The Loyola-Chicago Ramblers will be looking to continue their drive towards a second Final Four berth in the past three editions of the NCAA Tournament when they take on the Oregon State Beavers this weekend as 6.5-point favourites on the March Madness odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Set as the No. 8 seed in the Midwest Region bracket, Loyola punched its ticket to the Sweet Sixteen with a 71-58 upset win over top-seeded Illinois and rides an eight-game straight-up win streak into Saturday afternoon’s matchup at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
The Ramblers emerged as the class of the Missouri Valley Conference while posting SU wins in 21 of their final 23 regular season games. The team earned its first trip to the Big Dance since reaching the Final Four in 2018 with a dominating performance in the MVC Tournament, recording three wins by double-digit margins. The Ramblers extended that trend with last week’s wins, and sport a 6-1 SU and ATS mark in their last seven March Madness contests.
The Beavers have also been a big surprise at this year’s tournament, posting decisive upset wins over No. 5 Tennessee and No. 4 Oklahoma State. With those victories they have extended their current SU and against the spread win streak to five games. Each of OSU’s recent wins have come while listed as an underdog at online betting sites including upset victories over a pair of nationally ranked opponents. However, the Beavers remain well off the pace on the odds to win the NCAA Tournament as a +7000 wager.
The undefeated Gonzaga Bulldogs continue to lead the way as +140 favourites on the March Madness odds going into Sunday’s Sweet Sixteen matchup with the Creighton Bluejays as 13.5-point favourites. Now sporting an unblemished 28-0 SU record this season, the Bulldogs followed up a crushing 98-55 win over Norfolk State with an 87-71 victory over the Oklahoma Sooners, and have now covered in consecutive outings for the first time in seven games.
The Bluejays improved to 5-1 SU in their past six outings with opening-weekend wins over No. 12 UC-Santa Barbara and No. 13 Ohio, but have not reached the Elite Eight in 20 NCAA Tournament appearances since 1941.
As well, set as heavy -155 chalk to win the South Region and advance to the Final Four for the first time since 1950, the Baylor Bears will battle the experienced Villanova Wildcats on Saturday as 7.5-point favourites. Top seeds in the East, the Michigan Wolverines silenced doubters with a pair of strong wins to open the tournament and take on No. 4 Florida State as 2.5-point favourites on Sunday.
Baylor sits at +350 on the odds to win the tournament, with Michigan at +650, and Houston rounding out the top contenders at +700. Oral Roberts joins Oregon State as the longshots on the board at +7000 odds, with the Golden Eagles listed as 11.5-point underdogs for Saturday night as they take on Arkansas in their Sweet Sixteen matchup at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
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