St. Bonaventure (11) vs. Florida (6) Odds: March Madness Prediction
Sixth-seeded Florida will have a sizable rest advantage over No. 11 seed and First Four winner St. Bonaventure when the Gators and Bonnies face off in the East Region’s first-round NCAA Tournament game in Dallas on Thursday night.
NCAA Tournament Odds and Betting Analysis
Perhaps Florida should be a bit worried here. After all, No. 11 seeds have won three of four matchups against No. 6 teams in each of the past two NCAA Tournaments. Last year, USC won in the First Four and then upset No. 6 SMU by a point. You have to go back to 2004 for the most recent tournament where all four No. 6 seeds won in the first round. The lone time all the No. 11s swept was in 1989. It’s the 21st NCAA Tournament appearance for the Gators, who have reached five Final Fours and are the last repeat champion in the sport, going back-to-back in 2006-07.
Florida has won at least three games in its past five trips to the Big Dance. Last year, the Gators were a No. 4 and easily handled East Tennessee State (80-65), Virginia (65-39) and Wisconsin (84-83 in overtime on the buzzer-beating shot of the tournament) before losing to SEC rival South Carolina in the regional final. The winner of this March Madness matchup takes on either No. 3 Texas Tech or No. 14 Stephen F. Austin on Saturday.
St. Bonaventure Bonnies
The Bonnies (26-7), an at-large team from the Atlantic 10, were 2.5-point underdogs in March Madness betting on Tuesday night in the First Four but beat UCLA 65-58 for the school’s first NCAA Tournament victory since 1970. Not a shock that St. Bonaventure won the game, but surprising in one regard because the team’s stellar backcourt of Jaylen Adams and Matt Mobley combined to shoot just 6-for-28 from the field for 22 points. However, forward Courtney Stockard – who missed the team’s previous game with an injury — stepped up with 26 points. St. Bonaventure is 0-2 all-time vs. Florida, losing most recently to the Gators on Nov. 17, 2016, by seven points in an early-season neutral-site game in Lakeland, Fla.
Florida Gators
Weird year for Coach Mike White’s Gators (20-12). They started 5-0 and were ranked as high as No. 5 in the country but lost four of the next five. Florida then played well for a few weeks into the start of conference play, only to have a stretch of five losses in seven games. UF got off the bubble with a three-game winning streak to close the regular season, including over ranked Auburn and Kentucky. UF was knocked off in the first round of the SEC Tournament by Arkansas. This team can beat anyone (Gonzaga, Cincinnati, Texas A&M, Auburn and Kentucky twice) but also have puzzling losses (Ole Miss, Georgia twice, Vanderbilt). The leading scorer is junior guard Jalen Hudson (15.3 ppg), a transfer from Virginia Tech. Two major weaknesses: rebounding and a 1-5 record in six games decided by five points or fewer.
