Tuesday in Vegas at the Players Era Festival — which saw Tennessee down Houston and gave us Gonzaga and Michigan blowout wins over Maryland and Auburn, respectively — was but an appetizer to the main course set for Wednesday as we wrap the week from Sin City.
The spread on tap includes Iowa State (unbeaten on the season and 2-0 this week) taking on Syracuse (0-2 on the week) in the early window and concludes late with a 10:30 p.m. ET tip between Baylor and San Diego State. In between, we have the third-place game between Tennessee and Kansas at 7 p.m. ET and the first place game between Gonzaga and Michigan headlining action at 9:30 p.m. ET. The winner of that game earns an additional $1 million prize. There are also financial prizes to be had for runner-up, third-place and fourth-place finishers.
So clearly: There’s plenty at stake — to say nothing of the potential NCAA Tournament implications down the line — setting us up for what should be a fantastic finish. And so to celebrate the basketball bonanza I’ve convened our experts to make picks for every game from Vegas both straight up and against the spread.
Those picks are below.
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook | All times ET
No. 14 St. John’s vs. No. 21 Auburn
8 p.m. on truTV: This is my upset pick of the day and underdog I’m willing to ride. I’ll admit: It feels like shaky ground to stand on given the way Michigan clobbered the Tigers, 102-72, on Tuesday. But the Tigers as a result of that will presumably be ready for this fight. Pick: Auburn +4.5 — Boone
No. 7 Michigan vs. No. 12 Gonzaga
9:30 p.m. on TNT: I don’t know what the number would have to be to pick Michigan ATS in this one but I do know this: It’d have to be (quite a bit) bigger than the current spread of 2.5 points. This Zags team looks…
..
