Drake is set to meet Miami in the first round of our March Madness picks on Friday night. The Bulldogs got here by winning the Missouri Valley conference tournament with a victory over Bradley.
Miami grabbed a share of the regular season ACC Championship but went down decisively to Duke in the conference tournament. However, the Canes' March Madness odds still look fairly promising considering that the loss marked just their second over the last 11 games.
What's the best bet for this one? Find out in our college basketball picks and predictions for Drake vs. Miami on March 17.
Drake vs Miami best odds
Drake vs Miami picks and predictions
There's been a massive love affair from the public in favor of a Drake upset, and steam has since followed. As a result, I'm rolling with Miami here.
The Hurricanes have a lot to clean up on the defensive end, but if they had a strength there, it would be defending shooters. Miami holds opponents to around 35% shooting on spot-up sets and should be able to do a good enough job limiting Drake in this contest.
Offensively, Miami's three-guard lineup has been sensational in isolation opportunities, scoring at a clip of 0.96 points per possession and shooting just over 40% from the field.
On the season, the Bulldogs have allowed buckets on 40% of the isolation possessions they've guarded. This feels like a game where Drake will try to outscore Miami, and they don't have quite enough firepower to do so.
Despite Miami only being 1.5-point chalk, my projections have Miami as a 7-point favorite here. We always discuss what you need in March, and it almost always comes back to guard play. Miami's is superior here, and it's not particularly close.
My best bet: Miami -1.5 (-120 at FanDuel)
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Drake vs Miami spread analysis
These Hurricanes are in line to make another decent NCAA tournament run, boasting three natural scorers in Nigel Pack, Isaiah Wong, and Jordan Miller. I'm counting on the significant difference between Miami's guard play and Drake's guard play being the main difference in this matchup.
While Drake is 8-1 against the spread in its last nine games, Miami has been hot as well. The Hurricanes are 19-9 ATS in their previous 28 games against a team with a winning record.
In addition to that, Miami has covered 11 of its last 14 in a game following a loss.
Drake vs Miami Over/Under analysis
As I'm writing this, four of the first five games of the NCAA tournament have seen the total for the first half go Under.
This has long been a popular derivative market and mostly because teams tend to start slow in the tournament due to early game jitters. Because of this tourney trend, you can get a number that's a few possessions below the pregame listing.
While I expect Miami to do an excellent job of getting stops when needed, Drake will still score in bunches. Look for a slow start here and grab the in-game number. It's a much safer alternative than the pregame total, which my projections are directly in-line with.
Drake vs Miami betting trend to know
The Hurricanes are 7-1-1 ATS in their last nine Friday games. Find more college basketball betting trends for Drake vs. Miami.
Drake vs Miami game info
| Region: | Midwest |
| Location: | MVP Arena, Albany, NY |
| Date: | Friday, March 17, 2023 |
| Tip-off: | 7:25 p.m. ET |
| TV: | CBS |
Drake vs Miami key injuries
