2025 NCAA Tournament Picks & Predictions: Round 2 (Saturday)

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The West Region of the NCAA Division I National Championship Tournament produced four great games for fans on Opening Day, including a pair of upsets. The winners of those games will face off on Saturday in the Round of 32/Round 2 (whichever you prefer to use).

St. John's and Arkansas will get the action started at 2:40 p.m. ET on CBS, with Drake and Texas Tech taking the court at 6:10 p.m. ET on TNT.

I'm not guaranteeing you these will win (my crystal ball isn't that good), but I am saying these are two intriguing matchups every bettor should take a look at.

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NCAA Tournament Best Round 2 Bets (Saturday)

(Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)

No. 2 St. John's Red Storm (-6.5) vs. No. 10 Arkansas Razorbacks (+245) | O/U 143.5

The last No. 10 seed to advance after beating a No. 2 seed was Miami back in 2022 when the Hurricanes defeated the No. 2 Auburn Tigers 79-61. Could Arkansas be next?

This game is between two legendary coaches, Rick Pitino (St. John's) and John Calipari (Arkansas). So, you know they will be prepared. I wouldn't expect there to be an advantage for St. John's just because they are the higher seed.

The difference between their offensive and defensive production (on the scoreboard) is minimal, just a few points. However, St. John's does have a significant edge regarding rebounding: No. 4 offensive rebound (14.49 per game) and No. 49 defensive rebound (26.54 per game). Arkansas does a decent job on the offensive glass (No. 74, 25.97 per game) but not so much on the defensive end (No. 274, 9.29 per game).

St. John's can sometimes struggle to make shots. At 45.1% from the floor, they aren't terrible, but they are bad from three-point range (30.8%). Arkansas isn't exactly a team of sharpshooters, but they are better (46.5% from the floor and 33% three-point range).

This is going to be a great game between two excellent teams coached by legends. As for an outright winner, I'd lean towards St. John's because they seem to be a little better in a few key metrics. But not so much so that the Red Storm wins by more than seven points.

Arkansas will keep this one close.

Pick: Arkansas +6.5 (-102)

No. 11 Drake Bulldogs (+240) vs. No. 3 Texas Tech Red Raiders (-7.5) | O/U 126.5

No. 11 seeds have been somewhat successful in recent years, and not just in the second round. Last season saw a No. 11 seed make it to the Final Four (North Carolina State, where they lost to Purdue). Could Drake soon add to the lore? It will depend on who can do what they do best better than the other team.

Drake can score when they need to; they put up 80+ in wins over Miami and Vanderbilt during the regular season and 70+ vs. Kansas State. However, the Bulldogs are a defensive team at heart (No. 2 in points allowed, 58.4 per game).

Texas Tech will want to push the pace. They averaged 80.9 points per game (t-No. 28). But the Red Raiders aren't too shabby on the defensive end (67.7 points per game allowed, No. 55). Where Texas Tech could have an advantage is on the boards, especially offensive rebounding. They're tied for No. 47 in offensive rebounding rankings (12.46 per game).

Drake, however, is one of the worst in the nation, No. 337 overall (31 per game) and No. 350 in defensive rebounding (20.76 per game).

I'll be honest: Part of me wants to take the Drake Moneyline here. The Red Raiders threw up a record-breaking 46 three-point attempts against UNC-Wilmington, and the Seahawks played decent perimeter defense (33.2% three-pointers allowed).

There is no reason to think they will not do the same against Drake, even though the Bulldogs allow closer to 30% of three-point attempts. But it may be out of necessity because of Drake's suffocating defense. Whatever the reason, they will likely do as poorly as they did against UNC Wilmington (28.3%).

The under may not be a bad play. Texas Tech's defense is good enough to keep Drake’s mediocre offense from getting out of hand. I see Texas Tech struggling on offense as they did against UNC Wilmington at first. This time, though, they will not find a solution. They may still win, but not by more than eight points.

Pick: Drake +7.5 (-114)