Sweet 16 Bracket Odds: Ohio State 5.5-Point Favorite Against Kentucky

Friday’s NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 slate has more Cinderellas than a Disney Store, with 10-seed Florida State, 11-seeds Marquette and Virginia Commonwealth, and 12-seed Richmond all jostling for that glass slipper.
However, college hoops bettors will find comfort in the lone Friday matchup involving top-ranked teams, as the 4-seed Kentucky Wildcats take on the 1-seed Ohio State Buckeyes for the right to advance to the weekend’s Elite Eight.
(For updated lines and info on all four of the games on Friday and every game through the end of March Madness, check out SB Nation’s lines partner Odds Shark.)
4-seed Kentucky Wildcats (+5.5) vs. 1-seed Ohio State Buckeyes (-5.5)
While Kansas and Duke are legitimate 1-seeds, no team has been more consistently dominant this season than the Ohio State Buckeyes. Losing just two games this season (both on the road), the Buckeyes earned the top 1-seed, and have looked the part through the first two games.
”We are a little surprised to see the Kentucky-Ohio State line remain around -5.5 since OSU won by an average of 30 PPG last week, but our scores prediction engine has them winning 87-81,” said Mark Presley of OddsShark.com.
Ohio State crushed 16-seed Texas-San Antonio 75-46 in their first game, and then gave the same treatment to 8-seed George Mason, 98-66. Ohio State is shooting the ball very well from outside, and with Jared Sullinger down low, they look too strong to beat.
That said, they’ll get their toughest test in the tourney so far here against Kentucky.
Kentucky seems to be peaking at the right time. After going through some struggles in February, the Wildcats have won eight straight games, including two big wins over Florida (one for the SEC Title).
Led by three super-talented freshmen in Brandon Knight, Terrence Jones, and Doron Lamb, the Wildcats have the talent and fearlessness to give Ohio State a serious run.
Knight has taken his game to the next level in this year’s tournament, hitting the game-winning shot in the closing seconds against Princeton and putting up a career-high 30 points against West Virginia.
He, as well as Jones and Lamb, will need to be at their best to earn the upset. Ohio State has too many weapons to contain, and the only way to beat them may just be to out-gun them.
The other three Sweet 16 matchups taking place today are 11-seed Marquette (+4.5) vs 2-seed North Carolina (-4.5), a very dangerous underdog if the trends hold up, 11-seed Virginia Commonwealth (+4.0) vs. 10-seed Florida State (-4.0), and 12-seed Richmond (+10.5) vs. 1-seed Kansas (-10.5).
[Get matchup report, trends, live odds and more on all four Friday matches]