Before we get full-on into March Madness, there’s the little matter of which four teams will round out the NCAA Tournament field. Wednesday’s NCAA First Four odds market has two more games on tap in Dayton, Ohio, with the winners advancing to Friday first-round games.
Hitting the court first are co-South Region No. 16 seeds Bryant and Wright State. The later matchup is more attractive: Notre Dame vs. Rutgers, in a battle of co-No. 11 seeds in the West Region.
Multiple oddsmakers provided insights on opening/current lines and action in the NCAA Tournament play-in betting market. Check back later for action updates.
NCAA First Four Odds and Betting Action
West Region
No. 11 Notre Dame vs No. 11 Rutgers (9:10 p.m. ET)
UPDATE 8:30 P.M. ET: Forty minutes before tipoff, this game is a pick ’em at WynnBet, after opening at Notre Dame -1. Rutgers is netting 55% of spread tickets and 69% of spread money. The total opened at 133 and is now 134, with 67% of tickets/71% of money on the Over.
UPDATE 1:30 P.M. ET: After finishing tied for second in the ACC regular-season standings, Notre Dame (22-10 SU, 17-15 ATS) probably didn’t expect to be in an NCAA Tournament play-in game this week. But the Fighting Irish dropped their ACC tourney opener to Virginia Tech 87-80 as a 1.5-point underdog. That was enough for the selection committee to force Notre Dame into a First Four contest.
The setback also dropped the Irish to 1-7 ATS in their last eight neutral-site games. Still, Notre Dame is 14-6 ATS in its last 20 outings overall. Over this span that dates to Jan. 5, the Irish haven’t once suffered consecutive ATS setbacks.
Rutgers was also a conference quarterfinal victim, going out early in the Big Ten tourney. The Scarlet Knights (18-13 SU, 13-16-2 ATS) fell 84-74 catching 6.5 points against Iowa, which went on to win the conference tournament. Rutgers is 2-4 SU/1-4-1 ATS in its last six games, but 8-2-1 ATS in its last 11 when catching points.
The Over is on a 7-0-1 run for Notre Dame, while the Under has hit in four of Rutgers’ last five games.
The winner of this matchup advances to face No. 6 seed Alabama in West Region play on Friday.
DraftKings opened Rutgers -1 in its Wednesday NCAA First Four odds market, and within a couple of hours Sunday night, the line went to pick. On Monday afternoon, DK moved to Notre Dame -1, where the line remains early Wednesday afternoon. Rutgers is landing 71% of spread tickets and 72% of spread dollars. The total opened at 131 Sunday night, peaked at 135 this morning and is now 134, with 66% of tickets/59% of money on the Over.
South Region
No. 16 Bryant vs No. 16 Wright State (6:40 p.m. ET)
UPDATE 5:45 P.M. ET: About an hour before tipoff, WynnBet has Wright State at -3 (-105) in the NCAA First Four odds market. The Raiders opened Sunday night at -2 and dipped to -1 shortly thereafter, then made their way up to -3. Underdog Bryant is actually taking 70% of spread bets, while Wright State is landing 64% of spread money. The total opened at 153.5, bottomed out at 153 and is now up to 154.5, although tickets and money are running 2/1 on the Under.
UPDATE 1:30 P.M. ET: The winner of this matchup gets the honor of facing South Region No. 1 seed Arizona on Friday.
Wright State (21-13 SU, 14-19 ATS) arrived in Dayton by winning the Horizon League tournament. In the final, the Raiders edged Northern Kentucky 72-71, just failing to cash as 1.5-point favorites. Wright State is on a 5-0 SU run (3-2 ATS), but went 1-4 ATS in neutral-site games this season.
Bryant (23-9 SU, 16-13-1 ATS) won the Northeast Conference tournament to nab the automatic bid. The Bulldogs were modest 2.5-point home faves in the final, but ran Wagner out of the gym 70-43. Bryant is 16-1 SU/12-5 ATS in its last 17 games on the floor. In the game immediately preceding this run, the Bulldogs got a COVID forfeit win over Fairleigh Dickinson.
The Under hit in Bryant’s last four games, but the Over is 6-2 in Wright State’s last eight.
Worth noting: The favorite won and cashed in both of Tuesday’s First Four contests, while the Over/Under split.
Wright State opened -1.5 at DraftKings on Sunday night and stretched to -3.5 by lunchtime Monday. About five hours before tipoff, the Raiders are down to -2.5. Bryant is taking 65% of spread tickets, while Wright State is seeing 59% of spread money. The total opened at 153, inched down to 152.5 Monday and is now at its peak of 155, with 75% of tickets on the Under/55% of cash on the Over.
