The 12th seed Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders face the 4th seed Butler Bulldogs in a South Region 2nd round NCAA Tournament game that will take place at a neutral site at the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin Saturday March 18th at 7:10 PM ET. The oddsmaker lists Dayton as the favorite in this round of 32 game with the Flyers backers having to four points. The over/under for this game has been on a freefall dropping as much as three points from its opener to 138.5 points.
The 12th seed Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders face the 4th seed Butler Bulldogs in a South Region 2nd round NCAA Tournament game that will take place at a neutral site at the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin Saturday March 18th at 7:10 PM ET. Middle Tennessee State has won 31 of their 35 games on the season and they have covered the spread in 24 of the 34 games that have had a posted line. Butler has won 24 of their 32 games this season and they have covered the spread in 18 of the 30 games that have had a posted line.
Middle Tennessee State is coming off an 81-72 win over Minnesota in the first round of the NCAA Tournament where they covered the 1.5-point line. The total number of points scored in the game was 153, which was over the closing line of 138. The Blue Raiders have covered the spread in their last five games and in five of their last six games the total has gone over. Middle Tennessee State has won their last 11 games.
Butler is coming off a 76-64 win over Winthrop in the first round of the NCAA Tournament where they covered the 11-point line. The total number of points scored in the game was 140, which was under the closing line of 145.5. Previous to the Winthrop game the Bulldogs had failed to cover the spread in two straight games and in their last three games the total has gone under every time. Butler had lost two straight games before the win over Winthrop.
Offensively, Middle Tennessee State is putting up 75 points per game on a 48.7% FG average, which ranks 11th in the nation. On the defensive side of the ball the Blue Raiders are allowing 63.3 points per game, which ranks 20th in the nation, on a 41.8% FG average.
Butler is putting up 76.3 points per game on a 47.8% FG average. On defense the Bulldogs are allowing 68.4 points per game on a 44.2% FG average.
This is the first ever meeting between these two teams.
Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders at Butler Bulldogs Betting Trends
- Middle Tennessee State is 22-7 against the spread in their last 29 games.
- The game total has gone under in 9 of the Blue Raiders last 12 non-conference games.
- The game total has gone under in 6 of Butler’s last 9 games at a neutral site.
- The game total has gone over in 6 of Butler’s last 8 Saturday night games.
Public Money Consensus
In this NCAAB matchup between Middle Tennessee State and Butler have the public leaning to the Blue Raiders getting the 4 points with 64%. The over/under bettors are leaning to this game staying under the total line of 140.5 with 59% on board.
