2008 NCAA March Madness: Odds and preview of the Thursday games

2008 NCAA March Madness: Odds and preview of the Thursday games The 2008 NCAA March Madness Tournament start today with the first round Thursday games and we have the latest odds and preview of the college basketball games. Wasting no time we begin with the game between Georgia and Xavier, which is scheduled to start at 12:20 pm at the Verizon Center. The Xavier Musketeers are with a much better record and it's no surprise that they will be the favorite team to win the game with odds of -440 at the online sportsbook BodogLife. But the Georgia Bulldogs offer a great payout if they continue with the upsets on Thursday - Georgia is listed with odds +320 to win the first round of the March Madness games and Xavier are -8.5 against the spread (ATS). Keep in mind that Georgia has won 5 of the last 6 games and the Bulldogs are 5-1 against the spread in its last 6 games, while Xavier is 1-4 against the spread in its last 5 games.

Moving on to the Temple vs. Michigan State March Madness game, where the Spartans are big favorite with odds to win sitting at -320. Temple holds odds of +260 to win the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament and the point spread favors Michigan State -7 points. Temple is 6-1 against the spread in its last 7 games and Michigan State is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games. Neither team has reported any injuries for Thursday. Also today Kentucky will meet Marquette and the Wildcats are underdog with odds +225 at BodogLife, while the Golden Eagles are favorite with odds -265. The point spread on the Kentucky vs. Marquette game is posted at -6 points chalk Marquette with the total expected at 130 points. Keep in mind that Kentucky is 11-3 SU in its last 14 games and Marquette is 8-3 SU in its last 11 games.

Purdue is -155 favorite for the first round of the 2008 NCAA March Madness West Regional Tournament game against Baylor, who is listed with dog odds of +135. The point spread on the Baylor vs. Purdue game is sitting at -3.5 points chalk the Boilermakers with the total at 141 points. Baylor is 5-2 against the spread in its last 7 games and Purdue is 14-3-1 ATS in its last 18 games. No injuries have been reported for this game. Pittsburgh is one of the biggest favorite teams in the Thursday's March Madness Tournament lineup, sitting on -500 to win the game against Oral Roberts (+350). The spread favors Pittsburgh -9 points. Keep in mind that Austin Wallace, Mike Cook and Cassin Diggs will not play for Pittsburgh during the March Madness games.

USC is -170 favorite against Kansas State, who is listed with odds +150 at the online bookmaker BodogLife. The point spread favors USC -4 points and the total is at 141 points. Winthrop is big underdog with odds +375 against Washington State at -550 and Notre Dame is -290 against George Mason. Visit BodogLife for the full list of odds on the 2008 NCAA March Madness games today.

Published on 03/20/2008