NCAA Bracket 2019: Picks and Updated Odds Ahead of Tuesday's First 4 Schedule

It's buckle-up time for fans of men's college basketball.

The 2019 NCAA tournament officially tips with the First Four on Tuesday and Wednesday. While no team seeded higher than 11th will suit up, these contests can still impact your bracket.

"Exactly one team from the First Four has advanced to the second round each year since its inception in 2011," ESPN.com's Keith Lipscomb noted.

While our crystal ball can't say for sure which First Four winner that will be, we can dive into how oddsmakers feel about these contests (odds courtesy of OddsShark) and predict which four clubs will advance.

NCAA Bracket 2019

First Four Odds and Predictions

16 Prairie View A&M vs. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson (-1.5)

It's been a tale of two seasons for the Prairie View A&M Panthers who closed 2018 on an 11-game losing streak, then went a sizzling 21-1 in 2019 en route to the Southwest Athletic Conference championship.

What the Panthers lack in name recognition, they apparently more than make up for in confidence.

"We're going to use [the First Four] as a tune-up game, to play another team outside of our conference and then hopefully be victorious to play Gonzaga," senior guard Gary Blackston said. "We've won (21 of the last 22 games), we don't really have a losing feeling right now, and we just want to continue to win."

Fairleigh Dickinson, champions of the Northeast Conference for the second time in four years, enters this contest on an eight-game winning streak of its own. The Knights don't always bring it defensively, but their offense can be overwhelming as five different players average double-digit points.

KenPom.com pegs this as a coin flip, putting the Knights 208th overall and the Panthers just one spot behind. But we'll go with the oddsmakers here and say Fairleigh Dickinson's ignitable offense proves the difference.

Prediction: Fairleigh Dickinson 73, Prairie View A&M 70

11 Temple vs. 11 Belmont (-3)

The Owls can be a handful, thanks in no small part to leading scorer—and Philadelphia native—Shizz Alston Jr.

The senior guard averaged team highs of 19.7 points and 5.0 assists, and it's tough to keep his relentless attacks from reaching the paint. No moment is too big for him, and he can take a blowtorch to defenses when he's feeling it. He engineered three 30-point outbursts this season, hitting a total of 13 triples in those contests.

But Alston and his teammates must be razor-sharp at both ends against a Belmont club ranked 20th on offense by KenPom.

The Bruins like to get up and down, and they take analytically approved shots. In other words, they'll seek out open threes and restricted-area twos while eschewing the dreaded mid-range jumpers.

Senior swingman Dylan Windler does it all, pacing the team in points (21.4) and rebounds (10.7), while also often guarding the opponent's top scorer. Freshman center Nick Muszynski could be the difference-maker, though, as the 6'11" youngster adds the interior element to this attack.

If the Bruins advance, as we expect them to, they could keep dancing into at least the second round. ESPN's Giant Killer model gives Belmont a 32 percent upset chance against sixth-seeded Maryland, second-best among all clubs seeded 11th or lower.

Prediction: Belmont 80, Temple 68

16 North Carolina Central vs. 16 North Dakota State (-5.5)

How's this for parity—a couple of 16 seeds, each sporting an 18-15 record, heading into this tilt after winning their respective conference tournaments as the fourth seed?

Dive a bit deeper into the numbers, though, and this could be more one-sided than it seems.

North Dakota State is no world-beater, but it might feel that way in this matchup. It holds KenPom's 199th ranking; North Carolina Central is all the way down at 303rd, by far the lowest of the 68 tournament teams.

North Dakota State follows the lead of junior guards Vinnie Shahid and Tyson Ward, who average a combined 25.1 points, 9.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists. Those two should conjure up enough offense to topple a North Carolina Central club that can struggle to find consistent scoring around senior center Raasean Davis.

Prediction: North Dakota State 69, North Carolina Central 63

11. St. John's vs. 11 Arizona State (-1.5)

The Sun Devils are one of the least predictable teams in the entire tournament. Case in point: They closed 2018 by suffering a double-digit loss to unranked Vanderbilt, taking down then-top-ranked Kansas and finally losing at home to Princeton.

But at least there are peaks and valleys with Arizona State. St. John's sprinted out of the gate to a 12-0 start, then struggled to keep its head above water the rest of the way. The Red Storm were just 9-12 from that point forward and enter the First Four having lost five of their final seven outings.

So why are we thinking Chris Mullin's club can reverse course and send Bobby Hurley's bunch packing? The answer is simple: Shamorie Ponds.

The 6'1" junior from Brooklyn led his club with 19.5 points, 5.2 assists and 2.6 steals. He had 10 games of 25-plus points and two more with double-digit assists. He has NBA potential, and you don't always see that from a First Four participant.

"I'm a huge fan of his game," one NBA executive told The Athletic's Michael Scotto. "He's crafty. He's a first-round late pick for me in a weak draft."

Look for a big enough outing from Ponds to help St. John's shake out of its funk and into the round of 64.

Prediction: St. John's 72, Arizona State 66