CBB Picks: North Carolina vs Wisconsin 3/19/21 College Basketball Picks, Odds, Predictions

The North Carolina Tar Heels battle the Wisconsin Badgers Friday in March Madness NCAA Tournament college basketball action from Mackey Arena. 

Wisconsin enters this NCAA Tournament First Round matchup at 17-12 this year. The Badgers are 1-4 in their last five games and coming off a loss to Iowa. As for North Carolina, they’re 18-10 overall. The Tar Heels had a three-game win streak snapped by Florida State in their last outing. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place. 

Wisconsin got off to a pretty decent start this year at 12-3, but that’s been the last time they’ve won consecutive games. Over their last five the Badgers are just 1-4, falling to Illinois, Purdue and Iowa before a win over Penn State and another loss to Iowa. 

In the 62-57 loss to Iowa in the conference tourney last Friday, Wisconsin’s D’Mitrik Trice led the team on 19 points with two rebounds and two assists. Micah Potter added 17 points with eight rebounds, and Brad Davison had 10 points with three rebounds. 

Over on the North Carolina side, they got off to a 5-4 start this year, but the good news is that they haven’t lost consecutive games since then. In the last four games the Tar Heels have wins over Duke, Notre Dame and Virginia Tech before a loss to Florida State. 

In the 69-66 loss to Florida State last Friday, North Carolina’s Caleb Love had 13 points with two rebounds and one assist. Armando Bacot added 12 points with six boards and one assist, and Kerwin Walton had 11 points with five rebounds. 

The Badgers are 3-7-1 ATS in their last 11 Friday games and 1-3-1 ATS in their last five overall. Wisconsin is 1-3-1 ATS in their last five as an underdog and 0-3-1 ATS in their last four neutral-site games. 

Meanwhile, the Tar Heels are 3-0-1 ATS in their last four overall and 3-0-1 ATS in their last four neutral-site games. North Carolina is 1-4-1 ATS in their last six Friday games and 1-4 ATS in their last five NCAA Tournament games. 

PICK: I’m sticking with North Carolina. The Tar Heels haven’t quite been themselves this season, but generally they’ve played pretty well for being in a tough conference amid a strange year. North Carolina has been scoring well lately with 70 or more points in eight of their last nine games. If the Tar Heels can get off to a quick start here I think they’ll be able to keep Wisconsin at bay for a cover.