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The Northern Iowa Hawks can shock a lot of bettors with an upset win.

Texas vs Northern Iowa March Madness Spread Analysis

Written by on March 17, 2016

NCAA Basketball Betting News
The Northern Iowa Panthers will take on the Texas Longhorns at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City Oklahoma on Friday. The 6th ranked Longhorns and 11th ranked Panthers will battle it out to see who plays the winner of Texas A+M and Wisconsin-Green Bay March Madness betting bout in the second round of the West region. The 11th ranked Panthers are 22-12. After finishing fifth in the Missouri Valley Conference regular season, the Panthers of Northern Iowa won the conference tournament. Northern Iowa beat Evansville in the conference tournament title game. For Texas, they are 20-12 on the season. The Longhorns finished fourth in the Big 12, but lost in the first round of the conference tournament to Baylor.

How To Bet on Texas vs. Northern Iowa March Madness Odds, TV & Game Info

What: Northern Iowa Panthers (22-12) at Texas Longhorns (20-12) When: Friday, March 18, 2016 Start Time: 9:50 PM ET Where: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Stadium: Chesapeake Energy Arena Spread: Texas -4.5 Moneyline: Texas -200 Game Total: 123 Watch: TBS

Why Bet on Northern Iowa

One of the toughest things to do in college basketball is predict and track the Northern Iowa Panthers. The Panthers have wins over North Carolina and Iowa State, but also finished fifth in a down Missouri Valley Conference. Ben Jacobsen, the head coach would like to see the same Panthers squad that upset Wichita State in St. Louis. The Panthers lost the first game of the season to Colorado State, and their second loss was to Richmond. Northern Iowa is led by guard Wes Washpun, with 14.3 points per game, and also 5.2 assists per game. The Panthers are best known for their defense, which ranks 11th in the country, allowing 62.9 per game.

Why Bet on Texas

The Michigan Wolverines back in 1992 was the last time a 6 seed reached the NCAA Final Four. Shaka Smart, the former head coach at VCU is now in charge at Texas. The Longhorns played well for a while, but most recently have split their last six games. The three losses for the Longhorns came to Baylor twice and also to the Kansas Jayhawks. Texas is led in scoring by Isaiah Taylor, with 14.9 per game. The Longhorns are scoring 71.3 points per game, and allowing teams to score 68.1 per game. Texas finished ahead of tournament teams Baylor, Iowa State and Texas Tech in the Big 12 standings.

Expert Pick & Final Score Prediction

The Northern Iowa Panthers know they, along with Wichita State, are holding the hopes of the Missouri Valley Conference in their hands. Wichita won their opener, and have another game against Arizona on Thursday. The Panthers hope to be the third win for the conference before the round of 32 begins. Texas just has not played real well, and there seems to be something we are not aware of going on in Austin. That makes this bet an easy one. Take the Northern Iowa Panthers +4.5, despite it being against Shaka Smart and the Texas Longhorns. Final score prediction: Northern Iowa 75 and Texas 73.
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