There are four highly anticipated Sweet 16 games taking place on Friday as March Madness rages on, and there looks to be plenty of value on offer. Here we run through the four games and offer predictions on each.
Butler v North Carolina
Chris Holtmann taking Butler to the Sweet 16 is a tremendous achievement. He has fostered a versatile and balanced team, and they will not be intimidated by the Tar Heels here. They can slow the pace down and make life very difficult for them. North Carolina can win it, but it will be a tall order to cover the 7.5-point spread set by Vegas. UNC failed to cover an 11.5-point spread against Arkansas in its last game and was really pushed to the brink. The Bulldogs could well do the same here, as they are savvy and disciplined. North Carolina is joint-favourite for the tournament and should win this against a Butler team punching above its weight, but the best prices – 5/17 at Bet365, 2/7 at SkyBet – are not particularly appealing. You could see North Carolina win by four or five points, so Butler against the spread looks interesting at 19/20 with Coral.
South Carolina v Baylor
The east is a mess and Baylor will fancy its chances of progressing to the final four now. Seventh seed South Carolina pulled off one of the biggest shocks of the tournament in the last round by beating second-seeded Duke, pre-season favourite and many experts’ pick to win the tournament, thanks to a strong defence and a great performance from Sindarius Thornwell. But this could be a step too far. Baylor is now the highest remaining seed in the east after Villanova also crashed out, and has a clear route to the Final Four. All it has to do is beat a team that was 2-5 in its seven games before the tournament. Baylor has won its last three games against South Carolina, a team that is 3-7 against the spread versus winning teams. Baylor -3.5 at 10/11 with Bet365, William Hill and Ladbrokes looks good.
UCLA v Kentucky
The third and second seeds in the south face each other in what should be a fantastic game. It is the closest in the betting – Kentucky is 10/11 at William Hill and UCLA is 20/21 at Ladbrokes – and the spread is just -1 for Kentucky. It should be very close, but UCLA is such an exciting team at present and the slight underdogs can pull off a victory thanks to the superb form of Lonzo Ball, who is surely the best player in the tournament. Back him to lead UCLA to the next round.
Florida v Wisconsin
Fourth seed Florida plays eighth seed Wisconsin, giant killers of Villanova, in the final game. Wisconsin has gone this far thanks to its strong defence and will have momentum after toppling Nova, while Florida’s leading scorer KeVaughn Allen is struggling, so Wisconsin +2 with William Hill and Ladbrokes looks a good bet.
