Sports

South Region betting preview: Why Creighton can cause chaos

Published

1 week ago

March 20, 2025

theScore – After sorting through the East and West regions, it’s time to focus on the South Region. We’re predicting chaos in the South while eyeing some long shots worth wagering on.

South Region odds

Team	Odds
Auburn	-110
Michigan State	+475
Iowa State	+600
Texas A&M	+1400
Michigan	+2000
Louisville	+2200
Ole Miss	+2200
Marquette	+2500
North Carolina	+2800
Creighton	+4000
UC San Diego	+5000

*Odds longer than 50-1 not listed

South Region winner: Michigan State +475

There’s almost always one chaotic region that produces a lower-seeded Final Four team. This has the potential to do that. My long-shot pick below is my Final Four pick in brackets, but we’ll still consider it a long shot because the odds are lengthy.

Auburn is rightfully the favorite with its experience and talent, but it trended downward over the last week, losing three of its final four games. Michigan State won the Big Ten regular season title with its depth and balanced scoring attack. This Spartans group is a classic Tom Izzo-coached squad, relying on defense and rebounding to win games. Michigan State has solid guard play, a necessity in the tournament, and clutch shotmaking that could catapult it to the Final Four. Izzo is a proven winner in March. He’s the last Big Ten coach to win a national title and could make a run at it again 25 years later.

Long shot pick: Creighton +4000

Creighton has incredibly long odds because it’s an underdog in its opening game against Louisville, which will benefit from a partisan crowd in Lexington, Kentucky. However, Creighton is the better team with experienced tournament players.

If it escapes Louisville, Creighton has a good chance to be the first team to knock off a No. 1 seed. The Bluejays play a drop coverage in the pick-and-roll and protect the rim effectively with Ryan Kalkbrenner. They will force Auburn to rely on outside shooting, where the Tigers are inconsistent. Creighton coach Greg McDermott is one of the best in the country and knows what it takes to win in March. This under-seeded Creighton team has the personnel and experience to advance far.

Best opening-round bet

UC San Diego +2.5 vs. Michigan

UC San Diego opened as a 4.5-point underdog and bettors pounced on the Tritons. Michigan won the Big Ten Tournament title Sunday, which involved playing four games in four days. The Wolverines traveled from Indianapolis back to Michigan, then to Denver to get ready for a Thursday game. Meanwhile, San Diego has had more rest over the past week.

Michigan’s late-season downfall (before its Big Ten Tournament run) was largely because of turnovers. The Wolverines have the third-worst turnover rate among tournament teams, and UC San Diego is the perfect team to exploit that. The Tritons lead the field in opponent turnover rate and points off turnovers. UC San Diego ‘s defense should shut down Michigan.

Region future bets

UC San Diego to reach the Sweet 16 (+360)

When UC San Diego defeats Michigan outright – it’s only +125 on the moneyline – it will have to beat either Texas A&M or Yale in the Round of 32, two winnable matchups. Yale is a popular upset pick after it stunned Auburn last year. Texas A&M is a tough group that dominates the offensive glass, but UC San Diego is gritty defensively, too. It would only be a slight underdog against Texas A&M and should be favored over Yale.

This is a price to take advantage of after UC San Diego rolled through the Big West en route to 30 wins and a 15-game winning streak entering the tournament.

Sam Oshtry is a sports betting writer at theScore. You can follow him on X @soshtry for more betting coverage.

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Sports

Sunshine State Showdown as Top Ranked University of Tampa takes on Florida Southern. The rivals are face off this weekend in Lakeland.

Published

12 hours ago

March 29, 2025

Austin Reed

Tampa (24-4)

The Spartans hosted SSC opponents Embry-Riddle (Fla.) and Saint Leo this past week. Tampa swept the Eagles in a weekend series and beat the Lions in a mid-week matchup. They dominated both offensively and on the mound in the four conference games. They outscored their opponents 33-8 in the four games. In game one against Embry-Riddle, the Spartans starting pitcher C.J. Williams tossed eight innings of one-run baseball, and catcher Jhoander Irigoyen was 4-5 with five runs batted in on the night at the plate, including two doubles. In game two against the Eagles, Skylar Gonzalez pitched six innings, giving up one run. Despite Gonzalez‘s efficient outing, the Spartans found themselves down one heading into the ninth before Brayden Woodburn launched a solo shot to tie the game up. J.D. Urso walked it off for the Spartans in the bottom of the tenth with a single. In game three, Jake Stipp picked up his fifth win of the season, improving to 5-0 on the season, tossing seven scoreless in route to a Spartans 10-0 run-rule victory. Jordan Williams, Nico Saladino, Woodburn, and Kevin Karstetter all had multi-hit games, and Santiago Garavito hit his first moonshot of the year. In the mid-week matchup against St. Leo, the Spartans bullpen, Eli Thurmond, Ethan Brown, Jacob Fletcher, and Logan Wash, combined for seven scoreless innings while striking out 12. Jake Griffith hit his first long ball of the season, and J. Williams continues to inch closer to Eddie Cowans‘s single-season Tampa stolen base record (52), stealing four bags on the night. The No. 1 Spartans look to continue their dominance on the mound and at the dish as they take on No. 13 Florida Southern for a three-game series and Valdosta State during a mid-week matchup.

