Sweet 16 predictions: How the public is betting Friday's NCAA Tournament games

If you've been going with the multi-screen setup for the NCAA Tournament, Friday night's Sweet 16 is the final day that's needed because it's all stand-alone games the rest of the way.

The slate will get started at 6:30 p.m. ET when the No. 1 seed Alabama Crimson Tide get a matchup with the No. 5 seed San Diego State Aztecs, and the final game of the night will feature the No. 2 Texas Longhorns and No. 3 Xavier Musketeers at approximately 9:45 p.m. ET.

Here's a look at how the public is betting Friday's Sweet 16 matchups, with all numbers coming from DraftKings Sportsbook. “Handle” is the amount of dollars bet on a team, while “bets” are the number of tickets in favor of either team.

#5 San Diego State: +7.5: 51% of handle, 43% of bets
#1 Alabama: -7.5: 49% of handle, 57% of bets
Total 137.5: Over 59% of handle, 67% of bets

#5 Miami: +7.5: 71% of handle, 70% of bets
#1 Houston: -7.5: 29% of handle, 30% of bets
Total 138: Over 69% of handle, 69% of bets

#15 Princeton: +10: 63% of handle, 74% of bets
#6 Creighton: -10: 37% of handle, 26% of bets
Total 140.5: Over 51% of handle, 50% of bets

#3 Xavier: +4.5: 39% of handle, 52% of bets
#2 Texas: -4.5: 61% of handle, 48% of bets
Total 149: Over 61% of handle, 45% of bets

Of the four games taking place on Friday night, bettors are most in love with the Miami Hurricanes, which are getting 71% of the handle and 70% of bets to cover the spread against the Houston Cougars.

There's also a big majority of the money and bets coming in on Princeton to cover against Creighton in their Sweet 16 matchup. Princeton has surprised both Arizona and Missouri in the first two rounds. Last year, St. Peter's was a heavy underdog against Purdue in the Sweet 16 and won the game.

In the two top-half bracket Sweet 16 matchups, we see that most of the money and bets are going toward the over. The other two games are split but Xavier-Texas has the highest total of all four games.

  
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