The Akron Zips take on the Creighton Blue Jays in the first round of the NCAA Men's March Madness Tournament! Check out our college basketball odds series as we hand out an Akron-Creighton prediction and pick. We will also let you know how to watch the game.

Akron made it into the tournament by winning the MAC tournament. They went 24-10 during the season, and beat a few good teams. The Zips are led by Enrique Freeman as he averages 18.6 points per game, and 12.9 rebounds. Ali Ali is next on the team with 15.6 points per game, and 4.1 rebounds. As a team, Akron has been able to score 74.0 points per game this season.

Creighton fell short in the Big East tournament after dropping their first game to Providence. However, they enjoyed a good enough season to earn the third seed in the Midwest region. Baylor Scheierman leads the team in scoring with 18.4 points per game. He also grabs 9.0 rebounds per game. Trey Alexander and Ryan Kalkbrenner are both scoring over 17.0 points per game this season, as well. As a team, the Blue Jays averaged just over 80.0 points per game on the season.

Here are the college basketball odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

March Madness Odds: Akron-Creighton Odds

Akron: +12.5 (-115)

Moneyline: +580

Creighton: -12.5 (-105)

Moneyline: -880

Over: 140.5 (-115)

Under: 140.5 (-105)

How to Watch March Madness 

Time: 1:30 PM ET/10:30 AM PT

TV: TNT

Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)

Why Akron Will Cover The Spread/Win

Akron needs to run their game through Freeman, and allow him to get work done on the inside. He is only 6'7, but he leads the nation in rebounding, and he has 30 double-doubles. The Zips were fourth in the MAC in scoring thanks to Freeman. There is only one way for Akron to upset Creighton, and it is for Freeman to have the game of his life.

Akron led the MAC in defense this season. Creighton can score at a high rate, but they do play half-court offense. Akron will defend the ball in the half-court and make it hard on their opponents to get open shots. If Akron can find a way to make it tough on Creighton, they will be able to at least cover the spread.

Why Creighton Will Cover The Spread/Win

Creighton scores with the best of them. They score 80.5 points per game, which is tied for 32nd in the entire nation. One thing they do very well, which helps them score as much as they do, is shoot the three ball. Creighton makes the sixth-most threes in the nation this year. With Alexander, Kalkbrenner, and Scheierman, Creighton should have no problem putting up points in this game.

Creighton went 5-2 against teams outside of the power-5 conferences. Their two losses were against UNLV and Colorado State during a cold streak. However, they beat those teams by 51, 39, 32, 23, and 45. Those wins are hard to ignore. Creighton should be able to beat the Zips by a large amount as long as their big-3 play well in this game.

Final Akron-Creighton Prediction & Pick

I am not going to overthink this game. 14 seeds are 1-23 against three seeds since 2017. Creighton is going to win this game, but I like their spread even more. 12.5 seems low, but it is March. I will take Creighton to win this game by a large amount in this game.

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Final Akron-Creighton Prediction & Pick: Creighton -12.5 (-105)