The BYU Cougars and their rock-star guard Jimmer Fredette open their march through March with a battle against the No. 14 Wofford Terriers.
This Southeast Region match features the No. 3 Cougars, coming off a loss to San Diego State in the MWC title game, against the Southern Conference champs from Wofford. It's the second straight tourney berth for them.
BYU is favored by 8 points at most sportsbooks, but a solid Wofford front court and a troubling trend of failing to cover spreads (BYU is 1-7-1 ATS past 9 tournament games) may have bettors rethinking their position. Most bracket games, such as the $5 million game at Sportsbook will still have BYU pencilled in, of course.
View Wofford vs BYU Odds and Stats.
Betting Line:
College basketball odds makers opened the Cougars as 8.5-point favorites in this matchupl.
Power Rankings / Prediction:
This game matches up the No. 10 (Cougars) and the No. 168 (Terriers) teams in the league, according to our current NCAAB power rank. A 87-79 result in favor of the Cougars has been projected by the scores prediction engine.
How They Match Up:
Scoring and defensive stats point to some edges in this matchup. The game features BYU's No. 9-ranked scoring average of 81.6 PPG, against a Terriers defense rated No. 178 and allowing 67.8 PPG. The Cougars FG% has averaged 45.2% to date this season, less than the Terriers shooters have managed so far (47.9% per game).
Defensively, Wofford features the nation's No. 152-rated defense on the road, allowing 69.8 points per game. BYU, meanwhile, comes in at No. 22 nationally in scoring at home.
Wofford was a 77-67 Sportsbook in their most recent outing against College of Charleston. They covered the 1–point spread as favorites.
BYU was a 72-54 loser in their most recent outing against San Diego State. They failed to cover the 3–point spread as underdogs.
Wofford Terriers Trends:
When playing on Thursday are 5-5
After playing College of Charleston are 7-3
After a win are 8-2
BYU Cougars Trends:
When playing on Thursday are 8-2
After playing San Diego State are 3-7
After a loss are 9-1
A few Terriers at Cougars trends to consider:
BYU is 20-3 SU in its last 23 games
