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Edgar Chaput
Colgate vs. Texas Bracket Prediction: March Madness Odds
The Raiders (26-8) made it out of the Patriot League by dispatching Lafayette with relative ease. The Longhorns (26-8) proved their metal in the Big 12 championship by vanquishing last year’s overall winner, Kansas.
Much chalk is put down for the Texans. NCAA odds have them as -13.5 favourites with the total tabulated at 151.0.
Colgate Raiders vs. Texas Longhorns NCAA Tournament Point Spread and Betting
These programs have never shared the hardwood floor at the same time, making this an original March Madness matchup.
Colgate is currently enjoying an excellent run. The school has emerged victorious in nine consecutive games, including three divisional playoff challenges. Many will point to the fact that the Raiders don’t face the stiffest competition in the Patriot League, hence their heavy underdog status for the game against the Longhorns, but everyone needs to earn their spurs somehow. Even though they’ve strung together plenty of wins, it hasn’t always meant successful covers. Two of those nine victories did not correlate to a cover, as did another win shortly before the run began.
Texas’s streak isn’t as impressive as far as numbers go (five wins), but the opposition they face is tougher. Look no further than the Big 12 title tilt versus Kansas. They’ve still mustered seven victories in their previous 10 contests, which is nothing to sneeze at. Furthermore, covering spreads or failures directly correlate with outright wins and losses. Only once in the last 17 matches have the results differed.
Colgate Raiders (15)
It wasn’t a championship game that earned a lot of hoopla, but a title is a title, and that’s what Colgate earned when they taught Lafayette a basketball lesson or two in the Patriot League final.
Colgate combined for an incredible 58.5 per cent shooting and a solid 38.9 from three-point range. Their opponents could only muster 34.2 and 15.6 per cent, respectively. The only department in which the Leopards got the better of the champs was in rebounding, but only by two (40-38). Keegan Records led Colgate with 21 points, going 9-for-10 from the floor. In fact, the offence was impressively spread out for the winners, with all five starters hitting double digits. Tucker Richardson orchestrated the attack via his 11 assists and added 12 rebounds to boot. Colgate earns the trophy with a 79-61 victory.
Texas Longhorns (2)
The Big 12 title game, on the other hand, caught a lot more people’s attention. Texas has been a regular presence in the NCAA tournament for the last 20 years, with their best showing coming in 2008 when they made it to Elite Eight. Furthermore, they faced the defending champs.
What made the performance even more impressive was that they had to go to Kansas City to earn the title. The Jayhawks played a decent enough first half, never trailing by much, but there was a creeping sense that the Longhorns were just a tad better. It felt as though a message was sent when, with the final shot of the first half, Marcus Carr hit a jumper to make it 39-33. It was only a six-point cushion, but Texas indicated they were going to take all the chances given to them. Carr didn’t even lead his side in points (that was Dylan Disu with 18 to his name) but he flew all over the court. The Longhorns simply wore the Jayhawks down, increasing their advantage with every passing minute until it became obvious they would be celebrating on their rivals’ home court. Make the final 76-56.
