The North Dakota Fighting Hawks take on the Creighton Bluejays. Check out our college basketball odds series for our North Dakota Creighton prediction and pick.
The Creighton Bluejays overachieved richly and substantially in 2022. Coach Greg McDermott did his very best coaching job at Creighton, guiding his team through a number of significant injuries and developing the younger players on his roster.
In the early stages of the 2021-2022 college basketball season, the most important player on the Creighton roster was guard Ryan Nembhard. He held the roster together. He made the most important plays in close games. He was strong at both ends of the court. Creighton clearly depended on him in the first two months of the season. When he was knocked out for the season in the middle of the campaign, everyone wondered if Creighton could stay afloat. The Bluejays surprised a lot of people by remaining a force in the upper half of the Big East Conference. The man who made things go for the reconstructed Bluejays after the Nembhard injury was young big man Ryan Kalkbrenner. His size and length were obvious defensive deterrents, but he was also able to score at a reasonable clip and not interrupt the flow of the team's halfcourt offense. Creighton became a different team with its adjusted roster, but it still found ways to win.
Kalkbrenner got hurt in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, in which the Jays pulled out a squeaker against San Diego State, so it seemed that Creighton was going to have absolutely zero chance of being competitive with top-seeded Kansas in the second round. Instead, Creighton was within one basket of the Jayhawks in the final few minutes of regulation. The Jays gave a scare to the team which eventually won the 2022 NCAA Tournament. Creighton kept competing with the best teams in college basketball on relatively even terms in spite of crucial injuries to core players. It was amazing to see McDermott push the right buttons and have players further down his bench ready to contribute. Now that the Jays have given a lot of crunch-time minutes to a lot of young players, their journey last season is expected to bear fruit this season. Creighton is a leading contender for the Big East championship, and it's entirely reasonable to view the Jays as a legitimate Final Four threat in 2023.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the North Dakota-Creighton College Basketball odds.
College Basketball Odds: North Dakota-Creighton Odds
North Dakota Fighting Hawks: +30.5 (-110)
Creighton Bluejays: -30.5 (-110)
Over: 140.5 (-110)
Under: 140.5 (-110)
Why North Dakota Could Cover the Spread
This is an absolutely massive point spread, and since Creighton overachieved last season, it's realistic to think that Creighton might struggle a little early this year, perhaps somewhat thrown off balance by all the media attention it is receiving. Creighton did in fact look a little wobbly in its season opener against St. Thomas. The Jays won a surprisingly uncomfortable 72-60 game. If Creighton is not much better here, it will fail to cover the spread once again.
Why Creighton Could Cover the Spread
The St. Thomas game was a wakeup call for this team. You should see a much more polished performance. Moreover, North Dakota won just six games last season, only two in its conference, the Summit League. This is a low-end opponent for Creighton, precisely the kind of team which will offer absolutely no resistance.
Final North Dakota-Creighton Prediction & Pick
The gulf in talent and quality between these teams is enormous. Take Creighton in spite of the huge spread.
Final North Dakota-Creighton Prediction & Pick: Creighton -30.5
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