TBT 2021: Omaha Blue Crew vs Purple & Black Basketball Picks, Odds, Predictions 7/16/21

Purple & Black and Omaha Blue Crew meet Friday in TBT basketball action at the Charles Koch Arena.

Purple & Black returns as a seventh seed and has a 3-4 all-time record. Purple & Black is mostly Kansas State Alumni, and Martavious Irving as well as Thomas Gipson will be the most recognizable faces to the program. With that said, Kamau Stokes was a very consistent player for the Wildcats through four years and D.J. Johnson is somebody who got better every season, which included averaging 11.3 points and 5.7 rebounds as a senior. Justin Edwards will be the x-factor for Purple & Black, as his shooting is a bit streaky, but he rebounds well for the position and gets after it defensively. Purple & Black isn’t the most talented team in the tournament, but this team is going to play hard and does a lot of the little things correctly. 

Omaha Blue Crew will make its debut in the tournament and is made up of mostly former Creighton players. The team will be coached by Josh Jones, who played four years with the Bluejays. The most recognizable names on the roster include Justin Carter, Martin Krampelj and Jahenns Manigat, and they should do a lot of the heavy lifting. However, we can’t overlook Admon Gilder, who played at a high level both at Texas A&M and recently Gonzaga. Austin Chatman was also a playmaking guard for Creighton and can knockdown the three ball at times. Nick McGlynn spent four years at Drake and was a bulldog defensively as well as a 2018-19 All-MVC selection. Omaha Blue Crew is a double-digit seed that could do some damage in this tournament and make an impact in its first year

This should be a fun matchup and a clash of styles. Purple & Black is going to be physical and try to control the paint, while Omaha Blue Crew has playmakers and can knockdown shots from the outside. Purple & Black may be favored being the seventh seed, but I lean toward Omaha Blue Crew. There’s more shot creators on that side and Nick McGlynn could sneakily be the best player in this game. I like the chances of an upset here.

Give me the Omaha Blue Crew to advance.