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March Madness First-Round Predictions: Expert Picks & Odds for Every Round 1 Game

C Jackson Cowart

Last Updated: March 21, 2025 10:05 PM EDT • 1 min 58 sec read.

March Madness First Round Predictions: Odds & Expert Picks for NCAA Tournament Round 1
Pictured: Louisville Cardinals guard Terrence Edwards Jr. (5) reacts after a play. Photo by Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images.

We're still hanging on by a thread in our March Madness bracket as we focus on the second day of the NCAA Tournament first round. We've compiled all of our best March Madness first-round predictions, expert picks, and live odds for every game of the NCAA Tournament as part of our March Madness predictions.

👉 Want AI-driven bracket insights? Check out our full March Madness AI bracket predictions with score predictions for every game.  

🏀 March Madness predictions & expert picks for Friday

📅 Check out the full March Madness first-round schedule & opening odds.

Here are our best March Madness predictions, expert picks, and odds for Friday's games in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Michigan State vs. Bryant prediction (10 p.m. ET)

This massive spread is warranted. Although Michigan State lost by three to the Wisconsin Badgers in the Big Ten semifinals, they are among the March Madness odds contenders and one of the hottest teams entering the tournament.

They have won eight of their last nine, with seven of those wins over ranked opponents. Five of those seven wins were by double digits.

✅ Michigan State to cover the spread: -17.5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Michigan State vs. Bryant prediction made by Phil Wood.

Michigan State vs. Bryant odds

Oregon vs. Liberty prediction (10:10 p.m. ET)

Liberty is essentially playing a road game in this matchup having to go cross-country to face an Oregon team not far from this Seattle location.

The Flames won at least 27 games for the second time in the last three years, but tend to struggle when playing up in competition. Liberty has gone 0-10 SU against BartTorvik top 50 teams over the last six seasons.

The Flames run an efficient offense that ranks in the top five in the country in effective field goal percentage and 3-point shooting percentage. But Liberty struggles with athletic teams, evidenced by allowing 82 points per game to Kennesaw State in the final two matchups.

Oregon was playing some of its best basketball of the season with an eight-game winning streak prior to bowing out of the Big Ten tournament. As the more battle-tested team with the crowd behind them, I expect the Ducks to advance and cover.

✅ Oregon to cover the spread: -6.5 ⭐⭐

Oregon vs. Liberty prediction made by Mike Spector.

Oregon vs. Liberty odds

💰 March Madness betting odds pages

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👑 Best March Madness betting sites

Ready to place your March Madness bets? Check out the best March Madness betting promos from the best March Madness betting sites, as determined by our expert team at Sportsbook Review.

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Written By:
C Jackson Cowart
C Jackson Cowart is a publishing editor and lead writer for Sportsbook Review. An award-winning writer, reporter, and editor with a decade of sports media experience, "C-Jax" has worked with ESPN, Forbes, theScore, and various daily newspapers before joining the Sportsbook Review team. He's a proud graduate of the University of North Carolina, where he served as a beat writer for the Tar Heels' championship run through the NCAA men's basketball tournament in 2017. Jackson has spent the last five years covering sports betting as a predictive analyst, features writer, and industry reporter. Since joining the team in 2023, he's played a key role in Sportsbook Review's coverage of the Super Bowl, March Madness, and NBA playoffs while serving as the lead writer for the growing WNBA and NASCAR betting scenes. Though he's cashed some big bets over the years -- including Lamar Jackson to win MVP (twice) -- he's still haunted by enough second-place bet slips to wallpaper his home office. While Jackson is a committed "process over results" bettor with a keen eye for advanced stats and subtle bias in futures markets, he also embraces sports betting as a vehicle for entertainment and personal investment. He's written about everything from hot dogs to groundhogs and still hasn't forgiven his "inside source" for a sabotaged bet on the Gatorade color in Super Bowl LV.