March Madness Best Bets: #10 New Mexico Vs. #7 Marquette

• Odds are favoring Marquette by 3.5 points over New Mexico.
• Mountain West teams are 2-13 against the spread in March Madness since 2018.

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Two powerhouse teams this season will meet in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in the #7 Marquette Golden Eagles and #10 New Mexico Lobos. Just ahead of tip off here, Marquette is taking plenty of action as the slight favorite to win.

#10 Marquette Vs. #7 New Mexico

• Moneyline: New Mexico (+150) vs. Marquette (-175)
• Spread: Marquette -3.5
• Total: 153

Legal sports betting sites definitely left some points off the board for Marquette here as this should lie in their favor with ease. Many would even say that the Marquette is under-seeded in this one and a much stronger team than a #7 seed.

Throw A Bag On Marquette To Cover

As strong as New Mexico has been this season, the Mountain West as a whole struggles mightily during March Madness, and there have been plenty of signs this season pointing towards a first round collapse for the Lobos.

Marquette this season, has an unimpressive 14-18-1 record against the spread. However, within that record, is a 13-12-1 record ATS as a favorite with a 12.6 winning margin, and 7-3-1 ATS record in non-conference games with a 14.7 winning margin and +2 cover margin.

Getting into the Mountain West as a whole, from a betting perspective, they’ve been awful come March Madness. The conference as a whole is 2-13 against the spread on college basketball sportsbooks since 2018 in first round March Madness games. They’re also 0-22 straight up in their last 22 tournament games as a #10 seed or worse.

New Mexico this season is 15-17 against the spread and 5-5 ATS in non-conference games with a -2.4 cover margin in those games as well.

Looking at their March Madness performances, this is Marquette’s fourth straight tournament appearance and they’ve made it out of the first round in their last two outings. In Marquette’s last five March Madness games altogether, they are 3-2 straight up and have covered a -3.5-point spread in all three wins.

On the other hand, New Mexico is playing in their second straight tournament and got obliterated in the first round last year by 19 points to Clemson.

News tags: basketball | CBB | College Basketball | March Madness | Marquette | Marquette Golden Eagles | NCAA Tournament | New Mexico | New Mexico Lobos