NC State vs. Marquette NCAA Tournament Sweet 16: How to watch, odds, and predictions

NC State and Marquette are set to meet in the Sweet 16. The last time these two teams played each other in the NCAA Tournament was in the 1974 National Championship where the Wolfpack beat the Golden Eagles to get their first-ever men's basketball National Championship.

This year these teams could not have had a more different path to the NCAA Tournament. Marquette was in the top 25 rankings all season long and even had a chance to win the Big East by taking down UConn in the Big East Tournament Championship, but lost and received a 2-seed in March Madness.

NC State however was a team going into the ACC Tournament knowing the only way they would make it in was with the automatic bid. Well, they did just that, they won five games in five days taking North Carolina in the championship to get the automatic bid and 11-seed in March Madness.

How to watch NC State vs. Marquette in the NCAA Tournament Round 1

Date: Friday, March 29
Time: 7:09 p.m. ET
Channel: CBS
Streaming: NCAA March Madness Live I fuboTV
Announcers: Ian Eagle, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill, Tracy Wolfson

Team vs. Team NCAA Tournament Round 1 odds

NC State comes in as the underdog in this one, which is no surprise. However, they are expecting this to be a high-scoring game with the over/under set at 151.

Team vs. Team NCAA Tournament Round 1 prediction

This is going to be a tough and physical game that no one is going to want to miss. NC State used their size in the post with DJ Burns to upset Texas Tech in the first round and lucked out with an easier matchup in the second round against Oakland. Burns will have to be at his best yet again to take down this Marquette team that is at full strength.

Marquette has looked good in the tournament, especially after getting Tyler Kolek back. Kolek has been the backbone for this team in the tournament scoring 18 against Western Kentucky and 21 against Colorado. He also had 11 assists in each of the first two games being a master facilitator that can also score.

This is a tough game to pick, but I think this is where NC State's Cinderella run comes to an end. I think Marquette is firing on all cylinders right now and NC State can't afford to falter. They had a bit too close of a game with Oakland and Marquette had that with Colorado too, but Oakland and Colorado are two very different teams. Marquette will find a way to take Burns out of the game and behind the leadership of Kolek will find themselves in the Elite Eight yet again.