Tennessee vs Louisiana NCAA Tournament Round 1: How to watch, odds and predictions for March Madness

The SEC vs the Sun Belt! That’s what this first-round matchup between the No. 4 seed Tennessee Volunteers and No. 13 seed Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns gifts viewers on Day 1 of the 2023 NCAA Tournament at 9:40 p.m. ET.

Tennessee comes into this one limping a bit as injuries and inconsistent play held them back down the stretch while Louisiana is on a five-game winning stream that helped them capture their conference tournament title.

After upsetting No. 1 Alabama, the Vols finished the season 3-4 and will be missing their top playmaker in Zakai Zeigler after he suffered a torn ACL.

The Ragin’ Cajuns boast one of the best scorers in the country with Jordan Brown averaging 19.4 points (and 8.7 assists) per game. They have two others in Greg Williams Jr. and Terence Lewis II averaging double-digit points. They’ll run into the Volunteers’ No. 3-ranked defense in the country (57.5 PPG allowed), but head coach Rick Barnes will need to stop the bleeding on that end of the floor after Zeigler’s injury, which has proven to be problematic in two of the last three games.

How to watch Tennessee vs Louisiana in the NCAA Tournament Round 1

Date: Thursday, March 16
Time: 9:40 pm ET
Channel: CBS
Streaming: NCAA March Madness Live, fuboTV
Announcers: Evan Washburn and Lauren Shehadi

Tennessee vs Louisiana NCAA Tournament Round 1 odds

According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Tennessee is the favorite at -11.5 (-110) and -780 on the moneyline. Louisiana (+11.5, -110) is a massive +520 underdog on the moneyline. The over/under checks in at 136.5 with -110 odds for both bets.

Tennessee vs Louisiana NCAA Tournament Round 1 prediction

Yes, this is very much a possible upset pick (it’s March!), but Tennessee’s lackluster play and issues with injuries didn’t fully derail them over the last couple weeks. They still crushed South Carolina, Arkansas and Ole Miss and kept it close with Texas A&M. Look for the Vols to struggle in the next round or two after Thursday’s game, but not this one.

The Ragin’ Cajuns certainly possess the resume to cover the 11.5-point spread, but pulling off the win might prove to be one of the tougher tasks in all the 13-4 and 12-5 matchups. As much as the Sun Belt is up and coming, rolling with the punches for an entire year of conference play in SEC has Tennessee prepared as good as anybody — regardless of how they’ve looked recently.

Tennessee 78, Louisiana 71