2015 Sweet 16 Odds, Predictions and Free Picks – Wichita State vs Notre Dame Expert Picks

2015 Sweet 16 Odds, Predictions and Free Picks – Wichita State vs Notre Dame Expert Picks: The Sweet 16 round of the 2015 March Madness Bracket begins this Thursday, March 26th and the best game of the four matchups scheduled on Thursday, in our opinion, is the game between #7 seed Wichita State and #3 seed Notre Dame from the Midwest Bracket. The odds makers at Bovada Sportsbook have posted the lines on this matchup and they currently have Wichita State listed as a small -1.5 point favorite with the game total listed at over or under 137 points. The winner of this game will advance to the Elite 8 round on Saturday and most likely play #1 seeded and undefeated Kentucky(assuming Kentucky beats #4 seed West Virginia).

2015 Sweet 16 Odds, Predictions and Free Picks – Wichita State vs Notre Dame Preview and Free Picks

Wichita State reached the Sweet 16 round of the tournament by defeating #10 seeded Indiana 81-76 in the 2nd round last Friday and then beat #2 seeded Kansas 78-65 in a game that many people in Kansas considered to be the biggest game among two state teams in state history. Wichita State head coach Greg Marshall has his Shockers back in the Sweet 16 for the 2nd time in the past three seasons and looking to get one step closer to a chance to reach the Final Four for the 2nd time in three seasons. The Shockers enter the Sweet 16 with an overall record of 30-4 out of the Missouri Valley Conference and are led in scoring by senior 6-4, 220 pound guard Ron Baker, who averages 15.2 points per game to go with 4.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists.

Notre Dame enters this matchup Thursday night with an impressive 31-5 overall record out of the ACC Conference. Head coach Mike Brey has the Fighting Irish back in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2003 and they got here by winning against #14 seeded Northeastern 69-65 in the 2nd round last Thursday and then won a 67-64 overtime thriller against #6 seeded Butler in the 3rd round last Saturday. The win over Butler was a little bittersweet for Brey as he learned the morning of the game that his 84 year-old mother, Betty, had passed away. Brey’s Irish will look to keep the smile on his face Thursday and will look for team leading scorer Jerian Grant to lead the way. The 6-5, 2014 pound senior guard leads Notre Dame with a 16.8 points per game average and also averages 6.7 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game.

This matchup appears very close on paper. Notre Dame is a better shooting team as they have a 50.9 team field goal shooting percentage and average 8.1 three point shots made per game as a team compared to Wichita State’s 44.6 field goal percentage and 6.9 threes made per game. On the flip side, Wichita State is better defensively as they allow just 56.7 points per game compared to Notre Dame’s 65.6 points per game allowed defensively. We expect this game to be a very close contest for the entire game with the game coming down to the wire as anyone’s ball game. Having said that, we do expect Notre Dame to make just a couple more plays down the stretch as they have played a tough schedule all season long and have a ton of confidence after winning a close overtime affair against Butler in round three. Take Notre Dame plus the +1.5 points on the spread.

2015 Sweet 16 Free Picks: Notre Dame +1.5 over Wichita State(Check the latest March Madness Odds from Bovada)