Middle Tennessee State is the first 12-seed to be favored since 1999
The rush to anoint Middle Tennessee State a first-round winner over Minnesota happened so fast that it immediately stripped the 5 vs. 12 matchup of any seed-driven David vs. Goliath storyline.
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Now, according to Vegas oddsmakers, it’s official: The 12th-seeded Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee State are currently a one-point favorite over the fifth-seeded Golden Gophers. According to ESPN’s Mackenzie Kraemer, Middle Tennessee is the seventh 12-seed to be favored in a first-round game since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
But the Blue Raiders are the first since 12th-seeded Rhode Island, coming off an Elite Eight trip a year earlier, was installed as a one-point favorite over fifth-seeded Charlotte.
Rhode Island lost that game, Lamar Odom’s lone NCAA tournament appearance, by 11 points.
Middle Tennessee’s favorite status is being fueled by a few different factors. The 30-win Blue Raiders are also enjoying a bump from last year’s performance, which saw them upset second-seeded Michigan State before returning a bulk of their players for this year’s Conference USA title run.
Minnesota, meanwhile, is perceived to be overseeded at No. 5 after finishing fourth in the Big Ten.
A majority of Yahoo tourney pick’em winners are still exhibiting faith in the Gophers with 55.6 percent of entries picking Minnesota to reach the second-round in Milwaukee. The other three No. 5 seeds, however, are enjoying much more consumer confidence with 84.5 percent picking Notre Dame to beat Milwaukee, 78.3 percent selecting Iowa State over Nevada and 78.1 percent thinking Virginia can handle UNC-Wilmington. All three of those teams are favored by at least six points in their contests.
The betting line won’t matter, of course, once the ball is tipped off at 4 p.m. ET. But this all could make for some good bulletin-board material in the Minnesota locker room.
“Everybody thinks we shouldn’t show up, from what I’ve been hearing and reading,” Minnesota coach Richard Pitino told reporters earlier in the week.
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