Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Arizona Wildcats Betting, March Madness Analysis, Pick

The 10th-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes will try to knock out a higher seed for the second straight game when they face the second-seeded Arizona Wildcats in the round of 32 of the NCAA men's basketball tournament Saturday.

The Buckeyes defeated the seventh-seeded VCU Rams 75-72 in overtime Thursday but fell short of covering the spread as 3.5-point favorites. The Wildcats also failed to cover in a 93-72 rout of the 15th-seeded Texas Southern Tigers as 23.5-point chalk in West Region action.

Opening spread

The Wildcats opened as eight-point favorites. (Compare lines and consensus on the Odds Shark matchup report.)

Why pick Ohio State to cover the spread?

Ohio State has one of the best players in the country in freshman guard D’Angelo Russell, who scored a game-high 28 points in the win over the Rams.

Russell was one of only three players for the Buckeyes to score in double figures, but he also loves to get his teammates involved and will have no problem distributing the ball to them a lot more against the Wildcats. He averaged 5.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game this season, so he is as well-rounded as it gets in college basketball. This is important—considering that Arizona will likely key on him in hopes of shutting down the Buckeyes offensively.

Ohio State was this big of an underdog only once this season and landed right on the number for a push in a 64-55 road loss to the Louisville Cardinals on December 2. The Buckeyes were 3-1 against the spread in their previous four games as dogs of nine points or more.

Why pick Arizona to cover the spread?

The Wildcats nearly covered against Texas Southern, and they were 9-2 ATS in their previous 11 games prior to their round-of-64 victory. In fact, Arizona was 11-2 ATS in the team’s previous 13 games as a favorite of nine points or more.

The Wildcats should have easily covered against the Tigers—considering that they jumped out to a 54-33 halftime lead and seemed content playing an even game the rest of the way.

All five of Arizona’s starters scored in double figures for a balanced offensive attack—led by Rondae Hollis-Jefferson with 23 points. Not one of them played more than 29 minutes, either, which means the team should be fairly fresh against Ohio State—especially since the Buckeyes had to play later in the day and also ended up going to overtime.

Smart betting pick

The underdogs had their ways in the round of 64, so bettors might think that trend will continue throughout the Big Dance. But the round of 32 will be a different story, with the cream starting to rise to the top and the contenders starting to separate themselves from the pretenders. Ohio State is a pretender, and Arizona a contender—plain and simple.

Ohio State's Russell is a great one-and-done player who will be playing in the NBA next season, but Arizona's Stanley Johnson is another star freshman, and he has better players around him. Look for Johnson to outplay Russell and Arizona to blow out Ohio State in a double-digit win.

Power rankings (per Odds Shark power ranks)

Ohio State Buckeyes: No. 72

Arizona Wildcats: No. 1

March Madness betting trends

Arizona is 13-4 ATS in its past 17 games as a favorite.

Ohio State is 1-7 SU and 1-6-1 ATS in its past eight games as an underdog.

Ohio State has won five straight round-of-32 games, all over results.

Arizona is 8-1 SU and ATS in its past nine round-of-32 games.

Note: All spread and betting-line data powered by Odds Shark—download the free Lines and Bet Tracker app in the Apple Store and on Google Play.