March Madness 2017: Three Late Friday First Round Midwest Region Games
We have three more 2017 March Madness Midwest Region 1st Round free picks. In our early article, we picked #10 Oklahoma State at # 7 Michigan, #14 Iona at #3 Oregon, and #15 Jacksonville State at #2 Louisville. Those games will all be played between 12 noon and 3 pm on Friday.
The final three Midwest Region games for Friday feature #11 Rhode Island at #6 Creighton at 4:30 p.m. We then have #16 UC Davis playing #1 Kansas at 6:50 p.m. The final game for tonight has #9 Michigan State at #8 Miami for a 9:20 p.m. tipoff. Here are our 2017 March Madness Midwest Region 1st Round free picks.
#11 Rhode Island at #6 Creighton
4:30 PM TBS
Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, California
The Rhode Island Rams come to this game with an eight-game winning streak that includes a three-game run for the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament crown. Guard E.C. Matthews is good for 14.9 PPG while forward Hassan martin is good for 14.1 PPG and 7.0 RPG. On the boards, Kuran Iverson is a sound battler.
The Big East Creighton Bluejays finished third in the Big East and had a good tournament run getting to the final game, losing to Villanova 74-60. Creighton’s Marcus Foster leads the team with 18.3 PPG. Justin Patton is pulling down 6.2 RPG while hitting for 13.1 PPG.
We’re taking Creighton at even odds and over 141.
2017 March Madness Midwest Region 1st Round Free Pick: Creighton even and over 141
#16 UC Davis at #1 Kansas
6:50 PM TNT
Bank of Oklahoma Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma
The UC Davis Aggies won the Big West Conference tournament and won their First Four game 67-63 beating North Carolina Central. Can guard Brynton Lemar and forward Chima Moneke toss in the points needed to be competitive? Together they are averaging 30 PPG, which is almost half of the team’s game average.
Kansas won nine of their last 10 regular season games and the regular season crown, but they were out of the Big 12 Conference tournament immediately as they lost in the first game 85-82 to TCU. The Jayhawks are a dominant team scoring 83 PPG and hitting 41% of their threes. Guard Frank Mason III is a major force on the court. He can do it all.
We’re taking UC Davis at +23.5 and the over at 145.0.
2017 March Madness Midwest Region 1st Round Free Pick: UC Davis at +23.5 and over 145
#9 Michigan State at #8 Miami
9:20 PM TNT
Bank of Oklahoma Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Michigan State finished their Big 10 season at 10-8 in seventh place and were out of the conference tournament after two games. They managed some big wins over nationally ranked teams like #16 Wisconsin, but overall their results were mixed. The Michigan State Spartans have a tough frontcourt that includes Miles Bridges and Nick Ward. Together the duo is averaging 30 PPG and 15 RPG. Cassius Winston is a good setup man, averaging 5.1 APG.
The Miami Hurricanes were eighth in the ACC with a record of 10-8. Three players, Davon Reed, Ja’Quan Newton, and Bruce Brown are each averaging 12 to 15 PPG. Together they are bringing down 14 RPG.
We think that the Spartans will win this battle and like them at +2.5. We’re also going with over 125.5.
2017 March Madness Midwest Region 1st Round Free Pick: Michigan State at +2.5 and over 125.5
2017 March Madness Midwest Region 1st Round Free Picks
That’s it for our 2017 March Madness Midwest Region 1st Round free picks. Round two starts on Saturday, as half of the field will be eliminated by then. We’ll be picking every one of those second round games.
