Betting Stuff: Picks and props from Tuesday's NCAA Tournament First Four action

The NCAA Tournament officially begins on Tuesday night with the first 2 games at the First Four in Dayton, Ohio.

Wagner and Howard face off in the first game of the evening. The winner heads to Charlotte to face 1-seed North Carolina in the West Region. After that, Colorado State faces Virginia for the right to face 7-seed Texas on Thursday in Charlotte.

Here’s the schedule for the evening, followed by several prop picks for the 2 games. Fans can get all the info they need to win real money with some of the best online sportsbooks.

(All times Eastern; spread and totals via FanDuel)

16 Wagner vs. 16 Howard (6:40 p.m., truTV)

Wagner (16-15) is the lowest-ranked team to make the NCAA Tournament in KenPom’s rankings (293rd). The Seahawks went 7-9 against conference competition during the regular season and lost 4 of their final 5 games heading into the conference tournament. But Wagner pulled off 3 wins in 3 days to win the Northeast Conference Tournament and take the league’s auto-bid as a 6-seed. Wagner upset 1-seed Merrimack behind 22 points from guard Tahron Allen.

Howard (18-16) won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference as a 4-seed, upsetting the 1-seed along the way. The Bison got off to a rocky start this season, but have been playing much better as of late. They opened 9-14 before winning 6 of their final 8 regular-season games and then winning 3 straight at the conference tournament. Bryce Harris and Seth Towns lead the way, combining to produce 30.8 points, 14.2 rebounds, and 4.2 assists a night. Harris, a 6-foot-4 guard, does everything for the Bison. He leads the team in scoring, leads the team in rebounding, and leads the team in blocks (with 1.1 a game).

Spread: Howard -3.5

Total: 127.5

10 Colorado State vs. 10 Virginia (9:10 p.m., truTV)

Colorado State (24-10) was the last team into the Field of 68 as an at-large. The Rams lost in the Mountain West semis to New Mexico, but had huge early-season wins over Creighton, Colorado, and Washington. They went 6-7 in Quad 1 games, 3-2 in Q2 games, and 13-1 against Q3 and Q4 teams. Fifth-year senior guard Isaiah Stevens leads the way, and he’ll be one of the most experienced players in the tournament. Stevens has 150 career starts in 151 career appearances and has averaged 15.5 points with 5.7 assists over the course of his career. He’s also shooting a career-best 45% from 3 this season.

Virginia (23-10) got into the tournament despite a No. 54 ranking in the NET and a 2-7 record against Q1 teams. Both ACC Tournament games went to overtime, with Virginia beating Boston College in the ACC quarters before losing to eventual champ NC State in the semis. Reece Beekman leads the team with 14.3 points and 6.3 assists a game. The Cavs average the ninth-fewest points per game of any Division 1 team and they play at the slowest pace in the country. Opponents cleared 60 points in a game against Virginia only 16 times in 33 games. They cleared 70 only 9 times; UVA went 2-7 in those games.

Spread: Colorado State -2.5

Total: 120.5

3 bets

Wagner vs. Howard under 128.5 points (ESPN BET)

The under has hit 19 times for Wagner and 14 times for Howard. The Seahawks play at the second-slowest tempo of any D1 team and the Bison are perfectly content to take their time on offense and work the ball around. Howard also turns it over on 22% of its possessions. This has the makings of a super low-possession game. ESPN BET has the under priced at -110.

Colorado State G Isaiah Stevens over 20.5 points + assists (FanDuel)

As stated above, Stevens is going to be a huge part of Colorado State’s tournament run. He’s a high-usage player that runs the show for nearly the entire game. Stevens is averaging 16.5 points and 7.0 assists per game this season and FanDuel has this prop priced at +100. In the last 9 games, Stevens has cleared 20.5 points and assists 7 times.

Wagner G Melvin Council Jr. over 1.5 steals (DraftKings)

Council has 11 games this season with multiple steals, including 4 games with at least 3 steals. He also has at least 1 in 4 straight games. Howard gives the ball away freely and Council is going to play almost the entire game. DraftKings has this prop currently at +130.