Minnesota vs. Louisville Bracket Prediction: March Madness Odds
The first game of the 2019 NCAA Tournament – not including the First Four matchups – tips early Thursday afternoon Eastern time with No. 10 Minnesota taking on No. 7 Louisville in the East Region from Des Moines, Iowa.
Minnesota (10) vs. Louisville (7) NCAA Tournament Point Spread and Betting
The winner of this East Region games faces most likely No. 2 Michigan State on Saturday – and both schools played the Spartans during the regular season.
There’s one clear story line for Minnesota-Louisville and it’s Gophers coach Richard Pitino. His father is Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino, who led Louisville to the 2013 national championship. However, that has since been vacated due to NCAA violations, and then even more problems surfaced at the school amid a federal investigation so Louisville fired Rick Pitino in October 2017. His reputation is in tatters so it’s highly doubtful he ever coaches at the major college level again. He’s currently coaching Greek professional team Panathinaikos and isn’t expected to attend Thursday (you know he’d like to in order to stick it to Louisville should Minnesota win) because that team plays Wednesday night.
“It’s the elephant in the room,” Louisville coach Chris Mack said of the situation to the media. Mack is in his first season as Cards coach, and it’s Louisville’s first Big Dance trip since Pitino was fired. Richard Pitino entered this season on his own hot seat but should have job security now for getting the Gophers a bid.
Louisville and Minnesota have played six times previously, last in 2014 in Puerto Rico – Louisville won by 13. The Cards are +10000 to win the national title and Gophers +50000.
Minnesota Golden Gophers
On Feb. 24 when Minnesota lost at Rutgers to fall to 17-11 overall and 7-10 in the Big Ten, the Gophers’ NCAA Tournament hopes looked bleak. However, they won four of their final six games, including an upset of then-No. 13 Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament. Minnesota doesn’t exactly enter with momentum, though, as it was squashed 76-49 by Michigan after beating Purdue. Those were the fewest points Minnesota scored this season. The Gophers’ two best players are senior Jordan Murphy and junior Amir Coffey. Murphy is the school’s all-time leading rebounder and ranks third in career scoring, and he’s fifth nationally in double-doubles with 22 this year. He averages 14.8 points and 11.8 rebounds this season. Coffey is tops in scoring at 16.3 ppg. The Gophers are 1-5 ATS in their past six NCAA Tournament games.
Louisville Cardinals
Louisville won its ACC Tournament opener against Notre Dame, which was notable because it was victory No. 20 on the season. UofL is one of just four schools in Division I to have won at least 20 games in each of the past 17 seasons. Kansas, Duke and Gonzaga are the others. It’s a very good defensive team, ranking No. 17 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency at Kenpom.com in allowing 92.4 points per 100 possessions. Louisville has limited foes to under 40 per cent shooting in 32 halves this season. Only three players on the team have NCAA Tournament experience, though, and all three very, very limited. Louisville is 10-3-1 ATS in its past 14 games vs. the Big Ten.
