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North Carolina Meets Wisconsin in March Madness Round 1 Betting

North Carolina Tar Heels vs. Wisconsin Badgers Betting Information for March Madness

For much of the season, North Carolina was on the March Madness betting Bubble.  Head coach Roy Williams applied the whip down the stretch to get them their dance shoes.  Williams led the Tar Heels to the national championship only four years ago.  Since that title run, his program has not met expectations.  Now, North Carolina is regaining respect.  Wisconsin has always been a competitive Big Ten program.  But the Badgers are a classic home court team.  Of great concern is their inability to win consistently away from home.  Wisconsin can beat North Carolina but only by generating offense.

North Carolina Tar Heels vs. Wisconsin Badgers Betting Information

Date: Friday, March 19, 2021
Time: 7:20 p.m. ET
Location: Mackey Arena, West Lafayette, Indiana
TV Coverage: CBS

North Carolina vs. Wisconsin Betting Odds

Team SP/RL TOTAL ML
Wisconsin +1½ (-110) 138½ (-110) +103
North Carolina -1½ (-110) 138½ (-110) -123
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North Carolina Tar Heels vs. Wisconsin Badgers CashBet Wagering Analysis

In this situation, North Carolina will draw the majority of sportsbook wagering handle.  UNC is a marquee blue blood brand in college basketball.  Casual gamblers flock to the Tar Heels in March Madness.  Meanwhile, Wisconsin is respected but not considered on North Carolina’s level.  Sharps typically gravitate to programs like Wisconsin.  Cause by North Carolina being too popular with the masses.  But UW substantially failed in showing profitability this season. Wisconsin’s lack of reliable offense is maddening for gamblers.  North Carolina showed good scoring ability in their push to the Big Dance.  By contrast, the Badgers were an embarrassment.

North Carolina Finds Game When it Matters Most

North Carolina has a 2021 March Madness betting record of 18-10 straight up, 13-13-2 against the spread, and 13-15 under the total.  Late on, the Tar Heels lost only one of their last six to the line.  Three of their last four went over the total.  UNC ranks 89th out of 350 teams for scoring offense and 159th for points allowed.  Overall, North Carolina finished 6th in the ACC standings.  UNC Made the ACC Tournament semifinals but lost to Florida State.

Forward Armando Bacot is the kingpin of North Carolina. To illustrate, Bacot leads UNC with 12.2 points and 8.0 rebounds per game.

Badgers Defense Can’t Cover for Popgun Offense

Wisconsin has a bet on NCAA basketball record of 17-12 straight up, 12-15-2 against the spread, and 14-14-1 over/under.  So too, has UW covered only two of their last eight games.  Four of their last five tilts went over the total.  To summarize, the Badgers rank 218th for scoring offense but 37th for points allowed.  As the metrics show, UW Head coach Greg Gard uses defense as the path to March Madness.  However, fans and gamblers are getting fed up with an offense that is often rendered useless.

Namely, D’Mitrik Trice supplies much of the Badgers’ offense.  The Senior guard averages 13.7 points per game.  This was the best season of Trice’s career.  And then senior forward Micah Potter brings 12.8 points and 5.9 rebounds per contest.

North Carolina Tar Heels vs. Wisconsin Badgers Against the Spread

North Carolina has covered only 17 of their last 41 games as chalk.  Specifically, UNC is 7-12-1 on the board in non-conference games.  The Tar Heels are 7-4-2 vs. the odds on a neutral court.

In sum, Wisconsin has covered only one of their last five non-conference games.  The Badgers are have lost only seven of their previous 19 to the odds as a dog.  On neutral courts, the Badgers are 1-3-1 vs. the line.

Overall, in this series, Wisconsin has covered three of the last four meetings.  Two of the last three between these teams went under the total.

North Carolina Tar Heels vs. Wisconsin Badgers CashBet Free Pick  

Of great concern is the Badgers’ free-fall heading into this one.  North Carolina is the more complete 2021 March Madness Betting program.  Wisconsin lacks the offense to hang the entire route with UNC.

North Carolina vs. Wisconsin CashBet Best Bet: 

North Carolina Tar Heels

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