The NCAA tournament rolls into night two of the Sweet Sixteen today. Night one had a few blowouts and a couple of surprises, but both nights have at least one key aspect in common. Both nights have four games to build an Underdog Fantasy college basketball entry with. We’ve dug through the slate, crunched all the numbers, and found three projections that you’ll want to use for your entry. There are only a few games left in the season. We’ve got to take advantage while we still can.
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 28th
Matt Dewoskin Underdog Fantasy College Basketball Pick Em Record (Est 11/4/2024)
All Pick Em Selections: 200-171-4
Perfect 3-0 Pick Em Entries: 20-105
Jaden akins Higher Than 3.5 Rebounds
Michigan State draws Ole Miss in the Sweet Sixteen. The Ole Miss Rebels allow opponents to pull down an average of 37.5 rebounds per game this year. That’s 315th in the nation. Let’s ride with Michigan State guard Jaden Akins to go higher than 3.5 boards.
Akins enters this game averaging 3.5 rebounds per game. He’s gone higher than 3.5 rebounds in only three of his last seven games. He’s coming off a game against New Mexico that only saw him pull down one rebound in 30 minutes.
Akins should play more than 30 minutes against Ole Miss. The Rebels are a physical team, but lack size, and tend to give up rebounds to guards. In the opening round match up against North Carolina, Eliot Cadeau pulled down four rebounds. In the second-round game against Iowa State, Curtis Jones had four rebounds. Akins should be on the floor for most of the game, and he’s capable of getting after it on the boards. He racked up 12 in a non-conference match up against Bowling Green and recently pulled down eight against Wisconsin. Akins should find his way to at least four rebounds in this game.
Igor Milicic Higher Than 14.5 Points+Rebounds
Tennessee faces off against Kentucky in their Sweet Sixteen match up. This is the third time Kentucky and Tennessee have played each other. In each of the first two games, Tennessee big man Igor Milicic went higher than 14.5 points. Let’s ride with the massive Croatian to go higher for a third time in tonight’s match up.
Milicic comes into this game averaging 9.7 points per game. He’s struggled in recent games and only managed 20 total points in his last four games. However, those games came against UCLA, Wofford, Florida, and Auburn. He scored 19 points at home against Kentucky on January 28th, and then scored 16 points against the Wildcats on February 11th.
His struggles in recent games translated to the boards. However, he also grabbed nine boards in both games against Kentucky.
Kentucky allows opponents to score points in bunches. They also allow opponents to shoot 53.6% on two-point shots. That’s 287th in the nation. On the boards, Kentucky allows opponents to average 35.3 rebounds per game. That’s 233rd in the nation.
Milicic has eaten twice against Kentucky, and there’s no reason to think he won’t have success in this match up. He’s struggled recently, but this number is below his season average and it’s against an opponent that is challenged by his strengths. Let’s roll will Milicic to go higher than 14.5 PR in our Underdog Fantasy college basketball entry.
Danny Wolf Higher Than 2.5 Turnovers
Michigan gets Auburn in their Sweet Sixteen match up tonight. Auburn has several athletic bigs and wings that will jump in front of passing lanes, poke at the ball, and generally annoy Wolf all night. Let’s take Wolf to go higher than 2.5 turnovers against the nasty Auburn defense.
Wolf comes into this game averaging 3.2 turnovers per game this season. He’s gone higher than 2.5 turnovers in six of his last eight games played. Wolf has played SEC teams only twice this year. On December 10th, he turned the ball over three times against Arkansas. His only other match up with the SEC was the Round of 32 game against Texas A&M. He only turned the ball over once against the Aggies in 35 minutes of play.
Auburn’s defense averages 11.6 turnovers created per game this year. In a recent conference tournament game against Tennessee, the Tigers turned over Ivan Milicic three times in only 16 minutes. This is a tough match up for Wolf, and he’ll likely hand the ball back to Auburn at least three times.
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!
