as a dog.
Texas Tech Red Raiders (3)
In theory, Texas Tech (25-9) was supposed to take a minor step back this year after losing mega-successful coach Chris Beard to Texas, but the Red Raiders are national title contenders again under Beard’s former assistant Mark Adams, who had to wait until age 65 to get his first Division I head coaching opportunity. TTU beat defending national champion and East Region No. 1 seed Baylor in both meetings this year and nearly beat Midwest No. 1 Kansas twice in the regular season. Beard built this program on defence, and Texas Tech only allows 60.3 ppg. Bryson Williams leads Tech with 13.7 points per game this season (16.1 in Big 12 play) in his first and final season with the program.
The Red Raiders are making their fourth straight trip to the NCAA Tournament and 19th appearance overall. TTU is 8-3 over the past three tournaments, which is the third most wins nationally. They lost in the second round last year to Arkansas but reached at least the Elite Eight in the previous two. Texas Tech is 1-5 ATS in its past six games.
