🏀 Best March Madness Player Props Today: First Round Picks & Odds for Friday (March 20)

After a riveting first day of the 2026 NCAA Tournament, our best March Madness player props today cover all 16 first-round games from noon to midnight. Our experts have highlighted one standout prop bet per matchup from their full game previews. For more tournament coverage, check out all of our March Madness predictions for every game on the Friday slate.

We also highlighted our best March Madness upset picks for the rest of the first round.

🏀 Cal Baptist vs. Kansas player prop (9:45 p.m. ET, CBS)

Darryn Peterson Under 1.5 assists (-115, bet365)

Wood fades Kansas' projected lottery pick as a distributor in the slowest, lowest-scoring game on the board.

"Cal Baptist is allowing the 14th-fewest assists per game, giving up just 10.8 per contest. Kansas enters this game averaging just 14.3 assists per game, which is tied for 127th in the nation. Peterson is currently third on Kansas, averaging just 1.7 assists per game. He's recorded one assist in each of his last two performances, and he's yet to dish out more than four assists in a game this season, giving him a very low ceiling. In fact, he has fewer than two assists in 14 of his 22 games this season."

➡️ Full Cal Baptist vs. Kansas prediction

🏀 Furman vs. UConn player prop (10:00 p.m. ET, TBS)

Silas Demary Jr. Over 6.5 assists (+102, bet365)

Wood sees UConn's point guard as drastically underpriced after a rough Big East Tournament run.

"It was a rough Big East Tournament for Demary, who managed just eight assists in three games. However, he's still averaging 6.2 assists per game, 3.5 more than any other UConn player, and he's recorded at least eight assists in five of his last 10 games. Demary played five games against non-power conference teams this season, recording at least seven assists in three of those contests. And while Furman is allowing just 11.9 assists per game (65th in the nation), most of their success came in a conference where only one opponent averaged more than 15 assists per game. UConn ranks ninth in the country, averaging 18.4 per contest."

➡️ Full Furman vs. UConn prediction

🏀 Missouri vs. Miami player prop (10:10 p.m. ET, truTV)

Mark Mitchell Over 19.5 points (-112, bet365)

Schaeffer backs Missouri's star to pour it on regardless of the final result.

"Win or lose, Mark Mitchell is going to get his. Mitchell is coming off two games in a row in which he poured in 32 points in a losing effort. The Tigers offense, almost to a fault, flows through Mitchell's brilliance in getting to the rack and to the line. Miami ranks outside the top 125 teams in opposing two-point percentage (50.8%) which is to say, the Hurricanes aren't among the elite at stopping what Mitchell does best. He shoots about 58.5% from two-point range and has logged 20+ field-goal attempts in his last couple of games. This line is inflated above Mitchell's season average (18.3 PPG) but it's still worth attacking due to how one-dimensional the Tigers have become offensively as they look for Mitchell to drag them kicking and screaming into the Round of 32."

➡️ Full Missouri vs. Miami prediction

🏀 More March Madness predictions today (Friday, March 20)