- The #6 Clemson Tigers will face the #2 Arizona Wildcats in the Sweet 16 in the West Region
- Arizona dusted #7 Dayton in the second round, while Clemson beat #3 Baylor 72-64
- Below, find the opening Clemson vs Arizona odds for the 2024 Sweet 16
In what projects to be a contrast of styles, the defensively-oriented #6 Clemson Tigers will face the fast-paced #2 Arizona Wildcats in the Sweet 16 of the West Regional.
The opening Clemson vs Arizona odds list the Wildcats as 6.5-point favorites. The Tigers and Wildcats will meet at crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Thursday, March 28.
Clemson vs Arizona Odds
| Team | Spread | Moneyline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clemson Tigers | +6.5 (-110) | +235 | O 151.5 (-110) |
| Arizona Wildcats | -6.5 (-110) | -295 | U 151.5 (-110) |
The Wildcats are -295 moneyline favorites to advance with Clemson a +235 underdog. The game total has opened as 151.5.
Arizona last made the Elite Eight in 2015, while Baylor is making its first trip since winning the national championship in 2019.
Odds as of March 24 at DraftKings.
Arizona was the only non-#1 seed to start the 2024 NCAA Tournament as the betting favorite to win its region in the Final Four odds. The Wildcats opened at +180, slightly ahead of West #1 North Carolina (+235). Clemson started as a +4000 longshot.
Arizona Makes Short Work of Dayton, Long Beach State
It’s been a fairly easy run for the Tommy Lloyd’s Wildcats so far. Arizona raced away from #15 Long Beach State in the first round (85-65) and led #7 Dayton by as many as 17 in the first half en route to a 78-68 victory.
All five starters finished in double-figures against the Beach, led by 20 from Kylan Boswell. Leading scorer Caleb Love (18.1 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 3.5 APG) had a team-high 19 against the Flyers. Arizona finished +4 on the boards against Dayton despite a quiet three-rebound night from center Oumar Ballo, who averages exactly 10 per game.
Arizona remains #5 at KenPom (ninth on both offense and defense) and #6 at Haslametrics. The Wildcats win over Dayton improved their record against top-50 KenPom teams to 9-4, and their resume includes a 78-73 true-road win over Duke plus a pair of victories of Colorado and a decisive 87-74 win over Alabama in Phoenix.
Third-year coach Tommy Lloyd is already making his second Sweet 16 appearance with Arizona. His Wildcats lost to drastically-underseeded Houston (72-60) in the Sweet 16 during the 2022 tournament when Arizona was a #1 seed and the Cougars were a #5.
Clemson Pulls Off Second Straight Upset
Despite being the better seed, #6 Clemson was a 2.5-point underdog to #11 New Mexico in the first round. The Tigers made oddsmakers look foolish during a 77-56 rout of the Lobos, a game they led by 14 at halftime.
Clemson used another big first half to beat #3 Baylor on Sunday night as 4.5-point underdogs, winning the first 20 minutes 35-25 and ending up on the right side of a 72-64 win. The situation got hairy at the end (Ja’Kobe Walter was at the line for two potentially game-tying free throws in the final minute) but he clanked them both – part of an ugly 16-of-26 performance from Baylor at the free-throw line – allowing the Tigers to hold on.
Leading scorer PJ Hall (18.7 PPG, 6.5 RPG), a 6’10 senior center, has been fairly quiet on offense, with 14 points against New Mexico and 11 against Baylor.
Senior guard Chase Hunter has been the main catalyst in Clemson’s pair of victories, scoring a team-high 21 against New Mexico on 8-of-16 from the floor with six assists and three rebounds. Hunter also had a team-high 20 points in the impressive win over Baylor.
Clemson had two very different stages in the regular season. The Tigers started the year 11-1 with wins over Alabama, TCU, South Carolina and Boise State. Thereafter, they went just 10-10 and were upset by Boston College in their first game of the ACC Tournament.
They entered the Baylor game rated 25th at KenPom (jumping eight spots from #33 after the New Mexico victory). The Tigers were as high as 19th after their 11-1 start and as low as 39th on Feb. 3.
Arizona plays at the 16th-fastest tempo in the nation, while the more-methodical Clemson is just 260th.
The winner of Clemson vs Arizona will face the winner of #1 UNC vs either #12 Grand Canyon or #4 Alabama in the Elite Eight section of the March Madness bracket.
The Sweet 16 matchup between Clemson and Arizona is shaping up to be an exciting showdown between two talented teams. Both squads have had impressive runs in the NCAA tournament so far, and fans are eagerly anticipating this highly anticipated matchup.
As of now, the opening spread for the game has Clemson as a slight favorite, with the Tigers being favored by 2.5 points. This indicates that oddsmakers believe Clemson has a slight edge over Arizona in this matchup. However, with both teams playing at a high level, this game could easily go either way.
In terms of the total points for the game, oddsmakers have set the over/under at 142 points. This suggests that they anticipate a relatively high-scoring affair between these two teams. Both Clemson and Arizona have potent offenses that can put up points in a hurry, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see a high-scoring game in this matchup.
As for the moneyline odds, Clemson is currently listed as a -140 favorite, meaning that bettors would need to wager $140 on the Tigers to win $100. On the other hand, Arizona is a +120 underdog, indicating that a $100 bet on the Wildcats would net a $120 profit if they come out on top.
Overall, this Sweet 16 matchup between Clemson and Arizona is shaping up to be a closely contested battle with plenty of excitement and drama. Both teams have the talent and firepower to come out on top, so fans can expect a thrilling game when these two teams take the court. It will be interesting to see how the odds and spreads shift leading up to tip-off, but one thing is for certain – this game is sure to be a must-watch for college basketball fans everywhere.
