Vanderbilt (5) vs. Nebraska (4) Bracket Prediction: March Madness Odds
Fresh off a historic victory over No. 13 seed Troy on Thursday, the fourth-seeded Nebraska Cornhuskers take on No. 5 seed Vanderbilt on Saturday night in Oklahoma City at 8:45 p.m. ET.
Nebraska got 23 points from leading scorer Pryce Sandfort and 13 points each from Jamarques Lawrence and Braden Frager to knock off the Trojans, 76-47, in front of a deafening, red-clad crowd for its first-ever victory in the tournament. Fifth-seeded Vanderbilt is also riding high following a 78-68 victory over one of last year’s Cinderellas, McNeese.
Both 27-win teams are defined by defensive tenacity and efficient offences, and this should be one of the most evenly matched second-round contests.
Vanderbilt vs. Nebraska NCAA Tournament Point Spread and Betting
The Commodores, despite being the lower seed, are currently 2.5-point favourites on the NCAA basketball odds board after recently reaching the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship game. The money line slightly leans toward Vanderbilt (-140), with Nebraska at +120. Neither side reached the 147.5-point total listed for this matchup, but with both teams consistently averaging in the 70s lately, this is easily an attainable number.
Vandy is 5-1 in its last six but has gone 1-8 ATS in its last nine games against Big Ten opponents. Nebraska has gone 5-2 SU in its last seven contests, and the Over has cashed in four of its previous five meetings with SEC teams.
Vanderbilt Commodores
Tyler Tanner had 26 points and seven rebounds as the Commodores overcame an early 12-point deficit for their first tournament victory since 2012. Devin McGlockton made all six of his shots for 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds as Vanderbilt held a small, 37-34 advantage on the glass that needs to improve against the Cornhuskers.
AK Okereke had a team-high nine rebounds, and Duke Miles scored 13 points as Vandy shot 85% (17-for-20) from the foul line and 51% from the field. The Commodores committed 13 turnovers and forced only six turnovers from the Cowboys.
Fresh off a deep SEC Tournament run, including a win over then-No. 1 Florida, Vanderbilt’s survived a tricky 5-12 test in the first round and now have their feet under them.
Nebraska Cornhuskers
Nebraska made it easy on its fans with a thorough beating of the overmatched Trojans. The Cornhuskers had lost two of three coming into the Big Dance, including a thorough, 16-point defeat at the hands of Purdue in the Big Ten Conference Tournament, but they showed up in Oklahoma City ready to play.
Coach Fred Hoiberg’s squad was suffocating defensively, holding Troy to 28% shooting (13-of-46) while forcing 17 turnovers. Nebraska got to the foul line just six times in the game, though. Making 100% of your free throws is great, unless you had six of them.
Sandfort led the team with 18 points per game in the regular season, and he is performing slightly better over the past 10 games, averaging 20 points. Thursday’s performance is the fourth time he scored 23 or more, and he is vital to Nebraska’s efforts on Saturday.
Who Will Win Commodores vs. Cornhuskers?
There will be several blowouts in the second round, but this won’t be one of them. Vanderbilt likely gets the slight edge because of its conference name and its recent run in the SEC Tournament, which featured wins over two ranked teams.
But now that the Cornhuskers have erased decades of tournament futility, and with a momentum-turning crowd backing it, look for Nebraska to pull off the mild upset and win, 77-75.