March Madness Thursday Matchups - 8 and 9 Seeds Battle
by BetUS Staff
March Madness: Thursday Matchups
When looking for possible upsets the No. 9 vs. No. 8 matchups always seem to draw BYU (8) in the West.
If you ask someone about Butler they’ll probably remember their Sweet 16 run from two years ago. What they likely won’t remember is their second-round exit in last year’s tournament. The Bulldogs were a 7 seed last year and got past South Alabama in the first round before getting knocked off by No. 2 Tennessee.
To return to the Big Dance this year the Bulldogs had to rely on an at-large bid after failing to win the Horizon League Tournament. The Bulldogs were the top seed in the tourney, but stumbled in the final in a 57-54 loss to Cleveland State. Shelvin Mack led the Bulldogs with 18 points and nine rebounds, while leading scorer Gordon Hayward was limited to seven points in the upset loss.
The Tigers are back in the Tournament for the first time since their memorable Final Four appearance in 2006. March Madness basketball odds. LSU’s leading scorer Marcus Thornton failed to deliver in the loss, netting only 14 points on 5-of-19 shooting.
The Bulldogs and Tigers face off on the floor of the Greensboro Coliseum on Thursday afternoon at 12:20 pm EDT with LSU as a 2.5-point favorite. The winner will get the unenviable task of facing North Carolina in the second round, unless Radford somehow delivers a miracle win.
The first-round match between No. 9 Texas A&M and No. 8 BYU is an interesting one because they also met up in the first round of the tournament last year as the exact same seeds. The Aggies won that matchup 67-62 as a 1-point favorite. Josh Carter delivered for the Aggies with a game-high 26 points, while Jonathan Tavernari scored 15 points to lead the Cougars. That loss was the Cougars’ sixth straight in the opening round of the tournament.
The Aggies head to their second date with the Cougars after a disappointing loss in the Big 12 Tournament. Texas A&M failed to get past the first round after an 88-83 upset loss to Texas Tech as a 6.5-point favorite on the college basketball odds. Donald Sloan led the Aggies with 22 points, but it wasn’t enough to keep up with Mike Singletary’s game-high 43 for Texas Tech. The loss snapped the Aggies’ six-game winning streak and likely cost them a shot at a higher seed.
The Cougars also suffered a letdown in their conference tournament after sharing first place in the Mountain West during the regular season. BYU cruised past Air Force 80-69 in the tourney opener, but couldn’t get it done versus San Diego State in the semis. The Cougars lost 64-62 as a 3-point favorite. Jimmer Fredette led BYU with 17 points, while Lee Cummard was the only other Cougars player to score in double figures with 11 points.
The Aggies and Cougars clash at the Wachovia Center at 12:30 pm EDT on Thursday afternoon with BYU a 2-point favorite. The winner will move on to face the winner of Connecticut (1) versus Chattanooga (16), which we might as well call right now as the Huskies.
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