Boise State vs. Northwestern NCAA Tournament Round 1: How to watch, odds and predictions for March Madness

Boo Buie wants to be your Kemba Candidate. He needs to be your Kemba Candidate. And the 23-year-old guard will get that chance when Boise State vs. Northwestern tips off in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, live from the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.

Purple jerseys on the Wildcats? Purple jerseys on the home team Sacramento Kings? A perfect opportunity to Light the Beam at the conclusion of the game? Hmm … it’s all a little too convenient for the No. 7 seed.

How to watch Boise State vs. Northwestern in the NCAA Tournament Round 1

Date: Thursday, March 16
Time: 7:35 pm ET
Channel: TruTV
Streaming: NCAA March Madness Live, fuboTV
Announcers: Brad Nessler, Brendan Haywood, Dana Jacobson

Boise State vs. Northwestern NCAA Tournament Round 1 odds

Want to put your money where your mouth is? According to FanDuel, the Northwestern Wildcats are -1.5 favorites, while Boise State is -110 to cover the +1.5-point spread. Northwestern’s line is also -110.

Rather pick a winner on the moneyline? Northwestern is -120 to win, while Boise State is an unpalatable +100 underdog. Knowing full well that NU is planning to play Big Ten basketball, the O/U for this game is set at 127.5, with both the over and under odds currently sitting at -110. Pick your poison.

Boise State vs. Northwestern NCAA Tournament Round 1 prediction

Boo Buie is the devil-may-care chucking guard in the Caleb Love mold. Chase Audige is one of the conference’s most elite defensive players. This team was supposed to go nowhere with a gutted roster, having lost Pete Nance to UNC and Ryan Young to Duke.

Yet North Carolina is long gone and Northwestern is slightly favored to advance past the first round in a defensive struggle.

We tend to agree with that commonly-held wisdom. Prediction: Northwestern 63, Boise State 61