South Region odds: Colorado vs Pitt, Florida vs Albany betting preview, predictions

In the last eight games in which the 8-seed is an underdog against the 9-seed, the 8-seed is a perfect 8-0 SU and ATS.

The 8-seed Colorado Buffaloes hope that trend continues Thursday as a 6.5-point underdog against 9-seed Pittsburgh. As the only 1-seed in action on Thursday, the Florida Gators are a 21.5-point favorite over Albany later in the day.

While recent history has treated underdog 8-seeds well, Colorado has not been a competitive dog with a 2-12 SU record in its last 14 games as the betting underdog.

The Buffaloes finished their last five games at 3-2 SU and ATS with all five of those games going UNDER the total. Colorado earned an at-large bid with its 23-11 SU and 18-15 ATS record.

The Pittsburgh Panthers enter the postseason playing well, going 5-2 SU and 4-1-2 ATS over their last seven games after going through a 2-5 SU and 0-7 ATS stretch in their previous seven.

Pittsburgh finished the regular season with a 25-9 SU and 12-5-4 ATS record to earn an at-large 9-seed. The Panthers are just 2-8 ATS in their last 10 tournament games.

The Amway Center in Orlando hosts the Pittsburgh vs. Colorado betting matchup at 1:40 p.m. ET and then the Florida vs. Albany game later in the day.

The Florida Gators have not lost since Dec. 2, stringing together 26 straight wins to lock up the SEC title and the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament. The Gators seemed to play their best basketball down the stretch with a 5-1 ATS record in the month of March.

Florida beat Jacksonville by 43 the last time it was a 1-seed.

The Albany Great Danes are now 7-1 SU over their last eight games, earning a trip to the tournament with an American East title and playing into this game with a 71-64 win over Mount St. Mary’s.