Ohio State Buckeyes vs. VCU Rams Betting Line, March Madness Analysis, Pick

Since 2007, Virginia Commonwealth is 11-3 against the spread in the NCAA tournament. Ohio State, on the other hand, is 1-6 against the spread over its last seven NCAA tournament games. The lower-seeded Buckeyes are short favorites over the higher-seeded Rams for Thursday afternoon's West Region No. 7 vs. No. 10 game in Portland.

Opening spread
The Buckeyes opened as one-point favorites. (Compare lines and consensus on the Odds Shark matchup report.)

Why pick Ohio State to cover the spread

The Buckeyes finished in sixth place in the Big Ten this season, then advanced to the quarterfinals of the conference tournament, where they lost to Michigan State. So OSU is at the Big Dance for the seventh straight season.

The Buckeyes own victories this season over tournament qualifiers Indiana, Maryland and Purdue, and lost close games to Iowa, the Hoosiers, Purdue and the Spartans. They also hung tough for three quarters of a game against Big Ten champion Wisconsin, before the Badgers put them to bed.

Led by impressive freshman D'Angelo Russell, Ohio State is shooting almost 49 percent from the floor while holding foes to under 41 percent field-goal shooting.

Why pick Virginia Commonwealth to cover the spread

The Rams finished tied for fourth in the Atlantic 10 this season, then won the conference tournament, knocking off second-seeded Davidson in the semifinals and top-seeded Dayton in the championship game, to earn a fifth straight invitation to the Big Dance.

The Rams played a tougher non-conference schedule than Ohio State did this year, picking up victories against Oregon, Northern Iowa, Belmont and Cincinnati and toughening up with other battles against Villanova and Virginia.

VCU stumbled through the last month or so of the regular season, going 5-6 straight up and 3-8 against the spread. But the Rams awoke just in time, with four straight wins and three straight covers in the conference tournament.

Smart betting pick

A case could be made that the Rams played a tougher schedule than the Buckeyes this season, and have more to be proud of. They also finished with a flourish. So the smart betting choice for this bout is VCU, plus the points.

Power rankings

Ohio State Buckeyes: No. 72

Virginia Commonwealth Rams: No. 30 (per Odds Shark power ranks)

March Madness betting trends

Ohio State is 6-1 straight up and 5-2 against the spread in its past seven games as a favorite.

Ohio State is 1-5 against the spread in its past six NCAA tournament games.

VCU is 6-1 against the spread in its past seven round-of-64 games.

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