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March Madness Player Props & Best Bets for Sunday: Round 2 Schedule, Predictions

Mike Spector

Last Updated: March 24, 2024 11:15 AM EDT • 4 min 51 sec read.

Boo Buie of the Northwestern Wildcats prepares for the game against the Florida Atlantic Owls in the first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Barclays Center as we look at our March Madness best bets for Sunday.
Boo Buie of the Northwestern Wildcats prepares for the game against the Florida Atlantic Owls in the first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Barclays Center. Photo by Elsa/Getty Images/AFP.

The Sweet 16 will be set after Sunday's eight games in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, and we're laying out our top March Madness player props and best bets for Sunday's Round of 32 schedule based on the best March Madness odds.

All three No. 1 seeds that played Friday (UConn, Houston, and Purdue) avoided the dubious fate of losing to a No. 16 seed and left no doubt in the process, winning those three games by a combined 107 points. Will any of those teams - or the other top contenders by the latest Final Four odds - fall victim to the chaos of March Madness before reaching the Sweet 16?

In other matchups, double-digit seeded teams including Colorado, James Madison, Grand Canyon, and Yale aim to continue their impressive run in the NCAA Tournament by securing a second consecutive upset victory following triumphs in the first round. These teams hope to avoid the fate of Saturday's underdogs, all of which lost games outright.

As part of our March Madness predictions, here are our March Madness player props and best bets for Sunday (college basketball picks based on odds from our best March Madness betting sites; Pick confidence is based on a 1-to-5-star scale).

Sunday’s March Madness best bets

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Sunday’s March Madness schedule and odds

(Odds via Caesars)

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Sunday’s March Madness player props

Boo Buie Under 17.5 points vs. UConn (-105 via DraftKings, bet365) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

After backcourt mate Ty Berry suffered a season-ending injury, Boo Buie knew he would need to pick up the scoring slack for Northwestern to be successful. Buie basically carried the team on his back en route to an NCAA Tournament berth, and he's scored 22-plus points in four of his previous five games.

However, while Buie ranked fourth in the Big Ten in percentage of his team’s possession and ninth in percentage of his squad’s shots taken, Danny Hurley’s UConn squad is likely going to blitz Buie on every pick-and-roll or dribble handoff action. He therefore likely won't come anywhere near the 20 shot attempts Buie put up against Florida Atlantic.

FAU entered its game against Northwestern ranked in the 89th percentile in time spent in transition, according to Synergy, but the Wildcats masterfully made sure the game was played at their pace. We expect them to try to make Sunday's contest a half-court grind, which will lower Buie’s offensive ceiling against a UConn defense that's third in the country in effective field-goal percentage allowed.

DraftKings and bet365 both offer less steep -105 odds to back the Under, which compared to -110 juice pays out $19.52 on a winning $10 wager instead of $19.09.

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Tristan da Silva Over 1.5 3-pointers vs. Marquette (-120 via DraftKings, bet365) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Colorado produced an unusual box score during its win over Florida on Friday, scoring 102 points on just 10 3-point attempts. The Buffaloes attacked the rim or settled for mid-range jumpers on most occasions against Florida’s conservative drop coverage. We wouldn't be surprised to see Marquette head coach Shaka Smart defend bullying guards/wings KJ Simpson and J’Vonne Hadley differently, as the two combined for 20 free-throw attempts on Friday.

If Smart forces the ball out of Simpson’s hands more, Tristan da Silva should enjoy a field day in pick-and-pop actions, just as he did against the Gators when he made all three of his 3-point attempts. Da Silva has made multiple 3-pointers in three of his last five games, and we look for him to continue the momentum of his best offensive game, per KenPom’s offensive rating metric, since coming back from a three-game absence in early January.

DraftKings and bet365 offer the same -120 odds to back the Over, which is a much better value than the -190 odds on Simpson to make multiple threes. 

Jaedon LeDee Under 7.5 rebounds vs. Yale (-125 via bet365) ⭐⭐⭐

San Diego State do-it-all center Jaedon LeDee has been a scoring machine lately, averaging 28.3 points per game over his last four contests. And while he's exceeded this projected rebounding total three times in that span, LeDee secured seven or fewer rebounds in six of the eight games prior. We expect regression to that mean against a Bulldogs team that's likely to pack the paint against the Aztecs.

Yale put together a masterful game plan in its upset of Auburn, forcing the Tigers into 20 3-point attempts and limiting their looks at the rim. Yale has also done an excellent job on the defensive backboards all season, allowing the 13th-lowest offensive rebounding rate in the country, which lowers LeDee’s ceiling for rebounds on that end of the floor. The Bulldogs allow 3-pointers at a top-60 rate too, which plays right into San Diego State’s most significant offensive weaknesses, as it shoots threes at a 31.2% clip (310th in Division I). Thus, we're making this a contrarian three-star play, as we believe LeDee’s lack of involvement on offense will make him less aggressive on the glass.

We're heading to bet365 for this wager, as that book offers slightly better -125 to back the Under than DraftKings (-130). 

RayJ Dennis Under 6.5 assists vs. Clemson (+100 via DraftKings, bet365) ⭐⭐⭐

Baylor point guard RayJ Dennis has produced 20 assists in the last two games and is coming off a nine-assist performance against Colgate on Friday.

But the Raiders’ defensive tendencies set up perfectly for a big game from Dennis, as they employed a mostly high-drop coverage off ball screens and switched continuously in the middle of the floor, which let Dennis work against mismatches. Clemson will mix up its defensive looks consistently against the Bears and even throw in some zone wrinkles. The Tigers also just masterfully held New Mexico to 0.79 points per possession while allowing six assists on 19 made field goals.

This is a three-star play on the plus-money odds that DraftKings and bet365 offer, as Clemson ranks 34th in the lowest percentage of assists per made field goal allowed (43.8%).

College basketball best bets made Saturday at 7:23 a.m. ET.

Here are our best March Madness betting sites:

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Written By:
Mike Spector
I have been in the sports writing industry for over three years, working for sites like BettingPros/FantasyPros, Oddschecker, and Sportsbook Review. In my first year writing for BettingPros, I finished with the #2 overall record in their annual NFL betting competition, which made picks against the spread, and from an over/under and moneyline perspective. I am an avid fan of the NFL, MLB, and all college sports. In my opinion, March Madness is the best sporting event there is, and I am especially euphoric starting with conference tournament time in college basketball. I am a big advocate of "fading the public" and making plays that are contrarian, constantly citing that "there are reasons why they have those big shiny buildings in Las Vegas." Follow me on Twitter for my best bets and commentary to go along with the wagers.