2019 March Madness First Round Betting Underdogs

If you’re a college basketball betting aficionado that loves backing value-packed underdogs that have a great chance of either covering the spread or winning outright, then you’re going to get the expert insight you’ll need in order to make a series of wise, opening round March Madness betting on three underdogs that all fit the bill as far as looking like value-packed underdogs. With that said, let’s find out which dogs look like they’re barking loudly in their respective openers.

2019 March Madness First Round Betting Underdogs

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— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) 19 de marzo de 2019

No. 7 Wofford (29-4) vs. No. 10 Seton Hall (20-13)

• When: Thursday, March 21, 2019 at 9:40 PM ET
• Where: Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, Florida
• 2019 March Madness Odds: Wofford -2.5 / Total: 144

Seton Hall might be the lower seed in their opener against No. 7 Wofford, but the Pirates have the look of a team that is both, offering great value and one that could beat their higher seeded opponents outright on Thursday. Seton Hall had won four straight while beating Marquette and Villanova along the way until narrowly falling to the Wildcats 74-72 in the Big East conference tournament championship game the last time out.

While Wofford has gone a perfect 6-0 ATS in their last 6 games against a team with a winning straight up record, Seton Hall has gone 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games against a team with a winning straight up record while also going 19-7-1 ATS in their last 27 neutral site games. The Pirates will have their hands full against Wofford, but they’ve got a great chance to cash in and win outright as an underdog in the first round.

No. 14 Yale (22-7) vs. No. 3 Louisiana State (26-6)

• When: Thursday, March 21, 2019 at 12:40 PM ET
• Where: VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, Florida
• 2019 March Madness Odds: LSU -7.5 / Total: 156.5

While LSU has won eight of their last 10 games, but the Tigers have fallen to Florida twice along the way. Now, LSU will take on a Yale team that has won three straight to claim the Ivy League title and seven of their last 10 games overall. More importantly, these two teams are virtually dead even statistically on both sides of the ball.

Yale and LSU both have a quartet of double-digit scorers on their rosters, but only Yale enters March Madness without any drama, seeing as how LSU head coach Will Wade has been suspended for his alleged involvement in a FBI wiretap scandal.

While LSU has gone 5-1 ATS in their last six games, Yale has gone 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games against a team with a winning percentage above .600 while also posting an encouraging 11-3 ATS in their last 14 neutral site games. 59 percent of public bettors like the Bulldogs to at least cover the chalk and it’s easy to see why.

No. 13 UC-Irvine (30-5) vs. No. 4 Kansas State (25-8)

• When: Friday, March 22, 2019 at 2:00 PM ET
• Where: SAP Center, San Jose, California
• 2019 March Madness Odds: K-State -4.5

K-State won four straight before falling to Iowa State in the Big 12 conference tournament, but they’ve also dropped three of their last nine games while losing to the Cyclones twice along the way. UC-Irvine hits March madness as one of the hottest teams in the nation, having won an impressive 16 consecutive games including their emphatic 92-64 beat-down of Cal-State Fullerton in the Big West conference championship on Saturday.

There’s a reason why a whopping 62 percent of college basketball bettors like UC-Irvine and it’s because the Anteaters have been burning up the books by going 6-0-1 ATS in their last 7 games following a straight up win of more than 20 points and a near-perfect 9-1-1 ATS in their last 11 games overall. Combine that with the fact that K-State is just 1-6 ATS in their last seven non-conference games and averages just 65.8 points per game and it’s easy to see why UC-Irvine is looking like a great underdog pick in their opener.