2026 men’s basketball tournament Here it is! Throughout the tournament, Mark Zino will provide his best bets for each round, as well as his picks for new ones. ESPN Men’s Tournament Challenge Eliminator game.
Attention: from obstacles DraftKings Sportsbook
And is subject to change.
Thursday’s Best Bets
(12) high Point +10.5 (-115) vs (5) wisconsin
Game time: 1:50 pm ET
The committee likes to take the strengths of lower seeded teams and match them with the weaknesses of higher seeded teams. That’s what you have in this game. High Point averages over 90 points per game. Of the top six teams in the Big Ten, Wisconsin’s defense is the worst of them all. The Badgers are middle of the road in effective field goal percentage defense and 3-point shooting defense. High Point will present all kinds of problems for the Badgers.
The Panthers have the nation’s longest winning streak at 14 games. They play at a very fast pace, and their ball speed allows them to get inside and make easy shots. Defensively, they are excellent on the perimeter, holding opponents to 31.9% shooting from 3-point range. The Badgers rely heavily on falling 3-point shots. High Point forces turnovers at the fifth-highest rate in the country and can frustrate Wisconsin’s shooters. If there’s a prototypical 12/5 upset this year, this is it. I think it can be driven up to +9.5.
(2) houston/(15) idaho Over 63.5 points in the first half (-105)
Playing Time: Approx. 10:10 PM ET
Sometimes it’s just about numbers. This first half total is so low that two things need to happen: Houston needs to score less than 40 points and Idaho needs to score less than 25 points. If only one of them happens, I think it will be over. Of course, the Cougars’ defense can shut out Idaho. But Idaho has been shut out and then held a team to 23 points (or less) in a half, which rarely happens in college hoops. The Vandals take a lot of 3-pointers, and they really only needed a few of them to score 25 points in the first 20 minutes.
Plus, do we really believe that Idaho’s defense can slow down a Houston offense that ranks 14th in offensive efficiency? Not me.
I know the Cougars play one of the slowest speeds in the country, but they should still do enough to score 40 here with the Vandals’ defense. Again, the danger here is that Houston will have a double-digit lead and things will slow down even more, but the Cougars are averaging 38.1 points in the first half this season. If they get to that number, we should be home.
Thursday’s Eliminator Selection
I’m a little worried about the 14-seed here North Dakota State Bison Is causing problems for the Spartans, but Michigan State’s defense must do the heavy lifting. I don’t see any place where I could use the Spartans again, given that yukon huskies There is a 2-seed in the East, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t reach the round of 16.
How to Play ESPN Eliminator Challenge
Friday’s Best Bets
(10) Santa Clara +3.5 (-115) vs (7) kentucky
Game time: 12:15 pm ET
Kentucky is the favorite here based on name recognition alone. In my opinion, this game should be close to getting them selected. Having played in the West Coast Conference, the Broncos are battle-tested. He has the size to compete with the Wildcats, who rank 19th in the country in offensive rebound percentage. The Broncos take a lot of 3-pointers, and if they have even a little success making them, it will put a lot of pressure on Kentucky.
The key to this game will be Santa Clara’s ability to force turnovers, as they rank 22nd in the country in turnover percentage on defense. But Kentucky is very good at taking care of the basketball, so the Broncos will have to win the turnover battle. Santa Clara is also the better free throw shooting team, and that’s something that can make the difference in a tightly contested game.
(5) texas tech -7.5 (-115) vs (12) Akron
Game time: 12:40 pm ET
Texas Tech will be without its best player, JT Toppin (Torn ACL), but that shouldn’t slow the Red Raiders down here against Akron. Zips’ stats are a bit ridiculous, considering they’ve played just as bad competition as Miami (OH) RedHawks Played. Whenever Akron played anyone in the non-conference in the top 125 in adjusted efficiency margin, they lost. So, facing a Texas Tech team ranked 20th in that category suggests they will be matched, especially on the perimeter. The Red Raiders are an elite 3-point shooting team, hitting better than 39% this season. They should feast on a Zips defense that ranks 253rd in 3-point shooting defense. Akron has been an underdog only once this season Purdue Boilermakers In one game it lost by 18. This is not the 12/5 upside spot that people think of. Set points with tech.
(10) ucf +5.5 (-108) vs (7) UCLA
Game time: 7:25 pm ET
UCLA has swept five consecutive games before taking on UCF in Philadelphia. But the Bruins have struggled outside the Pacific Time Zone this season. They have only one win in seven regular season games against Cellar-Dwelling Penn State Nittany Lionsand has been favored in only two games outside the Pacific Time Zone this season (-4.5 vs. Penn State and -1.5 vs. minnesota golden gophers).
They managed to win two games against weaker players in the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago Rutgers Scarlet Knights and this Michigan State SpartansBut to do that he needed to shoot 56% from the field and 48% from 3-point range against the Spartans (his sixth-best shooting game this season). Seems like there are a lot of points for this UCLA team and it’s a good “high sell” spot on the Bruins.
(15) queens Team’s total overs 68.5 (-120) vs (2) Purdue
Game time: 7:35 pm ET
I keep staring at the numbers, and I can’t imagine Queens not being able to score 70 points here. There is a lot of correlation with each number here. Purdue’s team’s total score is 94.5. Queens has one of the worst defenses in the country, so the Boilermakers’ No. 1 offensive adjusted efficiency ranking should have them scoring at a high clip, even with a pace that ranks 324th in the country. The more Purdue scores, the more possessions the Royals get.
And queens can shoot. It doesn’t have any message. The Royals take a lot of 3-pointers – and they make them. Purdue is not particularly strong defensively, ranking 232nd in effective field goal percentage defense and 197th in 3-point shooting defense.
The Boilermakers’ momentum is the only thing that can stop it from going any further. In all but one instance when Queens played a team in the top 200 in adjusted efficiency margin, which included five matchups against Power 5 schools, the Royals received 69 points. The one game they didn’t win was a 41-point loss Auburn Tigers Where he only scored 65 and had his second lowest field goal percentage and his lowest 3-point percentage this season. This way it doesn’t reach there.
friday eliminator selection
The Jayhawks have a tough matchup in the East and I think it could have a lot of carnage. But the possible path of st johns And then ruler Because their next two games make it more likely that Kansas could be an early exit in this tournament.
