How are your March Madness brackets looking after the first round? Whether you’ve called the right upsets or have a busted bracket, let’s find some March Madness Second Round predictions for Saturday’s action! 

We have plenty of interesting college basketball matchups to break down before the Round of 32 games get underway. My below picks will be focused on the Gonzaga vs. Kansas showdown and Oakland vs. NC State game. 

 

 

 

All odds and lines are subject to change but are accurate as of this writing. Plus, all bets are for one unit unless otherwise specified. Now, let’s get to some NCAA Tournament picks and best bets for Saturday’s slate. 

*Editor’s Note: Be sure to check out all of Servo's March Madness betting material from this week, featuring more expert NCAA Tournament picks!

March Madness Second Round Predictions: Round Of 32 Picks For Saturday

#5 Gonzaga vs. #4 Kansas Prediction: Bulldogs -3.5 (-120 at FanDuel)

Gonzaga and Kansas both won their first-round matchups but in very different ways. The Zags left no doubt against No. 12 seed McNeese State en route to a 21-point blowout win. McNeese was a popular upset pick, but Gonzaga dominated from start to finish and put up 86 points. 

The Jayhawks, on the other hand, barely held on to survive in a 93-89 victory over No. 13 seed Samford. They blew a double-digit lead in the game and could never put away a feisty Samford team. Give credit to Bill Self’s squad for avoiding the upset even without its best player, Kevin McCullar Jr. Still, the Zags are a different beast. 

Gonzaga is now 15-2 since the middle of January with 12 of those wins coming by double digits. Its only losses in this stretch, by the way, have both come against bitter rival Saint Mary’s by a combined 11 points. The Zags are rolling, and it showed with their easy first-round victory over McNeese. KenPom now has them up to 12th overall in its ratings and BartTorvik has Gonzaga as the 10th-best team in the country since the start of February. 

As for Kansas, we have to wonder how much it has left in the tank for a much better opponent in the second round. The Jayhawks just survived a fast-paced, high-scoring game. It also had to deal with Samford’s full-court press defense while chasing around three-point shooters all game long. That matters more with Kansas, who have a very short bench while McCullar remains out. 

 

 

 

Kansas may have beaten Samford, but this team is still just 4-6 SU over its past 10 games. The Jayhawks also ended the season on a very low note with a blowout loss at Houston in the regular-season finale and a one-and-done exit in the Big 12 Tournament. 

Ultimately, Kansas’ cracks on defense could be too big to overcome against Gonzaga in this matchup. The Zags have a top-10 offense and play at a fast pace. We may see some tired legs and multiple lapses on defense from the Jayhawks here. They got by against Samford, but you can’t do that against an elite offense like Gonzaga’s. To make matters worse, this is an afternoon tip time (3:15 pm ET) after playing late on Thursday. 

Kansas will try to lean on center Hunter Dickinson, who had 19 points and 20 rebounds in the first round. However, Gonzaga boasts the size to keep him in check. Mark Few can throw a combination of Graham Ike, Anton Watson, Ben Gregg, and Braden Huff at Dickinson and force others to beat them. That could be bad news for Kansas, as it's gotten inconsistent play from the supporting cast all season long – and especially when McCullar is out. 

It may be surprising to see Gonzaga favored over Kansas, but the Zags are the better team and should handle an overmatched Jayhawks team. It’s worth noting that Kansas is just 2-4 ATS as underdogs this season with three of those losses coming by 20+ points. Gonzaga has reached the Sweet 16 in eight straight NCAA Tournament appearances – let’s make it nine in a row. I'm backing the Zags in my Gonzaga vs. Kansas prediction.

 

 

 

#14 Oakland vs. #11 NC State Prediction: Wolfpack -6.5 (-105 at BetMGM)

Oakland broke all of our brackets on Thursday night with its shocking first-round upset of Kentucky. Jack Gohlke instantly became a household name with his 32 points and 10 made three-pointers to send the Wildcats packing. As impressive and as awesome as it was, the No. 14 seed Golden Grizzlies likely come back down to Earth against North Carolina State in the Round of 32. 

NC State is scorching hot. The No. 11 seed Wolfpack won five games in five days to win the ACC Tournament and punch its ticket to the Big Dance. Then they went out and beat Texas Tech by 13 points in the first round. Yes, NC State wouldn’t have been in the bracket before winning its conference tournament – but it certainly proved it belongs after winning by double-digits over a solid Big 12 program. 

We’ve seen conference tournament winners in the past carry that right over into the NCAA Tournament. NC State is the latest version and it’s playing with a ton of momentum right now. The Wolfpack have a balanced offense with stud scoring guard DJ Horne leading the way. Then there’s husky big man DJ Burns, who can dominate inside against smaller frontcourts. Oakland doesn’t have a lot of size at the center spot, and it also has to deal with 6-foot-10 Mohamed Diarra. NC State has a clear advantage in the paint with Burns and Diarra.

 

 

 

Oakland does boast a good scoring big in Trey Townsend, but he’s 6-foot-6 and doesn't play great defense against bigger forwards. Kentucky didn’t have the consistent talent down low to exploit this matchup, but NC State does. 

On the other side, NC State simply has a better defense than what Oakland just saw. The Wolfpack have a much better defensive backcourt than what Kentucky had to offer with Jayden Taylor and Casey Morsell both bringing length to the perimeter. Unless Jack Gohlke is the second coming of Steph Curry, he’ll cool off. 

If you need more convincing, check out this very interesting trend. When two double-digit seeds meet up in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, it usually doesn’t go well for the lesser seed. Since 2001, the better seed in those games is 12-2 SU and ATS. This usually occurs when a double-digit power conference team faces a mid-major that pulled off a first-round upset. That’s what we have in this game. 

Here are the last five instances of two double-digit seeds facing off in the Round of 32: 

  • 2021 – No. 11 UCLA beat No. 14 Abilene Christian by 20 points
  • 2019 – No. 12 Oregon beat No. 12 UC Irvine by 19 points
  • 2016 – No. 10 Syracuse beat No. 15 Middle Tennessee by 25 points
  • 2015 – No. 11 UCLA beat No. 14 UAB by 17 points
  • 2014 – No. 11 Tennessee beat No. 14 Mercer by 20 points

In each of the past five cases, the better-seeded power-conference team has won comfortably over the mid-major. Three of those, notably, feature 11-seeds easily blowing out their 14-seed opponent. In fact, No. 14 seeds are 0-10 SU and ATS in the second round since 1998 – losing by an average of 14.8 PPG. I'm backing the Wolfpack to continue the trend in my Oakland vs. NC State prediction. 

 

 

 

Other March Madness Second Round Predictions: Saturday, 3/23