Tournament Picks: Florida vs Virginia Tech 3/19/21 College Basketball Picks, Odds, Predictions

The Florida Gators battle the Virginia Tech Hokies in an NCAA tournament first round matchup in college basketball action from the Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Friday afternoon.

The Virginia Tech Hokies come into the tournament as an at-large participant thanks to a 15-8 overall record, including a 9-4 mark in ACC conference play. The Hokies played just two games in a calendar month, spanning from February 6th to March 6th, and the layoff did more harm than good as the Hokies were bounced early from the ACC tournament, losing in the quarterfinals to North Carolina. Keve Aluma leads the Hokies in scoring and rebounding with 15.6 PPG and 8 RPG while Tyrece Radford has 11.9 PPG with 6.1 RPG and Nahiem Alleyne has 10.3 PPG to make up the trio of double-digit scorers for Virginia Tech this season. Justyn Mutts has 9.6 PPG with 6.5 RPG and Jalen Cone has 9.2 PPG while Wabissa Bede has a team-high 3.2 APG this season to lead the Hokies in assists. As a team, Virginia Tech is averaging 72.1 PPG on 45.1% shooting from the field and 35.3% from three while allowing 64.8 PPG on 41.7% shooting from the field and 32.7% from three this season.

The Florida Gators will enter the tournament as an at-large bid as well with a 14-5 overall record, taking down Vanderbilt in the first round of the SEC tournament before falling to Tennessee in the quarter-finals. Tre Mann leads the Gators in scoring and assists with 16 PPG and 3.4 APG along with 5.7 RPG as well while Colin Castleton has 12 PPG and a team-high 5.9 RPG to lead the Gators on the glass. Tyree Appleby has 11.4 PPG with 3.3 APG and Noah Locke has 10.4 PPG to make up the group of double-digit scorers for Florida so far this season. As a team, Florida is averaging 74.6 PPG on 47% shooting from the field and 35.5% from three while allowing 69.8 PPG on 42.1% shooting from the field and 30.3% from three this season.

Virginia Tech is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall and 2-5 ATS in their last 7 NCAA tournament games while the under is 5-2 in their last 7 neutral site games as a favorite. Florida is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games overall and 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games against a team with a winning record while the over is 4-0 in their last 4 Friday games.

These 7-10 games are always tricky and while you may say I have a firm grasp on the obvious, they’re usually some of the toughest games to call in terms of splitting sides. For this game though, I’m going to back Florida. I think the Gators coming from the SEC will have them better tested for the rigors of March Madness and while Virginia Tech can bury teams when they’re scoring in bunches, the fact is that Florida has enough to go shot for shot and have the better depth in my opinion which could end up being the big difference here. I’ll back the Gators in this pick ‘em spot.