Utah State vs. TCU: 2024 NCAA Tournament Odds & Picks
Now that the 2024 NCAA Tournament brackets have been announced, it’s time to make your sports betting picks to increase the excitement of March Madness. Let’s take a look at the early odds and picks for the 2024 NCAA Tournament game: Utah State vs. TCU. And make sure to check out our 2024 NCAA Tournament Bracket Optimizer to take down your pools!
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2024 NCAA Tournament Odds & Picks: Utah State vs. TCU
Utah St. 2024 NCAA Tournament Preview
Yet another member of the stacked Mountain West, Utah State, sits squarely in the ‘dangerous team’ tier and will be a tough out this tournament. First-year coach Danny Sprinkle did a remarkable job with the Aggies, starting 16-1 and taking down the Mountain West regular season title with almost an entirely new team from a year ago. Great Osobor transferred over from Montana State with Sprinkle and continued his elevated play, scoring 29 points against Fresno State to get Utah State past the Bulldogs in the conference tournament.
Utah State plays an aggressive outside-in defense, limiting opponents to under 30 percent from beyond the arc, third lowest in the nation. But, any team with the interior preference may give the Aggies a problem, considering their interior defense allows opponents to show 53 percent from inside the arc, 304th in the nation. Offensively, it’s almost the same thing just flipped. They prefer the interior look and excel near the rim. With consistent play, there’s a reason Utah State only lost six games all year. They also had a relatively weak nonconference strength of schedule, and with a play style that isn’t the most dynamic to prepare against, it will be a question as to how they play against elevated competition. Ranking 71st in Bart Torvik in their last 12 games, they may be playing worse basketball than their seeding gives them credit for. This is a capable team, but it’s just a matter of if they can handle a more battle-tested squad.
TCU 2024 NCAA Tournament Preview
The Horned Frogs find themselves in another NCAA Tournament after a solid 21-12 record. Their season highlight has to be the triple overtime at Baylor and solidifying their tournament bid with a victory over Oklahoma in the Big 12 conference tournament. With their fast pace, their offense can be tough to limit, ranking third in potential quick points off turnovers and sixth in second-chance conversion percentage. TCU has faced some pretty tough defenses in the Big 12 with the 19th-best defensive strength of schedule, so their offense should hopefully be prepared for basically any team in the tournament.
Their defense is all around and solid, but nothing spectacular that will be impossible for opponents to prep against. TCU is one of the most experienced teams in the country, and Jamie Dixon is a solid coach, so they can be trusted in crunch time. Forcing turnovers at a top-25 rate, nothing comes easy against TCU, although they have gotten into their fair share of foul trouble with physical play. A big knock on TCU is their 357th non-conference strength of schedule. They haven’t exactly seen different programs and styles to prep them for tournament play, and lost to the two non-conference teams ranked in the KenPom top 50: Clemson and Nevada, both on neutral courts. Their win over Houston at home shows what TCU can be capable of but it will be a tough path of multiple upsets if TCU plans on making a tournament run.
2024 NCAA Tournament Predictions: Utah State vs. TCU
If you love three-point scoring, then this is not the 8/9 matchup for you. These are two of the most three-point-averse teams in the country. It’s not necessarily because they shoot poorly, although Utah State does at 33.4%.
TCU gets its offense inside the arc, particularly on second-chance opportunities. Their offensive rebounding percentage of 35.5% is the 20th-best in the country. Defensively, this is where Utah State struggles as they give up 53.1% shooting on two-point attempts. On offense, Utah State should also have some success inside the arc. They shoot 57.1% from the two-point area and force their way to the free-throw line quite a bit.
Although neither of these teams will light it up from deep, there should be plenty of scoring as these are two of the most efficient teams from the inside. I like the over.
2024 NCAA Tournament Picks: Utah State vs. TCU
Bet: Over 147.5 (-110 via DraftKings Sportsbook)
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2024 NCAA Tournament Sports Betting Picks
Now that the 2024 NCAA Tournament brackets have been announced, it’s time to make your sports betting picks to increase the excitement of March Madness. Let’s take a look at the early odds and picks for the 2024 NCAA Tournament
EAST REGION
- UCONN v Stetson (1v16)
- Iowa St. v South Dakota St. (2v15)
- Illinois v Morehead St. (3v14)
- Auburn v Yale (4v13)
- San Diego St. v UAB (5v12)
- BYU v Duquesne (6v11)
- Washington St. v Drake (7v10)
- Florida Atlantic v Northwestern (8v9)
MIDWEST REGION
- Montana St/Grambling St PLAY IN
- Virginia/Colorado St. PLAY IN
- Tennessee vs. Saint Peter’s (2v15)
- Creighton vs. Akron (3v14)
- Kansas vs. Samford (4v13)
- Gonzaga vs. McNeese (5v12)
- South Carolina vs. Oregon (6v11)
- Utah St. vs. TCU (8v9)
SOUTH REGION
- Boise St./Colorado PLAY IN
- Houston vs. Longwood (1v16)
- Marquette vs. Western Kentucky (2v15)
- Kentucky vs. Oakland (3v14)
- Duke vs. Vermont (4v13)
- Wisconsin vs. James Madison (5v12)
- Texas Tech vs. NC State (6v11)
- Nebraska vs. Texas A&M (8v9)
WEST REGION
- Howard/Wagner PLAY IN
- Arizona vs. Long Beach St. (2v15)
- Baylor vs. Colgate (3v14)
- Alabama vs. Charleston (4v13)
- Saint Mary’s vs. Grand Canyon (5v12)
- Clemson vs. New Mexico (6v11)
- Dayton vs. Nevada (7v10)
- Mississippi St. vs. Michigan St. (8v9)
2024 NCAA Tournament Bracket Pool Strategy & Picks
Below we provide strategy, advice, and picks to create the optimal NCAA Tournament bracket. And be sure to use our FREE bracket optimizer to build a winning men’s NCAA tournament bracket and take down your contest!