Oral Roberts vs. Florida Bracket Prediction: March Madness Odds
The team that busted nearly everyone’s bracket is back, as No. 15 Oral Roberts gets ready to take on No. 7 Florida on Sunday night. There’s always a Cinderella story coming out of the first round and this year it’s the Golden Eagles. Can Oral Roberts continue to surprise, or will the Gators bring them back down to reality?
Oral Roberts Golden Eagles vs. Florida Gators NCAA Tournament Point Spread and Betting
Bettors were already backing Oral Roberts before their upset win, brining them from a +17 underdog to +15 against Ohio State. Florida opened as an 7.5-point favourite over the Golden Eagles for this game and have slowly inched to -8. It will be interesting to see where the line goes from here, as the Gators beat Virginia Tech as 1.5-point underdogs in their first round matchup. Sunday’s total is at 148.5 and with Oral Roberts’ Max Abmas leading the nation in scoring, that total could inch higher closer to tip-off.
(15) Oral Roberts Golden Eagles
Before Friday, Oral Roberts hadn’t won an NCAA Tournament game since 1974. But, the Golden Eagles made it all the way to the Elite Eight in that tourney, so why not again? After taking down Ohio State 75-72 in OT, Oral Roberts is only the ninth team to ever upset a No. 2 seed. Abmas and Kevin Obanor were the only two Golden Eagles players to hit double-digits on Friday and they were the biggest factors in the win. Ohio State couldn’t shut down Abmas, who finished with 29 points and hit half of his 10 3-point attempts. It’s pretty clear that Oral Roberts is always going to get a big game from Abmas, who is the leading scorer in the country and averages over 24 points per game, but Obanor put this team over the top on Friday. Obanor finished with a game-high 30 points and 11 rebounds, including seven on the defensive glass. If Abmas and Obanor continue to play at this level, Oral Roberts’ could continue to surprise.
(7) Florida Gators
It took longer than anticipated, but Florida survived a first round scare on Friday to move on. The Gators trailed No. 10 Virginia Tech 33-27 at the half, but eventually climbed back into the game and it actually took a late Virginia Tech 3-pointer to send the game to OT. Colin Castleton, Tre Mann and Scottie Lewis all had big games on Friday. Castleton’s double-double of 19 points and 14 rebounds led the way for Florida, while Mann added 14 points, four rebounds and three assists. Lewis chipped in 15 points, four rebounds and two assists off the bench.
Florida came into the NCAA Tournament with losses in three of their last four games, while failing to cover in any of those games. The question for Sunday is, which Gators team will we see? The one that trailed in the first half against Virginia Tech, or the one that came back to beat the Hokies in OT?
ORU
FLA