The second round of the 2025 NCAA college basketball tournament is already here. We’re down to 32 teams left to win the national championship, but we also have a few NIT games today. Eight games on a slate is more than enough to build an Underdog Fantasy college basketball entry with. We’ve gone through the entire slate and found three projections for today’s game that you’ll want to take for today’s action.
Keep in mind that playing all three legs of our plays in Underdog Fantasy could win you 6X your money on a single entry. Let’s dig into tonight’s plays and remember to let it ride!
Underdog Fantasy College Basketball Picks March 22
Matt Dewoskin Underdog Fantasy College Basketball Pick Em Record (Est 11/4/2024)
All Pick Em Selections: 194-168-4
Perfect 3-0 Pick Em Entries: 20-102
Trey Kaufman-Renn Higher Than 6.5 Rebounds
Purdue gets McNeese State in the second round of the NCAA tournament today. McNeese enters this game allowing opponents to average 33.3 rebounds per game. That’s 98th in the country, but the majority of those games were played against Southland Conference opponents. Purdue is an entirely different animal.
Boilermakers big man Trey Kaufman-Renn comes into this match up averaging 6.3 rebounds per game. However, he’s gone higher than 6.5 boards in five straight games. He racked up eight rebounds in only 29 minutes against High Point in the first round.
McNeese doesn’t have much size on the inside, and TKR is one of the more polished big men in the nation. His points are also in play, but the projection is at 21.5. That’s a little beefy. All he has to do is play to his average, and then grab one more board and we go green on his 6.5 rebounds. That’s the side we’ll want to be on for today’s Underdog Fantasy college basketball entry.
Nimari Burnett Higher Than 1.5 3-Pointers Made
Michigan has to face Texas A&M in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The Aggies enter this game allowing opponents to shoot 33.5% from deep this year. That’s 158th in the nation. Teams also averaged 8.6 made three’s against Texas A&M this season. That’s 306th in the nation.
Michigan guard Nimari Burnett comes into this game averaging 1.9 3-pointers made per game this year. He’s gone higher than 1.5 three’s made in four of his last six games played. He shot 2-for-5 from deep into the first round match up against UC-San Diego.
Texas A&M can leave gaps in their perimeter defense as times. Burnett should be able to find a few open looks and make the Aggies pay for it. Let’s take him to make at least two of those in today’s match up.
Quadir Copeland Higher Than 2.5 Turnovers
While McNeese wrecked Clemson in the first round of the NCAA tournament, guard Quadir Copeland racked up seven turnovers. Let’s take Copeland to go higher than 2.5 turnovers in today’s game against Purdue.
Copeland averages 2.8 turnovers per game this year. He’s gone higher than 2.5 turnovers in five of his last eight games played. That includes a match up against Lamar in the Southland Conference tournament that saw him hand the ball over four times in 36 minutes.
Copeland has seen an increased usage rate over the past month, and that’s made his turnover issues a bit worse than normal. He’s one of the key ball handlers for McNeese, and he should play 35 minutes or more in today’s game. Let’s lock up Copeland to go higher than 2.5 turnovers.
The College Basketball Experience
For more analysis on every college basketball game for the 2024-25 season, make sure you tune into The College Basketball Experience. Colby Dant, Moneyline Mac, and Noah Bieniek talk about each game on the entire slate. Listen for input on ATS and moneyline college basketball picks every night!
