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Chris Meaney
The 2024 NCAA Tournament is in full swing, and we have some fascinating Sweet 16 matchups. There haven’t been a lot of upsets this year, but that sets up for some powerhouse matchups as the tournament progresses.
Below is my favorite bet of Friday’s Sweet 16 matchups.
(Creighton +3, DraftKings Sportsbook)
It’s a really fun matchup here, as 2-seeded Tennessee takes on 3-seeded Creighton in a Sweet 16 battle after both were able to squeak by their second-round opponents. The Bluejays won a double-overtime thriller against an Oregon team that simply ran out of gas after Jermaine Couisnard and N’Faly Dante picked apart the Creighton drop coverage in the second half. Tennessee overcame one of their worst shooting performances (3-of-25, 12% 3pt FG%) of the year and edged out a close one against Texas through their suffocating defense. The way the Vols won their previous round matchup was way more impressive than how Creighton did and I do foresee some schematic advantages for the Vols in this one.
We all know you need elite ball handlers and playmakers on the perimeter to have success against Ryan Kalkbrenner and the Creighton deep drop coverage and the Vols have two electric backcourt mates in Zakai Zeigler and Dalton Knecht. Tennessee typically runs more off ball action offensively, but it’s hard to imagine Rick Barnes won’t tailor his gameplan up more focused on traditional pick and roll action against the drop coverage. Creighton really gives little up around the three-point line or at the rim so Zeigler and Knecht will have a ton of room to operate and have success in the mid range. On the Creighton side, the Jays are super three point reliant, which always makes them a dangerous foe. Greg McDermott runs elite level off ball action around his 7-footer Kalkbrenner to get his sharpshooting guards open looks, but Tennessee is able to switch 1-4 and blow up some of that action with their bigger guards Josiah Jordan James and Jamai Mashack along with pitbull Zeigler defensively. Unless Creighton is hitting threes at a very high clip, Tennessee just has way more paths to score and have the personnel to slow down the Creighton offensive machine and I like them to advance with relative ease in this matchup (as long as they don’t shoot 12% from three again).
Tennessee -3
