Pittsburgh vs Georgia Tech Odds, Picks and Predictions: No Crashing Out for Ramblin' Wreck

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets have moved on to the second round of the ACC Tournament, where they'll face the Pittsburgh Panthers on Wednesday afternoon. The No. 13-seeded Yellow Jackets have caught fire late in the season, while the No. 5 Panthers are coming off back-to-back losses.

Linemakers are expecting Pitt to get back on track, with college basketball odds opening the Panthers as seven-point favorites for this showdown at the Greensboro Coliseum in North Carolina. Here are my best free Georgia Tech vs. Pittsburgh college basketball picks and predictions for Wednesday, March 8.

Pittsburgh vs Georgia Tech best odds

Pittsburgh vs Georgia Tech picks and predictions

The Yellow Jackets have been red-hot, winning six of their last seven games. While that lone defeat during that span was a 76-68 loss to Pittsburgh on the road, now they'll get to face the Panthers on neutral ground. 

Georgia Tech didn't look that impressive in last night's 61-60 victory over the Seminoles, and they were fortunate that Florida State's leading scorer Matthew Cleveland missed time with an injury. That said, they've been grinding out victories recently, and that's coincided with head coach Josh Pastner settling on a new rotation.

The Jackets have played without Deivon Smith, Tristan Maxwell, and Rodney Howard for the last few weeks, and they've actually performed much better with them on the sidelines.

They've shortened their rotation to just six players, and it has made a clear difference. Although size is an issue now that 6-foot-7 forward Ja'von Franklin is their biggest player, their spacing on offense and mobility on defense have been significantly better. 

The Panthers are putting together a very nice campaign, but they've looked vulnerable lately. In their last five games, they've gone 2-3 SU and ATS, with defeats coming against mediocre Virginia Tech and Notre Dame squads.

Pitt has a finely-tuned offense, but has been very reliant on its perimeter shooting. A whopping 44.8% of Pittsburgh's field goal attempts have come from beyond the arc — the 28th-highest number in the county. That's bad news against a Yellow Jackets team that has excellent length on the wings, and holds opponents to just 29.9% shooting from deep. 

It might look ugly, but if the Yellow Jackets are able to contain Pitt's outside shooters, they'll cover this number. 

My best bet: Georgia Tech +7 (-110 at DraftKings)

Pittsburgh vs Georgia Tech spread analysis

The Panthers entered last week looking like the possible ACC regular-season champions, but ended up as the No. 5 seed. They were upset by Notre Dame on Wednesday before suffering a heartbreaking 78-76 road loss to eventual No. 1 seed Miami on Saturday.

The Panthers were one of the best bets in college basketball for half the season, posting an incredible 18-3 ATS mark between Nov. 22 and Feb. 14. Since then, they've gone 2-3 SU and ATS, but still finished with an impressive 14-6 record in conference play.

Four players on Pitt are averaging double digits in points, led by All-ACC selections Blake Hinson (16.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game) and Jamarius Burton (15.6 ppg, 4.3 apg).

Thanks to that diverse scoring and ball movement, the Panthers are 29th in the country in adjusted offensive efficiency, according to KenPom. They've been less impressive on the other end of the floor, and rank just 109th in adjusted defensive efficiency. 

The Yellow Jackets edged the Noles 61-60 last night thanks to a game-winning free throw from Franklin in the final seconds. That was their fourth win in a row, and if you managed to bet on them when the line opened as a pick'em, they would have covered in their last nine contests. 

Georgia Tech managed to pull off the victory despite shooting just 38% from the floor against FSU, and being outrebounded 41-28. A big reason for their win was that they turned the ball over just five times, and they had only three turnovers against the Panthers when these teams clashed two weeks ago. 

Georgia Tech is 137th in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency, while ranking 203rd in adjusted offensive efficiency. However, with the exception of yesterday, they've made massive strides on offense over the last three weeks.

Miles Kelly leads the Yellow Jackets with 14.2 ppg, and has dropped at least 19 points in his last four contests.

Pittsburgh vs Georgia Tech Over/Under analysis

The Yellow Jackets had a very low-scoring contest last night and combined for just 121 points, going well below the game total of 144. That said, they had cashed the Over in their previous five contests, and now face off against a high-scoring Pittsburgh team that has been vulnerable on defense. 

Although Georgia Tech struggled to score last night, they have still scored at least 70 points in seven of their last nine games. They had an adjusted offensive efficiency of just 99.4 through Feb. 12, but since losing Smith to an ankle injury, they've raised that number to 113.9 in six conference games since. 

The Panthers are averaging 76.1 ppg in conference play ,and have been extremely efficient in half-court sets thanks to their ball movement and shooting ability. However, they're also surrendering 70.7 ppg to ACC foes, with that number surging to 79.0 ppg over their last five games. 

It is worth mentioning that neither of these teams plays at a fast pace, with the Panthers 185th in the country in adjusted tempo, and the Yellow Jackets 217th.

Pittsburgh vs Georgia Tech betting trend to know

The Yellow Jackets are 8-1 ATS in their last nine games overall. Find more college basketball betting trends for Pittsburgh vs. Georgia Tech.

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