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Charlie Grant
Nevada (7) vs. Loyola-Chicago (11) Odds: March Madness Sweet 16 Prediction
Both Nevada and Loyola-Chicago needed a lot of luck to make it to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament. The Wolf Pack pulled off two improbable second-half comebacks while the Ramblers needed a buzzer-beater to get out of the Round of 64. Which team’s luck will run out first?
NCAA Tournament Odds and Betting Analysis
Nevada finished first in the competitive Mountain West Conference during the regular season but failed to win league tournament. The team is 29-7 straight up and 18-14-3 against the spread with a 19-15-3 over/under record. The Wolf Pack are the 14th highest-scoring team in Division I college hoops at 83 points a night and the over is 5-1-1 in their last six games.
Loyola-Chicago is back in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1985 a phenomenal campaign. The Ramblers won the Missouri Valley Conference regular season crown and the league tournament. They’ve lost just twice since the calendar flipped to 2018 and three of their four losses happened with their leading scorer in street clothes.
Loyola-Chicago is 30-5 SU and 21-9-1 ATS with a 12-19-1 over/under mark this season. The Ramblers are the biggest longshots to win the NCAA college basketball national championship at +10,000 according to Sports Interactions futures board.
A little more than 60 percent of Sports Interaction players are backing Nevada to cover as 1.5-point favourites against Loyola-Chicago.
Loyola-Chicago Ramblers
The Ramblers don’t want to run with Nevada. They excel at bringing the pace of a game to a crawl so that every made basket feels like a battle won. Loyola-Chicago wins by playing tough defense and making shots from beyond the arc.
Nevada Wolf Pack
The Wolf Pack have been getting off to slow starts in games only to rescue themselves with huge second half performances. Nevada trailed Cincinnati by 22 points with a little less than 11 minutes to play and ended up winning 75-73. It represents the second-largest comeback in NCAA Tournament history.
Nevada is running with a six-man rotation and relies on heavy contributions from Caleb Martin and Jordan Caroline. The Wolf Pack’s guards and forwards are mostly interchangeable at both ends of the floor and head coach Eric Musselman likes his players to switch often on defense.
