Arizona State vs. TCU Bracket Prediction: March Madness Odds
The Sun Devils were forced to play their way into the Round of 64 with Wednesday’s battle for the No. 11 seed after struggling to produce consistent results in the second half of the season, claiming just seven wins in their past 16 contests. The Horned Frogs earned the No. 6 seed despite tumbling to a fifth-place finish in the Big 12 standings with a middling 9-9 conference record, and posting wins in just five of their past 13 games.
The Horned Frogs are pegged as 5.5-point favourites on the college basketball odds for Friday’s contest, while the Sun Devils sit as +193 moneyline underdogs, and the total is listed at 142.0.
Arizona State vs. TCU NCAA Tournament Point Spread and Betting
Friday night’s matchup at Ball Arena in Denver marks the first meeting between these teams since November 2009, and their first ever clash in the NCAA Tournament. The Sun Devils eked out a 52-49 victory when they last faced TCU 14 years ago, and has earned the win in two of four all-time dates between these teams. ASU returns to the Big Dance riding a two-game losing streak in First Round action, with each of those defeats coming as lower seeds.
The Horned Frogs have produced mixed results in two March Madness appearances over the past five years that ended a 20-year absence from the NCAA Tournament. After falling 57-52 to Syracuse in the First Round in 2018, TCU rolled to a dominating 69-42 win over Seton Hall in opening-round last year, and pushed top-seeded Arizona to the edge before falling 85-80 in overtime in second round action.
Arizona State Sun Devils (11)
An offensive touch has eluded the Sun Devils since they began their slide in mid-January. The squad has reached 70 points just four times during their current 7-9 run, and averaged just 65 points scored over their past five games. The Sun Devils feature just two regulars who have averaged over 10 points per game this season. Desmond Cambridge Jr. has led the way with 13.8 points per game, and tallied 27 points in the team’s 77-72 win over USC in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinal. However, Cambridge has also scored 10 or fewer points in three of his past six outings.
Texas Christian Horned Frogs (6)
While the Horned Frogs have shown signs of a turnaround while winning four of seven outings, maintaining a steady offensive pace has remained a challenge. TCU’s current 4-3 run started with an impressive 100-75 win over Oklahoma State, but the squad has scored 60 or fewer points on three of six occasions since. The Horned Frogs have remained steady on defence, allowing just 70.4 points per game during a 2-5 SU run against nationally ranked opponents, which has bolstered their position at No. 1 in the adjusted defensive efficiency rankings at KenPom.
Junior Mike Miles Jr. remains TCU’s go-to guy on offence. Miles led the squad this season with 17.3 points per game. And in addition to averaging 17 points over his past three outings, Miles has scored at least 22 points in two of his past five appearances. With the Sun Devils searching for answers on offence, the door is open for TCU to advance to the second round if they can maintain their offensive groove.
ASU
TCU