NC State vs. Creighton Bracket Prediction: March Madness Odds
First-round NCAA Tournament South Region action concludes Friday afternoon from Denver as No. 11 NC State of the ACC faces No. 6 Creighton of the Big East. The Bluejays are 5.5-point favourites to win on the college basketball odds.
NC State vs. Creighton NCAA Tournament Point Spread and Betting
The winner of this game faces either No. 3 Baylor (my pick) or No. 14 UC Santa Barbara on Sunday. Sixth seeds like Creighton have 91-57 record against No. 11 seeds since the NCAA Tournament field expanded in 1985 but just 49-39 this century. Three 11s won last year: Iowa State over LSU, Notre Dame over Alabama, and Michigan over Colorado State – although the Wolverines were actually favoured.
NC State finished sixth in the ACC standings – that league was WAY down this year – and lost in the ACC Tournament’s quarterfinal round against Clemson. It’s the Wolfpack’s 28th NCAA Tournament and first since 2018. NC State is 37-25 all-time in the Dance. It is +463 to reach the Sweet 16 and +4250 to win the South.
Creighton finished third in the Big East regular-season standings and lost in the tournament semifinal to a very good Xavier team. It’s the 24th NCAA Tournament appearance for the Bluejays, who are 15-24 all-time in it. They are +120 to reach the Sweet 16 and +637 to win the South.
These schools have split two all-time meetings, both in holiday tournaments. They haven’t played since 2016 in the Virgin Islands.
NC State Wolfpack (11)
NC State finished with a losing record each of the past two season, so coach Kevin Keatts was on the hot seat entering this one but he’s off it now – although it’s a little concerning the team has lost three of four entering the Dance, with two of those losses in blowout fashion (both against Clemson, so maybe NC State simply doesn’t match up with the Tigers).
Leading scorer Terquavion Smith (17.5 ppg) was named first-team All-ACC. Earlier this season, Smith eclipsed 1,000 career points in his 58th career game and became the fourth-fastest ACC player to 1,000 career points in the last 25 years. Keatts also hit the transfer portal this past offseason, landing Jarkel Joiner (17.1 ppg) from Ole Miss and DJ Burns (12.8 ppg) from Winthrop. Over the last eight games, Joiner is averaging 21.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.9 steals.
The Wolfpack are 4-0 ATS in their last four games following a loss.
Creighton Bluejays (6)
This writer thinks the sky is the potential limit for maybe the most talented Creighton team ever, and I’d probably have coach Greg McDermott’s team in the Final Four if it wasn’t in the rugged South, where it would have to probably beat No. 3 seed Baylor, No. 2 Arizona and No. 1 Alabama to get there. If you have a dominant 7-foot centre in modern college basketball, you have an advantage and Creighton has that in two-time Big East Defensive Player of the Kear Ryan Kalkbrenner, also a finalist for Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year. He averages 15.4 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.2 blocks – he’s shooting an absurd 71.4 per cent from the field, tops in the nation.
South Dakota State transfer Baylor Scheierman (12.8 ppg., 8.4 rpg.), owns the team lead with 13 double-doubles and 77 three-pointers. Creighton is looking to win at least one NCAA Tournament game for the third straight season, something only done one other time in program history (2012, 2013, 2014).
The Bluejays are 10-3 ATS in their last 13 neutral site games.
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