NCAA Basketball
2025-03-23 - Maryland Terrapins at Colorado State Rams
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States : NCAA Tournament Second Round
Sunday 23rd March 2025 - Scheduled 7:10pm
11:10pm (British Time)
Preview
The Sweet 16 lineup for the 2025 NCAA Tournament will be set by Sunday evening and the Maryland Terrapins (26-8) are set as strong favourites to take their place amongst some of the elite teams in College Basketball.
There is still a feeling around the Terrapins that they are a little underrated and that is fuelling the team to put their best on the court. The blowout win over the Grand Canyon Antelopes will have gained them some attention, and the Terrapins will be looking to make another statement when taking on one of the lower Seeds that have made it through the First Round.
The Colorado State Rams (26-9) are the Number 12 Seed, although it should be noted that they tipped off against the Number 5 Seeded Memphis Tigers as the narrow favourites. A strong second half saw the Rams pull clear and eventually comfortably beat the Tigers to take their place in the Second Round, but there is a feeling that Memphis might have been overrated heading into the NCAA Tournament.
With that in mind, this is expected to be a much tougher challenge for Colorado State and that is reflected by the odds.
The Rams are pretty well-balanced on both sides of the court and that will always make them competitive. Their main challenge in this Second Round game is going to be able to score enough points to give Maryland something to think about, but we have seen in the First Round how good the Terrapins can be on that side of the court.
Maryland will respect the fact that the Rams bring in a stronger Offensive unit than the Antelopes that were faced in the First Round, but the Terrapins could be right up there with some of the elite Defensive teams in The Bracket. This will always make it tough to beat them and the Terrapins have certainly shown they have enough Offensive output to score the points in transition to pull clear of this opponent.
What will make the Rams dangerous is the consistency they have had shooting the three ball- this has been a trend since the turn of the calendar year and something that will test the resolve of the Terrapins. It will be strength vs strength though with the Terrapins showing plenty of intensity to get out to those shooters and limit the damage that can be done.
Prediction
Lay the points with the higher Seeded favourite in this NCAA Tournament Second Round game.
The Pick :
Colorado State Rams 65-76 Maryland Terrapins
