North Texas vs. Villanova Bracket Prediction: March Madness Odds
The Villanova Wildcats weren’t getting much respect heading into the NCAA Tournament, but they have it now. The Wildcats head into a second-round matchup with the North Texas Mean Green following an impressive victory over 23-1 Winthrop. North Texas is no joke, either. The Mean Green showed a lot of guts in squeaking out an overtime victory over battle-tested Purdue on Friday.
North Texas vs. Villanova NCAA Tournament Point Spread and Betting
The NCAA odds board opened with the Wildcats set as a 6.5-point favourite with the total at 127.5. The total has dropped a point since then and you can expect more action on the under closer to the tip considering the slow pace of play these teams employ.
(13) North Texas Mean Green
The Mean Green have turned the page after slumping down the stretch of the regular season. They have won five straight games since then, covering the point spread in each. Last night they survived a strong push from Purdue in the second half that forced the game to overtime. Then the Mean Green took over to close out the contest with a 17-8 run. Javion Hamlet had a monster game with 24 points and 12 rebounds and will need to be a major factor on Sunday as well. If the Mean Green can put up another strong effort on defence, they should have a shot at this game in the second half.
(5) Villanova Wildcats
The Wildcats were able to force Winthrop into a plodding pace on Friday. On Sunday, they’ll face an opponent that will happily walk the ball up the floor. There were a lot of concerns about how Villanova would play without star point guard Collin Gillespie, but they turned the ball over just six times against Winthrop and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl took control. He finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds, one of four Wildcats who scored in double-digits. If Villanova can lock it down defensively and keep getting contributions across the board without Gillespie, look out.
