St. Bonaventure vs. LSU Bracket Prediction: March Madness Odds
For obvious reasons, the No. 9 vs. No. 8 matchup in the first round of every NCAA Tournament is usually an evenly-matched game, and that certainly appears the case Saturday from the East Region as No. 9 St. Bonaventure faces No. 8 LSU. The Tigers are 1.5-point favourites on the college basketball odds with a total of 144.5
St. Bonaventure vs. LSU NCAA Tournament Point Spread and Betting
The winner will face East Region No. 1 Michigan in the second round barring the Wolverines being stunned by a 16 seed in Round 1. LSU is +1100 to win the region and St. Bonaventure +2500.
Since the NCAA Tournament field expanded in 1985, the No. 9 seeds are 72-68 straight up vs. the No. 8s and won all four matchups in the 2019 tournament – by an average of 16.0 points. In the 2018 Big Dance, the ninth seeds won three of the four.
This will be the first-ever meeting between the Bonnies of the Atlantic 10 Conference and the Tigers of the SEC. St. Bonaventure is 10-1 against the spread in its past 11 neutral-site games. LSU is 1-4 ATS in its past five NCAA Tournament games.
(9) St. Bonaventure Bonnies
St. Bonaventure (16-4) won the Atlantic 10 regular-season title for the first time in school history and then beat a good VCU team (also in the Big Dance) for its second-ever A-10 Tournament title. Mark Schmidt was the A-10 Coach of the Year, guard Kyle Lofton (14.2 ppg, 5.5 apg) was first-team all-conference for a second straight year, and Osun Osunniyi (10.5 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 2.9 blocks per game) was the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year.
The Bonnies allow just 60.4 points per game, which ranks No. 5 nationally. Only one of their past seven opponents even reached 60. It’s the eighth NCAA Tournament appearance for St. Bonaventure and first since 2018 when it beat UCLA in the First Four before losing to SEC school Florida in the first round.
(8) Louisiana State Tigers
LSU (18-9) finished third in the SEC regular-season standings and lost in the final seconds to an excellent Alabama team (No. 2 seed in the Big Dance) for the SEC Tournament title. It was the Tigers’ first time in the final since 1993.
Coach Will Wade, who may be facing serious NCAA sanctions down the road for recruiting violations, has a ton of talent – led by five-star recruits Cameron Thomas (22.6 ppg) and Trendon Watford (16.7 ppg, 7.4 rpg) – but it has been an inconsistent team at times. This is LSU’s 23rd NCAA Tournament appearance. In 2019, the Tigers were a No. 3 seed and reached the Sweet 16 before losing to No. 2 Michigan State.
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