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Kentucky Wildcats-Ohio State Buckeyes matchup highlights Sweet 16 at betED.com
What many think will be the marquee matchup of March Madness so far has the No. 4 seed Kentucky Wildcats taking on the No. 1 seed Ohio State Buckeyes in a Sweet 16 matchup at the NCAA Tournament at the Prudential Center in Newark on Friday (9:45 pm ET, CBS).
NCAAB Odds at betED.com have the Buckeyes as a 5.5-point, -235 moneyline favorite and the over/under total at 140.
Kentucky (27-8 SU, 15-14-1 ATS, 10-6 SEC) has won eight straight. Ohio State (34-2 SU, 18-15 ATS, 16-2 Big Ten) has won nine straight. The total has gone over in seven of its last 10 games.
Kentucky beat the West Virginia Mountaineers 71-63 in the round of 32 on Saturday. The Wildcats covered as a 3.5-point favorite and the score was a push on the total of 134.
Ohio State fell behind the George Mason Patriots early but stormed back for a convincing 98-66 win on Sunday. The Buckeyes covered as 11.5–point favorites and the score went over the total of 136.5.
The reason many feel this will be one of the best matchups of the Sweet 16 is not just the high seed of both teams and the fact both won their respective conference tournaments. It’s also because many feel the Wildcats are as talented as Ohio State but haven’t played their best basketball yet.
Both Kentucky’s opponents – West Virginia and the Princeton Tigers – have given the Wildcats all they can handle, especially Princeton, as they needed a basket from freshman Brandon Knight with 2 seconds left for a 59-57 win. Those were Knight’s only points in the game but he then rebounded with 30 points against the Mountaineers.
Other than the first few minutes against the Patriots, we probably have seen the best of the Buckeyes, who have blown out both opponents so far, including a 75-46 win over the UT-San Antonio Roadrunners in their opener.
Against George Mason, the Buckeyes shot 61 per cent from the field and got 25 points from David Lighty.
Check out the College Basketball Odds for all the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games at betED.com.
