NCAA Tournament Second Round Picks for Sunday

The First Round of the NCAA Tournament had plenty of upsets in the bracket. What will the second round have in store for us? Here are two bets to help your Sunday bets for March Madness. We start with the battle of Illinois with the Loyola Chicago Ramblers facing the Illinois Fighting Illini looking to upset the one seed in the second round.

Loyola Chicago Ramblers vs. Illinois Fighting Illini

Sunday, March 21, 2021 – 12:10 PM EDT at Bankers Life Fieldhouse

The Matchup

Nobody said this was going to be easy. Illinois will have their hands full against Loyola Chicago who rank 37th in offensive efficiency and third in the nation in defensive efficiency. The Ramblers are shooting an effective field goal percentage of 56.4 percent and score easily inside at 57.9 percent. They’re also shooting 35.9 percent from long distance and take a solid amount of threes per game.

Illinois has struggled forcing turnovers this season but have been able to dominate the defensive glass. They’ve also excelled at forcing bad shots and have stopped opponents to a 46.2 percent effective field goal percentage. This team has done very well inside with Kofi Cockburn in the middle.

On defense, Loyola Chicago has been just as impressive, defensive rebounding at a really solid pace as their second in the nation. The Ramblers also don’t foul a high amount and if they’re able to get more fouls, they’ll be in great shape as they shoot 73.1 percent from the line compared to Illinois shooting 68.8 percent from the line.

Sister Jean loves it!@RamblersMBB used an 11-2 run to take the lead pic.twitter.com/Bq2z7Ufm06

— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) March 19, 2021

Illinois will have to take on a very slow offense in Loyola and that could take them out of rhythm. Illinois is used to playing some fast tempo offense and that’s led them to plenty of points over the season. They might not get to 70 in this one even with shooting an effective field goal percentage of 55.7 percent and having a offensive rebound rate that’s very high.

We’re going to see lots of defense in this one especially down low. The team that gets hot from long range and gets enough offensive rebounds when they miss will win this game. With Loyola Chicago getting three possessions worth of points at top sportsbooks, how do you not take the points here in what seems like an even match-up via analytics?

CBB Pick: Loyola Chicago +6.5 (-110) via BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)

Ramblers +6.5(-110)

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Texas Tech Red Raiders vs. Arkansas Razorbacks

Sunday, March 21, 2021 - 06:10 PM EDT at Hinkle Fieldhouse

Both favorites went on to win on Friday but if Arkansas struggles like they did early on against Colgate, there might not be enough time to come back against a Chris Beard led team in the Red Raiders.

The Matchup

If you like offense, sorry. I picked two games with teams that play better defense than offense. Arkansas has the star power on offense but it comes down to a couple big time players while the entire roster stays inconsistent in their roles.

Arkansas is shooting an effective field goal percentage of 51.4 percent and turning the ball over 17.2 percent of the time. They’re going to have to be very careful with the ball against Texas Tech who can force turnovers at will, so remember that for your sports betting. The Razorbacks will have an advantage on the offensive glass and because Texas Tech is so aggressive on defense, Arkansas will likely be fouled more.

Arkansas shoots 33.8 percent from three and 51.8 percent from inside this season. They’re also 73.8 percent from the line and play a very fast paced tempo that Texas Tech is not used to seeing much this season.

Texas Tech’s offense is very solid as they’re limiting turnovers, dominating the offensive glass and are able to produce fouls to get to the line. What they’re unable to do is shoot at a high percentage. Their defense provides their offense as they shot 34.8 percent from three and 48.5 percent from inside, which isn’t very good.

Respect the hustle @C_nad11 @mjpv5 pic.twitter.com/oSVt02afnP

— Texas Tech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) March 20, 2021

On defense, they’re limiting opponents to 34.5 percent from three but 45.3 percent from inside and Arkansas will shoot and score more inside on average. Teams are trying to score on Arkansas very fast but as long as Texas Tech works their offense and forces Arkansas to work on defense, Texas Tech should be in a great spot.

Arkansas doesn’t want to defend for a full possession. Once they do, Texas Tech should be able to break them down and fatigue could start to settle in for Arkansas. I like Texas Tech in this spot as the six seed beating a three seed. But it’s not even an upset according to the college basketball lines!

CBB Pick: Texas Tech -1 (-110) via BetOnline

Red Raiders -1(-110)

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*The pick reflects the line at the moment the writer made the play, the odds at the beginning of this article show the live line movement. Since the lines might vary, don’t forget to refer back to our live odds.

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