Iowa vs. Tennessee: First Four odds and betting preview
Iowa is slumping but still favored against Tennessee in March Madness play-in game betting Wednesday. Cal Poly faces Texas Southern in the other matchup.
The Iowa Hawkeyes need to snap a nasty 1-6 SU and 0-7 ATS streak against the Tennessee Volunteers Wednesday if they hope to make the Field of 64. They will need to rediscover their early season form to earn an 11-seed, but they opened as a 2.5-point favorite in First Four action.
In Wednesday's other play-in game, the Cal Poly Mustangs are a 3.5-point favorite over the Texas Southern Tigers as the two teams are set to compete for a 16-seed in the second round.
Iowa is 0-3 SU and ATS in its last three March Madness games, making the fact that the team comes into this year’s tournament on such a cold streak particularly daunting. But before the late-season slip, the Hawkeyes were 19-6 SU and 15-8 ATS.
Iowa finished in the top 10 in the nation on offense (82 points per game) and rebounding (40.7 per game) and could make the most of its at-large bid if the team can play to its potential.
Tennessee earned an at-large bid with a 21-12 SU and 16-14-1 ATS record this season. The Volunteers finished the season on a 5-1 SU and 4-2 ATS run thanks in large part to their strong defense, which finished 13th in the nation allowing only 61.1 PPG. Tennessee’s defense led the total to go UNDER in each of the team’s last five games of the season.
Cal Poly entered the Big West Tournament on a 2-9 SU and ATS skid, but managed to turn things around in the tournament to string together three straight wins and punch its ticket to the dance with a Big West Championship.
On the season, Cal Poly went just 12-19 SU and 10-19-1 ATS.
Texas Southern ended the season on a 9-0 SU run including three wins in the SWAC Tournament to win the conference title. Senior center Aaric Murray was an offensive force for the Tigers this season, finishing 13th in the nation in scoring with 21.2 points per game.
Cal Poly vs. Texas Southern tips off at 6:40 p.m. ET on Wednesday at the University of Dayton Arena, with Iowa vs. Tennessee hitting the hardwood later that night.
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