NCAA Tournament Picks: Arkansas vs Oral Roberts 3/27/21 College Basketball Picks, Predictions

The Arkansas Razorbacks battle the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles Saturday in college basketball NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 action from Bankers Life Fieldhouse. 

Coming into this NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 matchup, the Eagles are 18-10 overall. Oral Roberts is coming off a tight win over Florida on Sunday. As for the Razorbacks, they’re 24-6 this season. Arkansas eked out a victory over Texas Tech in their Sunday game. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place. 

Oral Roberts got off to something of a spotty start this year, and were sitting at 11-10 back on February 20. Since then the Golden Eagles have caught fire in a seven-game win streak, taking out Western Illinois, North Dakota, South Dakota State, North Dakota State, Ohio State and Florida. 

In the 81-78 win over Florida on Sunday, Oral Roberts’ Kevon Obanor led the team with 28 points and 11 rebounds. Max Abmas added 26 points with seven assists and two boards, and both Carlos Jurgens and Kareem Thompson chipped in nine points apiece. 

Over on the Arkansas side, they had a 1-4 stretch going back in January, but since then haven’t lost consecutive games. The Razorbacks had a five-game win streak snapped by LSU in the conference tourney, but have since beaten Colgate and Texas Tech in the NCAA Tournament. 

In the 68-66 win over Texas Tech on Sunday, Arkansas’ leading scorer was Justin Smith with 20 points, six rebounds and two assists. Both Moses Moody and Davonte Davis each notched 15 points, six rebounds and one assist, and Jalen Tate chipped in 10 points. 

The Eagles are 6-0 ATS in their last six overall and 5-0 ATS in their last five after an ATS win. The Eagles are 5-0 ATS in their last five as an underdog and 5-0 ATS in their last five neutral-site games. 

Meanwhile, the Razorbacks are 10-2 ATS in the last 12 overall and 9-2 ATS in their last 11 as a favorite. Arkansas is 4-1 ATS in their last five neutral-site games and 7-2 ATS in their last nine after an ATS win. 

PICK: I’m going to stick with Oral Roberts in this one. The Eagles have been playing some great basketball over their last seven games, stunning Ohio State in the first round and keeping it going with a gutsy win over Florida on Sunday. Arkansas will be another stout opponent; the Razorbacks had to push to put away Texas Tech but didn’t have much trouble versus Colgate. This one should be an intriguing matchup but I like Oral Roberts to keep pace and bang out a cover. Should be fun.