March Madness has been all about the Big Dance, and rightly so. However, for teams that were good, but not good enough, the Little Dance reaches its title game Thursday night. So as college hoops bettors await the NCAA Tournament’s Final Four, there’s a stopgap in the form of NIT odds.
Xavier faces Texas A&M in the NIT Championship Game at Madison Square Garden.
Props.com breaks down the matchup, with insights from multiple oddsmakers on NIT championship odds and action. Check back for updates through Thursday night’s tipoff.
Odds via WynnBet and updated as of 6:15 p.m. ET on March 31.
NIT Odds And Betting Action
Xavier vs Texas A&M (7 p.m. ET)
UPDATE 6 P.M. ET: Forty-five minutes before tipoff, Texas A&M is at -4.5 (-105) at WynnBet, after opening -4.5 flat. The Aggies made a couple of trips to -5 — first on Wednesday morning, then this afternoon — and were briefly at -4 Wednesday morning. Ticket count is running 2/1-plus on the Aggies, while money is just shy of 2/1 on the favorite. The total opened at 137.5 and on Wednesday morning went to 138 for about 90 minutes, before returning to 137.5, where it sits now. The Over is seeing 57% of tickets, while 76% of cash is on the Under.
UPDATE 2 P.M. ET: Texas A&M nearly nabbed an automatic NCAA Tourney bid, surging all the way to the SEC championship game before running out of steam against Tennessee. The Aggies quickly regrouped, though, with four double-digit wins in the NIT (3-1 ATS). In Tuesday semifinal matchup, A&M (27-12 SU, 23-15 ATS) closed as a 2-point favorite and rolled over Washington State 72-56.
The Aggies are 11-1 SU and a stout 10-2 ATS over their last 12 games (6-2 ATS postseason), covering the last three in a row. A&M is also 4-1 ATS at neutral sites this postseason.
Xavier (21-13 SU, 15-19 ATS) saw its NCAA bubble burst after a late-season five-game slide, followed by a loss to Butler in the first round of the Big East tourney. The Musketeers have since run off four NIT victories (2-2 ATS) to reach the championship game. In Tuesday’s second semifinal, Xavier built a 15-point halftime lead and kept St. Bonaventure at arm’s length the rest of the way, winning 84-77 as a 2-point underdog.
Although Xavier got the cover in that contest, it still sits at 3-8 ATS in its last 11 games overall and 2-6 ATS in its last eight on neutral floors.
The Under has hit in five straight Texas A&M games and is 7-2 in the Aggies’ last nine outings. However, the Over is 7-1 in Xavier’s last eight neutral-court contests.
Texas A&M opened as a 5-point chalk on DraftKings’ Thursday NIT odds board and dipped to -4 by mid-Wednesday morning, then toggled between -4 and -4.5 through late this morning. The Aggies are now -4.5 while attracting 71% of spread bets and 65% of spread dollars. The total opened at 138 and mid-Wednesday afternoon nudged down to 137.5, where it remains this afternoon. Ticket count is almost dead even, though 63% of the cash is on the Under.
