Texas vs. Xavier NCAA Tournament Sweet 16: How to watch, odds and predictions for March Madness

While things have been hectic elsewhere in the NCAA Tournament, brackets aren’t as busted up in the Midwest region. Two of the top seeds have emerged in Texas and Xavier, who will meet with a trip to the Elite Eight on the line.

Xavier comes into the matchup as the underdog in a tournament that has been kind to the lower seed thus far. But that could be something that exposes the Musketeers, as they fell behind No. 14 seed Kennesaw State by double digits in the first round and needed to dig themselves out of a hole to survive. Combine that with the fact that Xavier allowed over 80-points to a not-so-great DePaul team in the Big East Tournament and all of a sudden Texas has an opening to exploit.

It won’t be easy for the Longhorns, though. They’ll need to account for a red-hot Jerome Hunter who is averaging close to 20 points per game so far in the tournament, and are running into a Musketeers team that is Top 50 in tempo — which means we might have our first high-scoring shootout of March Madness on tap.

March Madness live stream: How to watch Texas vs. Xavier in Sweet 16

It’s that lovely time of year where TruTV stock goes through the roof (do they even have stock? I’m not sure). Ditto the Impractical Jokes who jump had first into the zeitgeist this same time every year (do they have stock?!).

Thankfully for fans looking to tune into this game, Texas and Xavier will be playing on CBS. This helps make the game more accessible as well, since FuboTV and some other streaming services don’t carry Turner Networks outside of CBS.

All of the pomp and circumstance is being rolled out for this one, as big Jim Nantz will be on the call as well.

• Date: Friday, March 24
• Time: ~9:45 pm ET
• Channel: CBS
• Live Stream: NCAA March Madness Live
• Announcers: Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill, Tracy Wolfson

Texas vs. Xavier Sweet 16 odds

According to FanDuel, the safer bet in this matchup appears to be the Longhorns. It’s hard to know how much to read into that though based on how close these two teams are in the seeding.

• Moneyline: Texas (-182) | Xavier (+150)
• Spread: Texas (-4.5) | Xavier (+4.5)
• Total: 148.5 — Over: (-110) | Under: (-110)

Unlike the 2-seed/3-seed matchup between UCLA and Gonzaga — which is also the nightcap game, except on Thursday — the odds might paint a more accurate picture. With the Bruins and Zags, the teams feel much more closely matched where the Longhorns appear to have more of an edge over Xavier.

Texas vs. Xavier NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 prediction

Rolling with the supposed favorite hasn’t totally worked out so far in March. The first weekend is built on the types of upsets that Furman and Fairleigh Dickinson turned in, but starting this weekend the adults enter the room. Princeton is still dancing, but outside of that Cinderella things get back to business in the Sweet 16.

Xavier plays a style that ranked in the top 50 in Adjusted Tempo this season, which is something that Texas will have to account for. However, the Longhorns already played two other teams ranked in the Top 50 Adjusted Tempo and have proved in those games that they can keep pace with high-flying offenses.

What could be the difference in this one is Xaviers defense. If the Musketeers can’t tighten up some places where they played a little too loose in their last few games, this could be one where Texas simply outpaces them.

Prediction: Texas 88, Xavier 82