Welcome to the NCAA Tournament first round, where the march to the National Championship begins. The South Region has some great games, but let's focus on two teams who won a game in the Big Dance last year and are both better this season. One team received the automatic bid, and another is an at-large.
No. 13 seed Yale Bulldogs out of the Ivy League (22-7, 13-1) face the No. 4 seed Texas A&M Aggies out of the SEC (22-10, 11-7). This game is already being talked about as a potential upset. Don’t forget that Yale beat Auburn in the first round of the NCAA Tournament a season ago. Texas A&M blew out Nebraska in the first round last season and almost beat Houston in overtime in the second round in last year’s tournament. This game will have a lot of intrigue, and the higher-seeded team better be ready, or they will be going home early.
How to watch Yale vs Texas A&M
- Date: Thursday, March 20
- Time: 6:25 PM CST
- Venue: Ball Arena
- How to watch (TV): TBS
- Streaming: fubo TV
- Yale record: 22-7
- Texas A&M record: 22-10
Yale vs Texas A&M odds, spread and total
Odds provided by FanDuel Sportsbook
Moneyline
- Yale +235
- Texas A&M -295
Spread
- Yale +6.5
- Texas A&M - 6.5
Total
- Over 139.5
Yale injury report
- None
Texas A&M injury report
- None
Texas A&M and Yale series history
- Texas A&M all time record vs Yale: 1-0
Yale vs Texas A&M prediction
This is one that is going to be talked about a lot leading into this game because it is a game that looks like an upset. Yale caught the Auburn Tigers sleeping last year and was able to pull off the upset. All that the Bulldogs have done since then is dominate by going 13-1 in the Ivy League running away with the league and not getting challenged. Yale is a confident team who is going to hope to pull off the upset again.
Texas A&M came into the tournament last season as a team that didn’t give much confidence because of their inconsistent offense and defense. The Aggies arrived at the tournament and blew out Nebraska and then took Houston to overtime before losing by 5 points. Texas A&M doesn’t have a great offense again, but they do lead the country in offensive rebounds, and they are tough. They will get physical with Yale and get a ton of second-chance opportunities with their offensive rebounding. That is how the Aggies extend games and win most of them.
This is going to be a game that will be a battle of three-point shooting. Yale shoots the ball at 39% from deep but doesn’t take very many. John Poulakidis (19.2 points, 41% three-point shooter) does most of the damage for the Bulldogs and is one of the best three-point shooters in the country. Bez Mbeng (13.4 points, 5.6 assists) is one of the best passers in the country and has a 3-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Those two will be able to put a ton of pressure on the Aggie's defense.
The Aggies are not short on stars or three-point shooters. Wade Taylor IV (15.7 points, 33% three-point shooter) and CJ Wilcher (41% three-point shooter) will be the guys who are going to get most of the looks from deep, and when they make them, the Aggies are hard to beat. Taylor went crazy in the opening round against Nebraska last season, and he is a streaky shooter from the outside. The 17 offensive rebounds that the Aggies average are going to be a huge factor in this game, as they are every game for Texas A&M.