The Final Four kicks off as Cinderella NC State faces the heavily favored Purdue. It is time to continue our College Basketball odds series with an NC State-Purdue prediction, pick, and how-to-watch.

NC State was the 11 seed in the South Region. In the first weekend, they would upset Texas Tech, before facing Oakland. It was a tight game throughout, but NC State would get the win. Then, it was a sweet 16 date with Marquette. The Wolfpack held the team through the entire game and would win 67-58. It would set up an elite eight-match-up with fellow ACC team Duke. This time, Duke had control of most of the game, up to 12:38 left in the game, when NC State tied it up. They would go on a run from there, winning 76-64.

Meanwhile, Purdue was the one seed in their portion of the bracket. They have taken care of business as expected. They started with back to back wins by over 25 points over Grambling and Utah State. They would then beat Gonzaga by 12, before facing the two seeds in Tennessee. That was a one-point game with just 3:41 left. Tennessee would fail to score for nearly two minutes, and Purdue held on to win 72-66.

Here are the college basketball odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

March Madness Odds: NC State-Purdue Odds

NC State: +340

Moneyline: +9.5 (-114)

Purdue: -450

Moneyline: -9.5 (-106)

Over: 146.5 (-110)

Under: 146.5 (-110)

How to Watch March Madness 

Time: 6:09 ET/ 3:09 PM PT

TV: TBS

Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)

Why NC State Will Cover The Spread/Win

NC State comes in ranked 43rd in KenPom's adjusted efficiency rankings this year. They are ranked 40th in adjusted offensive efficiency while sitting 44th in adjusted defensive efficiency. They are 78th in the nation in points per game while they take care of the ball well. NC State is 14th in the nation in turnovers. DJ Horne leads the way this year. He comes in with 16.8 points per game this year, while also having 2.1 assists per game. Meanwhile, both Jayden Taylor and DJ Burns Jr. come in scoring well. Burns is scoring 13.0 points per game this year and doing this while shooting 53.4 percent from the field this year. Taylor is scoring 11.1 points per game this year while shooting 41.4 percent on the season. Further, Michael O'Connell leads the team in assists this year, with 3.2 per game.

NC State ranks 135th in the nation in rebounds per game this year. Mohamed Diarra leads the team in rebounds this year. He comes in with 7.8 per game, while he is also scoring 6.4 points per game. Meanwhile, Ben Middlebrooks has 4.3 rebounds per game, while DJ Burns comes in with 4.1 rebounds per game this year.

On defense, NC State is 156th in opponent points per game this year, but they do rank 85th in steals per game. DJ Horne leads the way here. He has 1.3 steals per game this year, while he turns over the ball just 1.3 times per game. Further, Jayden Taylor has 1.1 steals per game this year.

Why Purdue Will Cover The Spread/Win

Purdue is number three in the nation in KenPom's adjusted efficiency rankings, sitting second in adjusted offensive efficiency and 17th in adjusted defensive efficiency.  Further, Purdue is eighth in the nation in points per game while sitting ninth in assists to turnover ratio this year. They are also 13th in the nation in effective field goal percentage this year. Zach Edey has led them on offense.

Edey comes into the game with 25.0 points per game this year. That is good for the most in the nation this year, while his shooting percentage of 62.4 percent is 16th in the nation. Edey is coming off a dominating performance, scoring 40 points and having 16 boards against Tennessee. Meanwhile, Braden Smith comes in with 12.2 points per game this year, while also having 7.5 assists per game on the year. Lance Jones has also been solid this year, he comes into the game with 11.8 points per game.

Purdue has been solid in the rebounding game as well, sitting sixth in the nation in rebounds per game. Further, they are 25th in defensive rounds per game as well, while sitting third in offensive rebounding percentage. Edey and Smith lead the way there too. Edey is averaging 12.2 rebounds per game this year, third in the nation.  Meanwhile, Braden Smith has 5.8 rebounds per game this year.

On defense, Purdue is 83rd in points against per game this year but they are 39th in opponent effective field goal percentage.  Once again, the story on defense is Edey and Smith. Edey comes in with 2.2 blocks per game this year. Meanwhile, Smith has 1.5 steals per game on the season. Further, Lance Jones also has 1.3 steals per game this year.

Final NC State-Purdue Prediction & Pick

Purdue is the better team in this game. They have the best player on the court in Zach Edey, and have more depth. Still, NC State has been under estimated time and time again. DJ Horne is also having an amazing tournament, while he leads his team into this Final Four game. It has been a beautiful run for NC State, and it will end here. It will not end without a fight though.

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Final NC State-Purdue Prediction & Pick: NC State +9.5 (-114)