NCAA Tournament Odds: Kentucky Favored Over Stony Brook In First Round
The fourth-seeded Kentucky Wildcats are eager to prove they deserved a higher NCAA Tournament seed when they clash with the No. 13 seed Stony Brook Seawolves on Thursday in first-round action as 14-point betting favorites at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Members of the team and media expressed shock at Kentucky’s seeding on Selection Sunday after the Wildcats beat Texas A&M earlier in the day, topping the Aggies 82-77 as four-point chalk to win the SEC Tournament, extending their current straight-up win streak to five games, and 10-2 SU in their past 12 overall.
The Aggies subsequently were selected ahead of Kentucky, pegged as the No. 3 seed in the West Region despite the loss to the Wildcats, raising the ire of UK coach John Calipari and the eyebrows of observers around the basketball world.
The Seawolves’ appearance in the Big Dance is their first after winning the America East Tournament with a 80-74 win over Vermont, pushing as six-point chalk to extend their current against the spread winless streak to three games.
While Stony Brook is an impressive 26-6 SU this season, it has been a postseason disappointment in recent years, going 1-5 SU in its past six College Basketball Invitational and National Invitation Tournament tournament appearances, and 1-3 SU in its past four games against nationally-ranked squads.
A pair of late Thursday contests offer the tightest game lines of the day, as No. 11 seed Gonzaga takes on sixth-seeded Seton Hall as slim one-point chalk in Midwest Region action, while in the South Region, six-seeded Arizona meets No. 11 seed Wichita State as 1 1/2-point favorites.
The Bulldogs earned a share of the West Coast Conference regular-season title but needed an 85-75 win over Saint Mary’s in the WCC Tournament to lock up an 18th straight March Madness berth.
Gonzaga is 5-0 SU in its past five games, 4-0-1 ATS, and 10-2 SU over its past 12, according to the OddsShark College Basketball Database, and has not bowed out in the Round of 64 since falling 82-76 to Stephen Curry and the Davidson Wildcats in 2008.
The Pirates ride a four-game SU win streak, including a stunning 69-67 upset of Villanova in the Big East Tournament, and make their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2006.
The Shockers, who reached the Final Four in 2013, punched their March Madness ticket with a 70-50 First Four win over Vanderbilt on Tuesday, while the Wildcats hobble into the tournament with just three SU wins in their past six, and a brutal 2-7 ATS mark over their past nine.
Thumbnail photo via Jeffrey Becker/USA TODAY Sports Images
