3 Best Bets and Player Props for Thursday's Men's College Basketball Tournament Games

The men's basketball tournament resumes on Thursday night with four Round of 16 games. While it's been a fairly chalky bracket to this point, that should also lead to some compelling games in the coming days.

If you want thoughts on specific games, check out our best bets for each game in the men's college basketball tournament. But here are the bets that stand out most in FanDuel Sportsbook's college basketball betting odds.

College Basketball Betting Picks for Today

BYU vs. Alabama

Mark Sears Over 19.5 Points (-120)

This matchup between the BYU Cougars and Alabama Crimson Tide is showing by far the highest total in the Round of 16 (175.5), and Alabama's total points prop is set at a hefty 90.5. Given all that, Mark Sears looks like a strong candidate to have a big game for the Crimson Tide.

Alabama not only owns the nation's fourth-best adjusted offense, per Bart Torvik, but they play at the fastest adjusted tempo. Their scoring potential will be further aided by facing a BYU team that has the worst adjusted defense left in the field (57th overall) and freely allows three-pointers (339th in three-point rate allowed).

Sears averages team-highs in points (18.6), minutes (32.3), field goal attempts (13.3), free throw attempts (6.6), and three-point attempts (6.9), which all coincides with him also owning the top usage rate (26.5%). While his 48.6% effective field goal percentage leaves a lot to be desired, the sheer volume we often see from him should shine through in what should be a high-scoring game environment.

Overall, if we exclude a pair of pre-February outlier games where Sears was benched for poor performance, he's score 20+ points in 19 of 33 full games (57.6%), and the stage is set for him to add to that tally on Thursday.

Florida vs. Maryland

Maryland +6.5 (-110)

The Florida Gators survived an upset bid by UConn in the second round, and they could once again have their hands full against the Maryland Terrapins. While Florida ranks fourth overall on Bart Torvik, Maryland doesn't trail far behind at eighth.

Both teams rate out well on offense and defense, but this particular matchup could boil down to the Gators' elite adjusted offense (third on Bart Torvik) against the Terrapins' elite adjusted defense (fifth).

Maryland's defense is good-to-great across several metrics, ranking 21st in effective field goal percentage, 42nd in defensive turnover rate, 25th in free throw rate allowed, and 82nd in three-point rate allowed.

Perhaps the one area where Florida's offense will have a clear advantage is on the offensive boards (5th in offensive rebound rate), but Maryland is still a solid 65th in defensive rebound rate.

If we take a look at the Terrapins' eight losses, they haven't been an easy out for anyone all season. In those defeats, Maryland lost by 4, 5, 6, 4, 3, 3, and 1 points, meaning they haven't lost by 7+ points even once.

While Florida will be the best team they've faced, they're a battle-tested squad that went 9-7 in Quad 1 matchups, and three of those close losses came to teams still in the tournament (2 seed Michigan State, 4 seed Purdue, and 5 seed Michigan).

Bart Torvik projects the Gators to win by only three points while Massey Ratings forecasts a four-point victory. Florida ultimately defeated Connecticut by two points in the last round, and we should expect a similar dogfight between them and Maryland tonight.

Arizona vs. Duke

Arizona +9.5 (-112)

The Duke Blue Devils are the favorites to win this tournament, and they find themselves as nearly double-digit favorites over the Arizona Wildcats. Although a Duke win would be hardly surprising, this number seems to be discounting Arizona a bit too much.

While Bart Torvik views the Blue Devils as the nation's second-best team, Arizona falls inside the top 10, as well. The Wildcats are largely fueled by the 11th-best adjusted offense, which is particularly strong on the glass (15th in offensive rebound rate), but they aren't slouches defensively (26th in adjusted defense), either.

They'll need to be firing on all cylinders versus a Duke team that's inside the top five in both adjusted offense and defense. The good news is some of Arizona's recent results leave room for optimism.

The Wildcats were a 12-loss team, but they lost by 10+ points just four times, and three of those came before February. While one of those double-digit losses did come against Duke, it was the fourth game of the season during a stretch where Arizona lost five of seven games before turning their season around.

The Wildcats were admittedly up and down in the latter stages of this campaign, too. However, the most encouraging development was that they hung tough with Houston twice, losing by four at home and then by eight points in the Big 12 tournament title game. Houston is the only team ranked higher than Duke by Bart Torvik and is at the very least the consensus second-best squad across various power rankings.

Bart Torvik forecasts Duke winning this game by seven points, and Massey Ratings even sees Arizona staying within four points.

You can also click here to get our updated printable Men's College Basketball Tournament bracket for the Round of 16.

FanDuel now lets you parlay picks across multiple rounds! Think your team will take their region? You can stack that with your picks for every round—all in one bet. Learn about today’s other offers at FanDuel Sportsbook Promos.

Which bets stand out to you for the upcoming games? Check out FanDuel Sportsbook's latest college basketball betting odds to see the full menu of options.

Sign up for FanDuel Sportsbook and FanDuel Daily Fantasy today!

The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.