It will be like looking in a mirror for NCAA Tournament West Regional four-seed Gonzaga Bulldogs when they face the 12-seed Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Saturday night at the Rose Garden in Portland, Ore. Gonzaga has been the darling of the mid-majors for over a decade and Western Kentucky is trying to climb the ladder. Gonzaga sees plenty of itself in the Hilltoppers. It was not that long ago that Gonzaga advanced to the Sweet-16 as a 12-seed. Today they will want to prevent the Hilltoppers from achieving that feat two years in a row. NCAA Tournament Odds experts at Sports-Odds.com see this game as a tighter matchup than oddsmakers.
[March Madness betting lines are available right here at online super sportsbook Sportsbook.com. Great sports betting lines college basketball, NHL, soccer and all of the other sports are available right here at Sportsbook.com.] NCAA Tournament Odds experts at Sportsbook.com list Gonzaga as 11-point favorites over the Hilltoppers with a 144.5 total. The Bulldogs are -700 favorites on the Sportsbook.com moneyline while Western Kentucky backers are getting +500 moneyline juice as the underdog.
Riding a 10-game winning streak, Gonzaga is making its 11th-straight NCAA Tournament appearance, and advanced to the Second Round with a 77-64 win over Akron. Averaging 78.9 ppg as a team, the Bulldogs are led by West Coast Conference First-Teamers Josh Heytvelt (15.1 ppg) and Matt Bouldin (13.6 ppg).
For the second-straight year, Western Kentucky is facing a member of the West Coast Conference in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. The Hilltoppers beat 13th-seed San Diego 72-63 last year in Tampa, Fla. to advance to the program's seventh Sweet 16.
The Hilltoppers are currently enjoying an eight-game SU winning streak including their first round victory over Illinois in the tournament first round. Western Kentucky has cashed for its backers by covering the betting spread the last seven games and has gone 10-1-1 ATS over the past dozen games.
