Sweet 16 free picks for March Madness

The first two rounds of the 2023 NCAA Tournament are in the books and there have definitely been some surprises on the way. The Texas Longhorns have performed well and won our YouTube followers some money, but Miami was an early pick that cost us against a Duke team that appeared to be seeded too low before the Madness started. So we move on to the Sweet 16. This is one round that I have always had success in and this year, I've got some top picks available, along with Jesse Schule and Sean Higgs.

Friday Night Sweet 16 Free Pick

Princeton Tigers vs. Creighton Blue Jays
Friday 3/24 at 9PM ET
Creighton -10, Total 140 courtesy of Betonline.ag

The Princeton Tigers are a great story. Seeded as a #15 team, they knocked off #2 Arizona, holding them to just 55 points and then went wire-to-wire in a convincing win against a strong Missouri team. They've been underdogs just 8 times this season, including the two Tourney wins and have won 6 of those games going 7-1 ATS.  

Creighton is not a team that pushes the temp and if Princeton can continue to play their stifling defense, they can stay inside the number in this game. The big 10 point spread is particularly attractive as I am not 100% sure that the Tigers can pull off yet another big upset.

Free Pick: Gimme Princeton plus the 10

Michigan State vs Kansas State
Thursday 3/23 at 6:30PM ET
KState -1, Total 138.5 courtesy of BetNow.eu

Jesse took Kansas State before the tourney started to come out of the East in the NCAA brackets. Of course, Tom Izzo is a concern for opponents once teams get to March, as he seems to get Sparty in form for March Madness every year. The Michigan State team really has no business being in the Sweet 16, but again, here they are. Michigan State is the only surviving Big 10 team out of eight seeded squads.

For all of Jesse's insights and our discussion on the game, check out the Winners Circle free pick video.

Florida Atlantic vs Tennessee
Thursday 3/23 at 9 PM ET
Tennessee -5, Total 129.5 courtesy of Jazzsports.ag

Tennessee was my pick out of the East bracket despite some trepidation over the last several months with this team's inability to score consistently. the East was by far the most contentious bracket with several teams that could have been early picks to make it to the Final Four. 

FAU had a shocking win over Memphis in the first round and should have been a tournament darling, but they defeated the 2023 Cinderella hopeful Farleigh-Dickenson and have fallen a bit out of favor with NCAA fans and bettors. Sean take a look at the total in this matchup. The line opened at 132 and has dropped significantly to as low as 129 at some outlets. 

Check out the video for Sean's pick on the total of this 9PM matchup.