Florida Southern (22-6)

The Mocs are 22-6 on the season and 7-2 in Sunshine State Conference play. They started their season 15-2, including taking two of three from then-ranked No. 14 West Florida, before sweeping Georgia Southwestern State University, taking a mid-week matchup against Eckerd, sweeping USC Beaufort, taking two of three from Florida Tech, sweeping Barry, and taking another mid-week matchup this time against Roosevelt University. The Mocs then dropped a series to No. 25 Carson-Newman before taking two of three from Eckerd, a mid-week matchup from St. Leo, and three of four from Wayne State. The No. 13 Mocs look to make a statement as they host No. 1 Tampa for a three-game series.

Live stats for all games this week can be found at Tampastats.com. 

Live broadcasts for all games this week can be found at TampaSpartans.tv.

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Sports

Elete 8: The Gators face Texas Tech just one win away from a trip to the Final Four.

Published

13 hours ago

March 29, 2025

Austin Reed

CBS Sports and TNT Sports announce tip times and commentators for the Regional Finals of the 2025 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship on Saturday, March 29, on TBS and truTV. The games will also stream on NCAA March Madness Live and Max. Florida will take on Texas Tech in the first game at 6:09 PM, ET, followed by Alabama playing Duke in the second game at 8:49 PM, ET.

Kevin Harlan will be on the call for the TBS/truTV broadcast, with Dan Bonner and Stan Van Gundy as analysts. Lauren Shahdi will serve as the sideline reporter.

The Florida Gators had a strong second half Thursday night, and they defeated the Maryland Terrapins 87-71. There are some concerns about Florida forward Alex Condon’s health. He suffered an apparent ankle injury during the first half, but played in the second half.

Florida is 2-1 all-time against Texas Tech. Both of the wins were in the 1960s, and one of them required two overtimes. The most recent meeting between the two teams came in the second round of the 2018 NCAA tournament, which resulted in a 69-66 loss for the Orange and Blue. Florida was a 6-seed and the underdog that year, but now the Gators are the No. 1 seed in the West Region and are going into the matchup as the favorite.

Both Florida and Texas Tech are looking to return to the Final Four after an absence since 2014. Texas Tech was the national runner-up in that year, while Florida just made it to the Final Four. Florida has the more efficient defense of the two teams, but both teams have top-5 offenses, according to KenPom.

The Nissan NCAA Tip-Off pregame show will begin the night’s action at 5 PM, ET with host Ernie Johnson and analysts Charles Barkley, Clark Kellogg, Kenny Smith and Jay Wright.

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Sports

Kameron Misner Blasts Walk-Off Homer, Rays Defeat Rockies 3-2

Published

13 hours ago

March 29, 2025

Austin Reed

Tampa Bay Rays’ Kameron Misner, second from right, celebrates with Christopher Morel, left, Jonny DeLuca and Junior Caminero after hitting a walk-off home run off Colorado Rockies pitcher Victor Vodnik during the ninth inning of a baseball game Friday, March 28, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

Tampa, FL – Kameron Misner blasted a walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth to lead the Tampa Bay Rays to a 3-2 Opening Day victory over the Colorado Rockies. Pete Fairbanks picks up the win while Victor Vodnik takes the loss.

Misner’s became the first major league player to hit his first career homer as a walk-off homer on Opening Day. “That was pretty spectacular.” Manager Kevin Cash said after the game. “He had a little of time to think about it while he was on defense. I think he was pretty committed to swinging, got pitch he could handle and knocked it out.”

A remarkable set of circumstances led to Misner stepping into the batters box Friday afternoon. He had already travelled to Durham after the conclusion of spring training but was summoned back after the injury to Richie Palacios (broken finger). He started the game on the bench but entered the game when Josh Lowe departed with what is being described as a sore oblique. All three Rays runs were driven in by players who started the day on the bench.

The Rays had entered the bottom of the seventh trailing Colorado 2-0. Jonathan Aranda delivered a sacrifice fly to cut the Rockies lead to 2-1 and Jose Caballero who had entered the game as a pinch runner for Josh Lowe and remained in the game in right field singled to score he game tying run.

Ryan Pepiot worked the fist six innings for the Ray and allowed just a pair of runs (one earned0 on six hits while striking out eight and walking one. Hunter Bigge, Mason Montgomery, and Pete Fairbanks each worked a scoreless inning out of the bullpen. After the game Kevin Cash was most impressed with Pepiot’s composure while making his first Opening Day start. “There were some circumstances that didn’t go our way early on and he held it together really well. For his part, Pepiot said after the game that he talked to Shane McClanahan about handling the emotions on Opening Day.

Rockies starter Kyle Freeland stymied the Rays over six innings allowing a pair of runs on two hits while striking out seven and walking none.

UP NEXT FOR RAYS:

The Rays and Rockies play the second of three games on Saturday afternoon at 4:10 p.m. Zack Littell will make his season debut for Tampa Bay while the Rockies will send Antonio Senzatela to the mound.

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