NCAA Tournament: Creighton vs Princeton Lines, Prediction, & Start Time

One of the most thrilling aspects of March Madness is watching a Cinderella team shock the world by winning game after game. Last year, Saint Peter’s made a magical run to the Elite Eight, and this year, Princeton is attempting to be just the second 15 seed ever to reach that stage. However, they first have to get through a tough opponent in Creighton. Both teams have their eyes on the regional final; will the Cinderella run continue, or will Creighton end the madness. 

Creighton has looked like one of the strongest teams in the tournament thus far. They soundly defeated NC State 72-63 in the first round behind a stellar performance from big man Ryan Kalkbrenner, who scored 31 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. In the second round, they had no trouble with three seed Baylor, winning 85-76 behind 30 points from Ryan Nembhard to advance to the Sweet 16.

The Bluejays, who are now +1000 to win it all, have had an up and down season, but when they are clicking, as they are now, they are extremely tough to beat. They have a well-rounded offense with multiple threats, as all five starters average at least 11.8 points and 4.0 rebounds. With two different players scoring 30 points in their first two games, opposing teams will find it difficult to focus on just one player. Coach Greg McDermott has his team rolling at the right time, and they are ready to make a deep run in March.

Princeton is the second straight 15 seed to make it to the Sweet 16, and their performance is no surprise to those who have followed them closely. They dominated the Ivy League and prepared well for the big dance. However, no one predicted they would convincingly beat two seed Arizona in the first round, holding them to just 55 points and scoring the last nine points of the game. They then followed that up with a convincing 78-63 win over Missouri, with Ryan Langborg leading the way with 22 points.

Despite being a 15 seed, Princeton’s advanced stats suggest they are better than that. They are ranked in the top 70 in both offensive and defensive rating, which is impressive considering many tournament teams don’t rank inside the top 100 on both sides of the ball. They also rebound the ball well, averaging 39.4 rebounds per game, which is ninth-best in the nation. Additionally, they make a lot of threes. While Creighton is still the favorite, it’s March and anything can happen. If Princeton can hold down Creighton defensively and get a big performance from one of their stars, we could very well see the Tigers in the regional final.

Although we want to believe in the Cinderella story, Creighton has looked too good so far and there’s no reason to believe they won’t continue their dominance. We believe Creighton will win, but Princeton will cover the +9.5 point spread.

Score Prediction: Creighton 77-68