NCAA Tournament Expert Pick & Prediction: East Region – BYU vs. VCU – Thursday, March 20, 2025

The 11th-seed VCU Rams (28-6) will battle against the sixth-seed BYU Cougars (24-9) in the East Region First Round on Thursday, March 20 at 4:05 PM ET at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado. The Cougars are slightly favored with a point spread at -2.5 (-115) at MyBookie.

VCU Rams Betting Preview

The Rams are riding a three-game win streak heading into the first round. They return to action after a 68-63 outing over the George Mason Patriots in the Atlantic 10 Championship.

This was a closely contested battle throughout, with the Rams showing great momentum late to take a steady lead. However, the Patriots fought hard to keep it within single digits at the end. Max Shulga stood out with his 18 points and three assists.

VCU landed 40.4 percent of their shots and connected on 32.0 percent of their three pointers. On defense they held the Patriots to 33.9 percent shooting overall and 42.9 percent from deep. The Rams will need to shoot better from long range in order to provide an upset.

The Rams are averaging 77.1 points a game and rank 93rd in the country for this effort. On defense they rank eighth for holding opponents to 62.4 points a game. This is a great point differential, which offers them plenty of room for error.

BYU Cougars Betting Preview

The Cougars had their nine-game win streak snapped with a 74-54 blowout defeat to the second-ranked Houston Cougars. Despite losing by this large of a margin, they still have their head up high after taking down four ranked opponents during their win streak.

BYU was down by 21 at the half, but they did have a stronger second half to make this game somewhat respectable. In comparison to the last time they met (86-55), this was some better progress. Keba Keita led with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Houston made 41.8 percent of their buckets and 38.5 percent from long range. For BYU, they made 31.7 percent overall and just 21.4 percent from deep. They cannot afford another poor shooting performance if they plan to make a run in the tournament.

The Cougars are 28th in the nation for getting 81.0 points a game. Their defense has held opposing teams to 70.9 points a game, ranking 148th for this effort. This is still a solid point differential, but they must capitalize on better scoring opportunities.

Odds, Series Trends, and Free Pick

MyBookie has you set with the best VCU Rams vs. BYU Cougars betting odds, showing the Cougars as 2.5-point favorites. Looking at market predictions, it suggests the Cougars have a 57.3 percent chance of winning outright. The Cougars are appealing here to cover the spread.

Final Pick: BYU Cougars -2.5 (-115)