NCAA Basketball

2026-03-17 - UMBC Retrievers at Howard Bison

A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown

Howard Bison vs UMBC Retrievers
United States : NCAA Basketball Tournament First Four
Tuesday 17th March 2026 - Scheduled 6:40pm
10:40pm (British Time)

Preview

There are some teams out there who are not only happy to be competing during this period of March Madness, but who will have big ambitions of playing through to April and for the NCAA Championship.

Others will know they are achieving plenty by merely being invited into the NCAA Tournament, especially those playing in Conferences where only the Champions are being given an opportunity to compete.

The UMBC Retrievers (24-8) have been the best team in the America East Conference and finished with a 14-2 record within that Conference. They have won twelve games in a row and the Retrievers will take plenty of motivation from previous teams that have represented the school.

Most notable of those is the 2018 squad that became the first Number 16 Seed to beat a Number 1 Seed in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament when they upset the Virginia Cavaliers. Winning this First Four game will give the Retrievers a shot at the Number 1 Seeded Michigan Wolverines in the Midwest Region, although the Howard Bison (23-10) will have plenty to say about that.

The Bison topped the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and finished just ahead of the Morgan State Bears with an 11-3 record in Conference play. Much like many of the teams coming out of those non-Power 5 Conferences, Howard finished the season on a good run with eight straight wins behind them, including beating the aforementioned Bears in what proved to be a pivotal game a little over two weeks ago.

Neither of these teams will be expected to have a long run in the NCAA Tournament, but the Howard Offensive unit may be the weakest of the four on the court.

That could end up proving to be the difference between the two teams on the day and in close games like this one, turnovers are often going to be a key consideration. It is another area that the Bison are going to need to clear up if they are going to at least have the opportunity to take on the Number 1 Seed in this portion of the Bracket.

Howard will need to use their own turnover-creating Defensive unit to try and keep the team competitive and the reality is that there is unlikely to be a great deal between them.

This becomes a situation where you have to oppose the weakest unit on the court and that is where the slight edge of consistency has to be given to the UMBC Retrievers.

Out of the two teams, the Retrievers are perhaps most disappointed that they have not been given a higher Seeding, but they have a situation where they can showcase themselves in the opening game of the 2026 NCAA Tournament. That is going to provide motivation with this game being featured in a stronger spot than any Number 15 Seed is likely to be given and the UMBC Retrievers can set up a storyline of trying to make history by knocking off another Number 1 Seed in the First Round of March Madness.

Prediction

Any opportunity to tip off the NCAA Tournament has to be celebrated and both the Howard Bison and UMBC Retrievers have done really well to get here.

The layers are finding it tough to separate the teams, but the Retrievers deserve to be set as the narrow favourites and can win this First Four game to move onto a clash with the Michigan Wolverines in the First Round later this week.