Caleb Wilfinger
The Sweet 16 gave us a couple of excellent games on Thursday, and the Friday slate should be even better. Considering the excellent matchups in store for us, I couldn’t be more excited for Friday’s March Madness action to finally get underway. And what better way to celebrate these mouthwatering Sweet 16 games on Friday than with a March Madness parlay? That’s right; I have crafted an NCAA Tournament parlay for today’s games that pays out at nearly 12-1 odds at FanDuel Sportsbook.
Let’s dive in, but make sure you also check out our college basketball picks for EVERY game throughout March Madness.
Ole Miss 1st half/Michigan State full game (+550)
Houston -8.5 (-104)
March Madness parlay odds: +1175
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Ole Miss Rebels 1st Half ML + Michigan State Spartans full game (+550)
To start our March Madness Sweet 16 parlay for Thursday’s action, let’s go with the same angle as Thursday’s play and navigate to the “First Half Winner/Full Time Winner Parlay” section of this game between Ole Miss and Michigan State. This very nearly got to the window for us in the Maryland/Florida game, and I think we’ve got an even better shot of cashing on Friday. The Spartans have been a team that has regularly gotten off to slow starts over the last few weeks. In fact, Michigan State was falling behind teams back in the Big Ten tournament, before storming back in the second half and completing these furious comebacks. That continued into the NCAA Tournament, as the Spartans started off slow against Bryant and trailed New Mexico by double digits in the first half, before coming back to win and cover.
Some would argue that the cumulative effect of playing a team as hard to keep up with as Michigan State ultimately wears down its opponents, which leads to the Spartans capitalizing on tired legs and making big runs to swing the game in the second half. That’s part of the basis for my handicap here, as Ole Miss will likely be the more aggressive team in this contest as the underdog. The Rebels have also gotten off to scorching hot starts in each of their 2 previous tournament games, so it’s on the board that we could see a similar outcome in this one before Tom Izzo and his staff make some adjustments at halftime. There are still hardly any coaches I’d take over Izzo in a game of this magnitude, so I’ll take a shot at +550 for the Spartans to win another game when trailing at the break.
Read our full Ole Miss vs Michigan State prediction
Houston Cougars -8.5 over Purdue Boilermakers (-104)
For the second leg of our March Madness Sweet 16 parlay, let’s target Houston to roll over the Purdue Boilermakers at Lucas Oil Stadium. While this is something of a home game for Purdue, that doesn’t dissuade me from backing the much better team — specifically on the defensive side of the ball — in a game where Houston’s physicality, coaching and dominance on the glass should win out.
Purdue was able to systematically break down its first couple of opponents in the tournament with an excellent offensive gameplan, something that Matt Painter has excelled at over the years. However, Purdue was fortunate enough to get great matchups against defenses that were weak in all the wrong areas. While the Boilermakers’ offense is excellent, this Houston defense is the best in the nation by any metric, and they are not one to make things easy on their opponents.
Not only will this easily be Purdue’s stiffest test yet, but the Boilermakers should be in trouble on the other side of the ball as well. This Purdue defense is possibly the worst unit remaining in the tournament, particularly when it comes to defending the rim (341st in two-point defense per BartTorvik). That doesn’t bode well against a Houston team that is clicking on all cylinders offensively heading into this one. Ultimately, the Cougars should establish itself as the better team over the first 20 minutes and go on to win comfortably.
Check out our Purdue vs Houston predictions
