Tournament Picks: Colorado vs Georgetown 3/20/21 College Basketball Picks, Odds, Predictions

The Colorado Buffaloes battle the Georgetown Hoyas in an NCAA tournament first-round matchup in college basketball March Madness action from Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Saturday afternoon.

The Georgetown Hoyas come into the conference tournament representing the Big East after coming from out of nowhere to win the conference tournament as the #8 seed. The Hoyas came into the conference tournament at 9-12, but wins over Marquette, top seed Villanova, Seton Hall and a 73-48 rout of Creighton in the title game saw Georgetown lift the trophy for their 31st tournament appearance which is tied for 2nd most in this field and their first since 2015. Jahvon Blair leads the Hoyas in scoring and assists with 15.8 PPG along with 3.7 APG and 3.8 RPG while Qudus Wahab has 12.5 PPG with a team-high 8 RPG to lead the Hoyas on the glass and Jamorko Pickett has 12.3 PPG with 7.4 RPG this season. Chudier Bile also has 10.2 PPG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Georgetown up to this point in the year. As a team, Georgetown is averaging 71.7 PPG on 42.5% shooting from the field and 36.6% from three while allowing 73.4 PPG on 42.4% shooting from the field and 33.9% from three this season.

The Colorado Buffaloes come into the NCAA tournament after finishing the year with a 22-8 overall record including a 14-6 mark in Pac-12 play following 4 straight wins to finish the year. The Buffs took out Cal in the quarter-finals and USC in the semis before losing out to Oregon State in the conference championship game. McKinley Wright IV leads the Buffs in scoring and assists with 15.5 PPG and 5.6 APG while also logging 4.3 RPG. Jeriah Horne has 11.4 PPG with a team-high 5.8 RPG to lead the Buffs on the glass and Evan Battey has 10.2 PPG with 5.4 RPG to make up the trio of double-digit scorers for Colorado up to this point in the year. D’Shawn Schwartz also has 8.9 PPG with 4 RPG as well this season. As a team, Colorado is averaging 73.7 PPG on 45.7% shooting from the field and 36.6% from three while allowing 63 PPG on 41.4% shooting from the field and 32.7% from three this season.

Georgetown is 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games overall and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games against a team with a winning record while the under is 4-1 in their last 5 neutral site games. Colorado is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 NCAA tournament games and 5-11 ATS in their last 16 neutral site games as a favorite while the under is 8-3 in their last 11 games overall.

I get why Colorado would be favored here as they’ll have the best player on the floor in McKinley Wright IV and the Buffaloes had a heck of a season. However, Georgetown is on fire coming into the tournament right now and aren’t being given much of a chance here yet the #12 seed is one of the most common for an upset of the bigger seeds and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Georgetown carry that momentum to an outright win here, but I’ll take the points just to be safe.