Posted at 9:30 AM EST. Odds subject to change.

Pinnacle +165 BET365 +165 Sportsinteraction +165  888Sport +165 

Colorado +165 over Marquette

Gainbridge Fieldhouse - Indianapolis, IN

Men's Basketball Championship - South Region - 2nd Round

Steaming: CBS

12:10 PM EST. In Round 1, the Golden Eagles disposed of Western Kentucky, 87-69, as a -14½ point favorite. We’ll do our best to quantify in words just how much of a step up in competition that Marquette faces today; however, the numbers do a pretty damn good job. The Golden Eagles now move from a significant double-digit favorite to a team spotting less than a pair of three-pointers.

Enter the power rankings, which show that Marquette moved on from Western Kentucky, which was ranked just 135 in the nation, to the Buffaloes of Colorado, who despite being a First Four participant, are ranked 21st in those same power rankings. For some perspective, the #10-seeded Buffs have #3 Kentucky slotted right behind them at 22 and #6-seeded Clemson at 25, but San Diego State (20), Saint Mary’s (21), and Wisconsin (18) were all #5 seeds. If there were ever a time to ignore the number beside a school’s name, this would be it.

The Buffs knocked out Florida in the Round of 64 after they, of course, handled their business over Boise State in Dayton. Against the Gators, the Buffaloes won a headed 102-100 affair KJ Simpsons' last-second jumper bounced five times off the rim before falling for the winning basket in that game. There was some controversy in that game that the media and the market have used to poke holes in the Buffs, as they benefited from a meltdown no the Florida bench that led to a technical foul, and J'Vonne Hadley hitting both to put the Buffs up 10. Despite their need for a last-second winner, the Buffs had multiple double-digit leads in the second half, and were up 94-81 with less than 4:30 to play before the Gators closed the gap. Some may see a near-choke job for Colorado, but we see a quality outfit that overcame some major adversity and was able to move on. The Buffs are battle-tested, and that win over Florida is just another notch on that belt.

The line between a #10 and a #2 seed is a fine one, as the Golden Eagles are spotting the fewest points of all of the #2 seeds in this Round of 32, after Tennessee and Iowa State were both -6½ over Texas and Washington state, while Arizona was -9 points over Dayton, yet the oddsmakers opened this game with Marquette as just a -3½-point chalk. If that doesn’t scream red flag, we don’t know what does. When the oddsmakers tell us something, we listen, and if the Golden Eagles win this game in a route, we can live with that, the books figure the Buffs to be a feisty pooch and a tough out today as a grossly underseeded #10, and we have no problem taking Colorado to win this one outright.

Sherwood

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