Posted at Thurs, March 16 at 5:00 PM EST odds are subject to change.

Pinnacle +12½ -107  BET365  +12½ -110 Sportsinteraction +12½ -110 888Sport +12½ -110

Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC - Midwest Region - 1st Round

Streaming: truTV

Kennesaw +12½ -107 over Xavier

Friday - 12:40 PM EST. Xavier has little to do with this play, but the Musketeers are the perfect foil after a high profile run to the Big East title game. Look, we’re not going to take anything away from Xavier for that run, but we are also not going to slobber over the Musketeers for it as the selection committee has. That Big East final was ugly. Really ugly, with Xavier being outclassed by fellow Mid-Western rivals Marquette to the tune of a 65-51 final.

The champions of the A-SUN look like an easy target here, as they are the lowest ranked team in this tournament. However, that distinction only distracts the market from what truly matters here, which is the great equalizer—the pointspread.

There are upsets every year, and Kennesaw State is capable of such a feat, but we’re not that demanding of them. Rather, we see the Owls and the double digit points being offered up here as a gift from the sports wagering gods. Kennesaw is battle tested after playing a tough as nails non-conference schedule that ranked in the top 50 (48). The Owls won eight of their last nine games, including that win over Liberty in the A-Sun championship to punch their ticket to the Dance, but where it matters most, Against the Spread (ATS), the Owls went just 5-4 across that stretch. Those modest results at the pay window are why Kennesaw State is taking back such a significant pile of inflated points here. We’re not going to pass up the tremendous value those points present.

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