The best time of the year has arrived. The March Madness bracket is in full swing as a beautiful slate of First Round games is set for Friday.
It always helps to have a little bit of action on the games to have something extra to root for. Let’s have a little fun and throw together some parlays.
After scouring the board for March Madness odds, I’ve come up with two parlays to throw some money down on for Friday’s set of games.
The first parlay is comprised of three totals that I have my eye on. My next college basketball odds parlay targets all player props; my favorite way to bet on college sports.
Check out my parlay March Madness picks for Friday, March 22.
Round 1 March Madness Parlays
- UConn team total Over 86.5/New Mexico-Clemson Over 151.5/St. Mary's-Grand Canyon Under 131.5 (+624 at FanDuel)
- Keisei Tominaga Over 2.5 threes made/Jaedon LeDee Over 20.5 points/Great Osobor Over 17.5 points/Aaron Estrada Over 1.5 threes made (+596 at FanDuel)
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
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Best round 1 parlay picks
UConn team total Over 86.5
New Mexico/Clemson Over 151.5
Saint Mary’s/Grand Canyon Under 131.5
The No. 1 seed UConn Huskies will look for an easy First Round victory as 27-point favorites over the No. 16 seed Stetson Hatters. It looks like Danny Hurley’s squad should have an effective day at the office, especially on the defensive end against a defensively inept Hatters squad that ranks 343rd in adjusted defensive efficiency per KenPom.
UConn averaged 81.5 ppg and plays in the Big East, so their team total of 86.5 assumes they have a slightly better-than-average performance. I think there’s every reason to expect a terrific day on the court as the Huskies are an offensive juggernaut and get a very manageable first opponent as they look to repeat as National Champions.
The second leg of this parlay features the No. 6 seed Clemson Tigers and the No. 11 seed New Mexico Lobos going over the full game total of 151.5. Both teams excel offensively — Clemson ranks 25th in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency metric, while New Mexico checks in at 38th.
Rick Pitino’s squad loves to play with pace, ranking eighth in adjusted tempo. That should mean an abundance of possessions are in store, which is great news for the Over.
Clemson forward PJ Hall is one of the best big men in America, averaging 18.8 points and 6.7 boards per game, and he should feast against a Lobos defense that struggles to defend post-ups. On the flip side, New Mexico has three lethal guards in Jaelon House (16.1 ppg), Jamal Mashburn (14.4), and Donovan Dent (14.3). That sets them up well come March, and this isn’t a difficult First Round matchup for an under-seeded Lobos squad.
The last leg features the No. 5 Saint Mary’s Gaels and the No. 12 seed Grand Canyon Antelopes going Under the total of 131.5. Saint Mary’s always plays at a snail’s pace — this year it ranks just 358th in adjusted tempo. The only thing the Antelopes excel at offensively is drawing fouls, which makes this a tough draw against an ultra-disciplined Saint Mary’s defense.
On the flip side, Grand Canyon plays terrific defense (48th in adjusted efficiency) and should be game to go toe-to-toe on that end of the court.
Keisei Tominaga Over 2.5 threes made
Jaedon LeDee Over 21.5 points
Great Osobor Over 16.5 points
Let’s whip together a player prop parlay for Friday’s action.
The first leg will feature No. 8 seed Nebraska Cornhuskers sniper Keisei Tominaga to hit at least three 3-pointers. This is a beautiful matchup as he faces a No. 9 seed Texas A&M Aggies squad that ranks 339th in threes allowed per game (8.8).
Tominaga, a Japanese marksman, hits 2.9 3-pointers per game at 37.2%. He’s a high-volume shooter who hits at a high rate and will be needed if the Cornhuskers hope to pick up their first-ever NCAA Tournament victory.
The second leg features No. 5 seed San Diego State Aztecs big man Jaedon LeDee to go Over his points prop of 20.5 against the No. 12 seed UAB Blazers. LeDee is a behemoth who looks like he’s been sculptured out of marble and he should carve up a Blazers team that ranks 200th in adjusted defensive efficiency.
UAB particularly struggles to defend the paint, ranking 253rd in near-proximity attempt rate and 157th in near-proximity field goal defense vs. the average opponent (both per Haslametrics). LeDee averaged 21.1 ppg and there’s every reason to expect an above-average game, so this prop is a bit of a gift.
The Aztecs made it to the championship game a year ago and now are a popular upset pick in the very first round. To avoid such an ignominious exit, Brian Dutcher could use his star big man to have a solid game.
Next, we’ll target another Mountain West big man by taking No. 8 seed Utah State Aggies’ stud Great Osobor to go Over his points prop of 17.5.
This is a good matchup against a No. 9 seed TCU Horned Frogs defense that basically lets other teams have a lay-up line all game. Jamie Dixon’s squad ranks 310th in percentage of shots allowed at the rim (42.5% per Hoop-Math) and Osobor should feast.
This is a close game and the Mountain West has gotten a bad rap for its performance in the tournament lately. In what should be a back-and-forth affair, Osobor has every opporunity to make his presence felt — win or loss.
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