The First Four of the 2024 NCAA Tournament concludes Wednesday night from Dayton as No. 10 seed Colorado faces fellow No. 10 Boise State with the winner advancing to face South Region No. 7 seed Florida in Round 1. The Buffs are short favorites Wednesday.

Colorado Buffaloes vs. Boise State Broncos Game Information

Dayton#GoBuffs | #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/iPI1VPD6w8

— Colorado Men's Basketball (@CUBuffsMBB) March 19, 2024

• When: Wednesday, March 20th, 2024 at 9:10 pm ET
• Where: UD Arena, Dayton, OH
• TV: TruTV
• Radio: KOA 850 AM (Colorado) // KBOI 670 AM (Montana)
• Live Stream: TruTV
• NCAAB Betting Odds: Colorado (-2.5) // Boise State (+2.5)

Why Bet on the Colorado Buffaloes?

Colorado (24-10) finished third in the Pac-12 regular-season standings and lost to Oregon in the conference title game on Saturday, 75-68, to see an eight-game winning streak snapped.

Oregon led 50-46 midway through the second half when Colorado used a 7-2 spurt to take the lead. The Ducks surged back ahead and led 61-57 when the Buffs scored five straight to pull ahead by one. But the last four minutes were all Oregon. Kwame Evans made a game-tying free throw, the Ducks got a stop and Jackson Shelstad belied his youth with two free throws that put Oregon up for good. Colorado would make just one more field goal, while the Ducks got a reverse lay-in from Jadrian Tracey for a 66-62 lead, and then consecutive buckets from N’Faly Dante to make it 70-64. The game was over.

KJ Simpson led Colorado with 23 points and Luke O’Brien added 11. Neither team shot particularly well. CU finished 20-for-48 (42%) while Oregon was 28-for-62 (46%). But the big difference came in turnovers. Colorado committed 13 miscues that led to 23 Oregon points, while the Ducks turned the ball over just three times for zero Colorado points. Oregon also had nine offensive rebounds that yielded 10 second-chance points.

“I’m proud of our guys,” Boyle said. “I’m proud of what they’ve done over the last four, four and a half weeks, and we’re not going to let this one game define us because what these guys have done over that period of time is nothing short of amazing. We’ve really come together. We’ve played well, well enough to win.”

KJ Simpson leads the Buffaloes averaging 19.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game. He earned All-Pac-12 First Team honors, voted on by league coaches, and was recently named to the All-Pac-12 Tournament Team after leading the Buffaloes to their third conference title game. Simpson is the only major conference player averaging 19.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game, and is one of five in all of NCAA Division I with those numbers.

The NCAA berth is the 16th in CU history and the sixth in the 14-year Boyle era in Boulder, with a seventh erased in 2020 when the postseason was canceled because of the COVID pandemic. Boise State is coached by Leon Rice, who took the reins of the Broncos in 2010 — the same year that Boyle took over in Boulder. Rice and Boyle are also good friends. When Boyle was named as the head coach of the USA Basketball U19 World Cup team last summer, he named Rice as an assistant.

Why Bet on the Boise State Broncos?

Boise State (22-10) finished tied for second in the Mountain West but lost its conference tournament opener to New Mexico to land on the NCAA Tournament bubble. BSU opened 2-for-10 from the field and went into the locker room trailing 35-26 at halftime. The Lobos (24-9) shot 15-of-26 from the field in the second half to weather multiple Bronco rallies to pull the game within two possessions.

Broncos star Tyson Degenhart recorded his sixth career double-double – third in a row – with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Degenhart had his 12th 20-point game of the season, tied with Derrick Marks (2014-15) and Chandler Hutchison (2016-17) for fifth-most in a single season during the Leon Rice era.

Boise State’s biggest wins include one over WCC champ St. Mary’s, two victories over San Diego State and a split with Colorado State. “I’ve watched them a lot this year,” Boyle said. “They’re very talented, very well coached.”

Boise State is seeking its first win in the NCAA Tournament as it makes its 10th appearance in the Big Dance. Only Iona has more appearances without a win (the lone win in 1980 was vacated) with 16 appearances. BSU is making its third-straight appearance in March Madness for the first time in program history. It is one of 25 programs nationally to have made each of the last three tournaments.

Rice is 8-11 against schools currently in the Pac-12 in his career leading the Broncos. Boise State has won 3 of the last four against the Pac-12. Wednesday is the second all-time meeting in the series. Boise State defeated the Buffaloes, 68-55, in the fifth-place game of the Myrtle Beach Invitational, Nov. 22, 2022, behind a stifling defense.

Colorado vs. Boise State Betting Trends

• Colorado is 4-1 ATS in the last 5 games.
• Buffaloes are 8-1 SU in its last 9 games.
• The total went under in 4 of Colorado’s last 6 games.
• Boise State is 6-2 ATS in the last 8 games.
• Broncos are 6-2 SU in its last 8 games.
• The total went over in 4 of Boise State’s last 6 games.

Colorado vs. Boise State Expert Prediction

Colorado takes the win to face the Gators on Friday night.

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This is just one of the many sports betting guides that you can read here at Nitrobetting news. Stay tuned for more 2024 March Madness Tournament previews and articles, and don’t forget to check out the latest college basketball odds on our online Crypto sportsbook.

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