Memphis vs. Gonzaga Bracket Prediction: March Madness Odds
In the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the Zags opened at -10.5 on the college basketball odds.
Memphis vs. Gonzaga NCAA Tournament Point Spread and Betting
The winner of this West Region game from the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, faces either No. 4 Arkansas or No. 12 New Mexico State next week in the Sweet 16 from San Francisco.
Obviously, the downside of being a No. 9 seed is that you have to face the top seed in the Round of 32. The 9s are 7-67 all-time in Round 2. Five of them have reached the Sweet 16, four made it to the Elite Eight and one advanced to the Final Four: Wichita State in 2013. The Shockers in their Round of 32 game that year upset No. 1 Gonzaga. There have been 20 top seeds to lose in the Round of 32.
These schools haven’t met since January 2015 and never in the NCAA Tournament. To win the West, Gonzaga is -200 and Memphis +2087.
Memphis Tigers (9)
Memphis (22-10), of the American Athletic Conference, is as talented as anyone and when Coach Penny Hardaway’s team plays well, look out. Sometimes it loses focus. That was the case Thursday when the Tigers led Mountain West champion Boise State by 19 at halftime but then let the Broncos back into the game. Memphis was able to right the ship, though, and won 64-53. Freshman Jalen Duren, a likely lottery pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, had 10 points and 11 rebounds. Guard Alex Lomax played through an ankle injury (monitor that) and had nine points, five rebounds and five assists.
The Tigers got a huge surprise when five-star freshman Emoni Bates played for the first time since Jan. 27 due to a back issue. That truly came out of nowhere. Bates only saw three minutes but did drain a three-pointer and seemed to provide an emotional lift. I’d expect more of Bates in this game against the much bigger Zags. Memphis is 4-1 ATS in its past five games.
Gonzaga Bulldogs (1)
This writer predicted West Coast Conference champion Gonzaga (27-3) to fail to cover a big spread in Round 1 and beat No. 16 Georgia State by 22 points – the Zags won 93-72. That was crazy, with Georgia State down just three at the half and tied 54-54 with about 12 minutes left. If the Panthers hadn’t lost one of their best players, senior forward Eliel Nsoseme, to a first-half injury we might have seen the biggest upset in NCAA Tournament history. The Zags’ vastly superior talent eventually won out.
West Coast Player of the Year Drew Timme had 32 points and 13 rebounds, and freshman sensation Chet Holmgren, the likely No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, had an historic line of 19 points, 17 rebounds, seven blocks and five assists. No player in NCAA Tournament history since blocks became official in 1986 ever had a 15/15/5/5 line. It was Holmgren’s second such game this season. No one else in Division I had one. Gonzaga is 0-3-1 ATS in its past four.
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