Princeton vs. Arizona Bracket Prediction: March Madness Odds
The Tigers are 14.5-point underdogs on the college basketball odds.
Princeton vs. Arizona NCAA Tournament Point Spread and Betting
The winner of this game faces either No. 7 Missouri or No. 10 Utah State (my choice) in the Round of 32. No. 2 seeds like Arizona are 138-10 against No. 15 seeds since the NCAA Tournament field expanded in 1985. Last year, No. 15 Saint Peter’s shocked No. 2 Kentucky in the first round. It also happened in 2021 when Oral Roberts beat Ohio State.
Princeton tied for the Ivy League regular-season title with Yale. The Bulldogs won both regular-season meetings so they were the No. 1 seed in Ivy Madness but lost at Princeton in the title game 74-65 on Sunday. It’s the 26th NCAA Tournament appearance for the Tigers and first since 2017.
Arizona was second in the Pac-12 regular-season standings but the knocked off champion UCLA 61-59 in the conference tournament title game last Saturday to win two of three in the season series. It’s the 37th NCAA appearance for the Wildcats. They were the last Pac-12 team to win it all, way back in 1997. To win the South, Arizona is a +385 second-favourite behind No. 1 Alabama. I do like the Wildcats to reach the Final Four.
These schools have played once: Arizona won 54-41 at home on Dec. 27, 1985.
Princeton Tigers (15)
Princeton’s star is first-team All-Ivy League pick and conference tournament MVP Tosan Evbuomwan, a 6-foot-8 forward from England who averages 15.0 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists. He’d start for most power conference programs. Evbuomwan is 15 points away from joining the 1,000-point club and has become the ninth player to hand out at least 300 assists in program history. Led by Tosan, the Tigers are of the best rebounding teams in the country, with their 29.1 defensive rebounds-per-game leading the Ivy League and ranking No. 3 in the nation.
Princeton also has the Ivy League Rookie of the Year in freshman forward Caden Pierce (8.3 ppg, 7.1 rpg). Coach Mitch Henderson was a guard at Princeton when he helped the Tigers reach the NCAA Tournament in three consecutive seasons from 1996-1998. As a head coach, Henderson has a 3-1 record against Pac-12 opponents. The Tigers haven’t played one since December 2017. The Tigers are 4-0 ATS in their past four.
Arizona Wildcats (2)
The Wildcats often were NCAA Tournament disappointments under former coach Sean Miller – disappointments only in that they could never reach a Final Four despite annually being title contenders. Last season in Tommy Lloyd’s first year as coach, the Cats lost in the Sweet 16 to Houston. The best player off that team, guard Bennedict Mathurin, is now having a great rookie season for the Indiana Pacers.
The 2022-23 team has one of the best front-courts nationally in forward Azuolas Tubelis (19.8 ppg, 9.3 rpg) and centre Oumar Ballo (14.2 ppg, 8.5 rpg). The latter was named Pac-12 Most Improved Player. Point guard Kerr Kriisa has been playing through a shoulder injury. If that gets worse, it could ruin any Final Four shot. Thursday will be Arizona’s 25th game as a No. 2 seed in the Dance since 1985. It last was in 2017 and reached the Sweet 16. Arizona is 3-12-1 ATS in its past 16 NCAA Tournament games.
