The Gold Sheet

THE PLAY: 1H Nebraska Omaha +11.5 (-110)

We are not putting Saint John's on upset alert, but there are enough angles in this matchup that will make you raise an eyebrow. Chris Crutchfield deserves a ton of credit for what he built in Omaha this season. The Mavericks were a fascinating team to watch in the Summit League because no one actually believed they were the best team in the conference. Omaha won the regular season crown then won the conference tournament, but the Mavericks were considered the fourth-best team in the league all season. St. Thomas, North Dakota State and South Dakota State all had better profiles, but Omaha kept shooting the lights out from three-point range. The Mavs shot 40.2-percent from beyond the arc in conference play. Oral Roberts won the Summit League in 2021, then proceeded to beat Ohio State and Florida en route to the Sweet Sixteen. The Golden Eagles shot a lot of three-pointers and were led by star player Max Abmas. Well, Omaha shoots a lot of three-pointers, and the Mavericks are led by Summit League Player of the Year, Marquel Sutton. The junior forward scored 22 points with 18 rebounds in the conference championship win over St. Thomas. Omaha has covered the spread in six-straight games, and the Mavericks went 16-5 against the spread in road and neutral site games this season. Like we said, there's enough there to at least make you pause and scratch your chin. Also, it certainly doesn't help the Red Storm's case that every member of the media is already fawning over a likely Rick Pitino vs Bill Self or John Calipari matchup in the next round.