The NBA and Stanley Cup Finals both are getting underway, and most eyes are on them in the sports world. However, there is still plenty of other action on the calendar, including college baseball’s version of March Madness. The NCAA Tournament is set to kick off Friday in college baseball, and there are regionals to breakdown and lines to attack. Let’s dive into some of the best college baseball tournament bets plays on the board.
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College Baseball Tournament 2023 Betting Odds & Picks
Fayetteville Regional: TCU vs. Arizona | Friday, 9 p.m. ET
Many are going to be fading the Pac-12 and West Coast teams, as the best competition was in other conferences during the regular season.
TCU is fresh off a win in the Big 12 Tournament where the bats carried them through. They hung 16, 14, 6 and 12 runs during the streak and come into this matchup against Arizona playing fantastic ball. TCU has won 12 out of 13 dating back to the end of the regular season, and this is a dangerous team that could cause problems for top-seeded Arkansas.
To Arizona’s credit, they also come in swinging the bats well and had a deep run in the Pac-12 tourney. They beat Stanford by 10 runs before falling to Oregon, and they have proven they have some upside. Like all teams, the key is finding a way to position their rotation to not only win game one but have enough to go deeper into the tournament. Arizona does not really have a true elite ace on their staff, and TCU should get the job done here.
College Baseball Regional Bet: TCU -130 (DraftKings)
Stanford Regional: Texas A&M vs. Cal State Fullerton | Friday, 10 p.m. ET
It remains to be seen if spreads and totals will be offered for these games, but for now there are just moneylines. This potentially will lead to laying some juice in spots or parlaying a few teams up. Regardless, it is still all about evaluating the line versus the probability of success, and Texas A&M should be a much larger favorite in this spot. They have played elite competition all season and come in having gone deep in the SEC Tournament.
Texas A&M is 36-25 on the season, but having faced the competition they have, nothing will surprise them in this region. They have a handful of arms that could get the ball to in Game 1, and with Stanford looming, it will be interesting to see how the Aggies play this. The talent edge they have over a team like Fullerton is substantial, and it shows here.
It is going to be a tall task for Fullerton to get out of this region. This is a team that went 3-9 to close out the regular season and now gets matched up with a team that just went to the final of the SEC Tournament. They have no advantages, and this is a spot worth attacking. Shopping the line, Texas A&M is anywhere from -165 to -176 across the books, so -165 at DraftKings is clearly the best spot.
College Baseball Regional Bet: Texas A&M -165 (DraftKings)
Winston-Salem Regional: Northeastern vs. Maryland | Friday, 1 p.m. ET
A lot of these games are hard to get exposure to simply because of the lopsided nature of the matchups. There is some value in parlaying teams like Wake Forest, Florida and LSU, but the better option is taking an under-the-radar school that is capable of making a run. Northeastern is not a well-known baseball power, but this team is scrappy and could at least get the opportunity to test Wake Forest later in this region. They are slight underdogs to Maryland in Game 1, and that is a good spot to play.
Northeastern is 44-14 on the year, some of which is due to level of competition. They lost to UNCW in the championship game of the CAA but still come in playing good baseball. They also tested themselves during the year against several tournament teams, including Maryland, whom they beat 9-2 on the road back in May. Now, it is only one game, but it is still good to know they can and have hung with quality teams already this year.
Maryland is 41-19 and used elite pitching to get through the Big 10 Tournament unscathed. They did not allow more than two runs in any game but also scored four or fewer in every game, which is not ideal. There are no real issues with this Maryland team; it is more that on Northeastern is a sleeper in this region. Both teams have quality arms they can throw here, and realistically Wake Forest will handle either in the future matchups. However, at +106, Northeastern gets a slight lean in this spot at plus money.
College Baseball Regional Bet: Northeastern +106 (FanDuel)