The first two rounds of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament are already in the books, and oddsmakers have taken a beating so far with many favorites advancing to the Sweet 16. Before this next round gets under way, we’ve got another three matchups -- including the UConn vs. San Diego State 2023 championship game rematch – to examine in today’s 2024 March Madness NCAAB picks and parlays.

Here are three NCAAB parlay picks to keep you on the edge of your seat as the tournament action resumes on Thursday.

Best College Basketball Parlays Thursday/Friday, March 28/29: 3-Leg Parlay Picks (+504)

Leg 1 Parlay Pick: UConn -10.5 (-115)

Leg 2 Parlay Pick: Tennessee Moneyline (-163)

Leg 3 Parlay Pick: Purdue -5.5 (+100)

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Best March Madness Sweet 16 Bets Today

No. 1 UConn vs. No. 5 San Diego State Prediction and Pick

It’s really happening. UConn’s Sweet 16 matchup is set, and the Huskies will be playing San Diego State in a rematch of last year’s NCAA Tournament championship game.

After the Aztecs’ Round 1 win over 12^th-seeded UAB proved a little too close for comfort, San Diego State put the pedal to the metal in routing No. 13 Yale by 28 points on Sunday night. Jaedon LeDee has been absolutely dominant for SDSU, but will his performance on Thursday night be enough to get past the UConn squad that ended his team’s championship dreams last season? Don’t count on it.

The Huskies are as strong as ever, and bad blood shouldn’t be enough to knock them out of contention for a repeat as champions. Donovan Clingan and Tristen Newton continue to be a great 1-2 punch, but UConn’s attack is multifaceted with several players ready and waiting to pick up the slack at a moment’s notice.

The only major concern for the Huskies was their 13 percent success rate from 3-point range in Sunday’ win over ninth-seeded Northwestern. That shooting percentage will almost certainly improve in in the next round, but it is definitely something to watch. It says a lot when a team can steamroll opponents even when that team’s shots aren’t falling.

If history tells us anything, this is absolutely UConn’s game to lose.

The Pick: UConn -10.5 (-115)

No. 3 Creighton vs. No. 2 Tennessee Prediction and Pick

Both Creighton and Tennessee reached the Sweet 16 after narrowly avoiding major second-round upsets against No. 11 Oregon and No. 7 Texas, respectively.

The Ducks’ Jermaine Couisnard cemented himself as one of this year’s tournament stars by scoring 40 points in Oregon’s first-round win over South Carolina, and no one knew what to expect from him in Saturday’s second-round matchup vs. Creighton. Despite their lopsided difference in seeding, the Ducks and Bluejays went back and forth in what turned into a double-overtime thriller that the higher-seeded Creighton team managed to survive.

Tennessee had a similar result on Saturday. Although the Vols essentially led their game against Texas from start to finish, it felt as though they struggled at times. Vols star Dalton Knecht certainly made his mark with some clutch free throws to close it out, but his first half was unremarkable at best, and he shot only 5-for-18 from the field on the night.

Although Creighton showed a great deal of toughness and endurance in refusing to give up after such a long game against Oregon, that matchup brought up a lot of concerns related to this the team. The Bluejays were unable to adjust enough to shut down what was basically a 2-on-5 game involving only Couisnard and N’Faly Dante on Oregon’s side. That’s not going to cut it against a much more balanced Tennessee team that saw significant scoring contributions from five different players in beating the Longhorns.

Don’t let a lackluster performance from Knecht fool you. He was named the SEC Player of the Year for a reason, and he will make an impact on this tournament. I’m taking the Vols in the second leg of my CBB parlay picks.

The Pick: Tennessee Moneyline (-163)

No. 5 Gonzaga vs. No. 1 Purdue Prediction and Pick

The Purdue Boilermakers are finally looking like the team they were meant to be in previous years. The 2024 Purdue team appears to be a legitimate contender for the NCAA Tournament title, and it has displayed no sign of weakness through two tournament games.

Superstar center Zach Edey was nearly flawless in the opening two rounds – as he proved why he’s about to become a two-time national player of the year. Edey was devastated by the Boilermakers’ first-round exit from last year’s NCAA Tournament, but this year he and his teammates are authoring a very different story.

Edey scored 30 points with a stunning 21 rebounds in the first round against Grambling State, leading Purdue to a 78-50 win. In Round 2, Purdue embarrassed No. 8 Utah State with a 106-67 drubbing. Edey collected another 23 points and 14 rebounds in that game.

Beating Purdue feels like it’s just a step too far for Gonzaga, even though the Bulldogs have had a nice run so far. They beat Kansas by 21 points in a Round 2 matchup on Saturday, and they’re playing great basketball at this year’s tournament. The question is whether Gonzaga can slow down Edey and the Boilermakers enough to advance.

I like what I have seen from both Purdue and Gonzaga thus far, but the Boilermakers seem nicely set up for a deep run in 2024. They displayed great depth in their backcourt when Camden Heide scored 10 points off the bench in Sunday’s 106-67 win over Utah State.

I like Purdue to advance here, and I have the Boilermakers covering the spread to round out my college basketball parlay picks today.

The Pick: Purdue -5.5 (+100)

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