NCAA Tournament: Creighton vs. NC State Odds & Prediction

Crieghton takes on NC State in the South region’s 6 vs. 11 matchup that has seen the “underdog” 11 seed win 15 out of the last 28 matchups since 2014.

Creighton is listed at +4000 to win the national championship, higher than teams like Indiana and Kansas State, and they have the numbers to back it up. While only ranked as a six seed, the Blue Jays are one of the best teams in the country analytically. They are one of only five teams in the nation to be top 27 in both offensive and defensive efficiency on Kenpom.com.

Creighton went 21-12 in the regular season, and 15-7 in conference play. Despite the successful regular season, they got blown out by Xavier in the semi-finals of the Big East tournament, losing 82-60. Ryan Kalkbrenner, a 7’1” junior, leads the team with 15.4 points per game, while leading the entire country in field goal percentage at 71.4%.

NC State had a really impressive regular season, going 23-10 and 13-9 against the ACC. Their season fell short, however, in the ACC tournament when they got destroyed by Clemson, a team that didn’t even make March Madness, 80-54. The Wolfpack’s leading scorer is Terquavion Smith, a sophomore guard who scores 17.5 points per game, but only shoots 37.7% from the field. 

Creighton is a massive underdog in the tournament as a whole, but a favorite in this game as they will win handedly and cover the 5.5 point spread.

Score Prediction: 69-59, Creighton