NCAAB March Madness First Four Day 2 Best Bets & Odds

The moment we’ve all been waiting for has nearly arrived. But not yet. Before the Madness begins, we must get through the First Four. And historically, this has been a fun little mini-tournament, with UCLA even doing a First Four to Final Four run a few years ago. These four teams competing for two spots in the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship tournament on Wednesday night likely won’t repeat that feat. But they just might.

We have two teams competing for the No. 16 seed in the South bracket and a First Round date with the No. 1 seed Florida Gators: Lehigh and Prairie View A&M. In the late game, SMU and Miami (Ohio) will duke it out for a No. 11 seed in the Midwest and a date with Tennessee. Who comes out on top? Read on for our best bets for each matchup and the best March Madness betting odds in Canada!

NCAA Basketball March Madness First Four Day 2 Betting Odds & Best Bets - March 18

All odds provided by Betway.

Lehigh vs. Prairie View A&M Betting Odds

The key here, as it often is with these lower level matchups, is size. Lehigh is a really sweet shooting team, but the way they’re going to win this one is through their big man, Hank Alvey. He’s 6’9” and 250 pounds, and Prairie View doesn’t have anyone that can really stand up to him physically. If the Mountain Hawks choose to go through Alvey, they will win this one handily.

They did so recently against Colgate, with Alvey picking up 30 points in a big Patriot League win. He will not only be a problem in the post for the Panthers, but he will be a problem on the boards. His ability to pick up offensive rebounds and score second chance points will prove decisive here. We like Lehigh on the moneyline, but if you can find a decent line on Alvey’s points or rebounds numbers, we would suggest smashing those.

Best Bet: Lehigh Moneyline (-165)

SMU vs. Miami (Ohio) Betting Odds

These odds are very, very intriguing. SMU is the better team from a bird’s eye view. But a closer look shows that the underdog might be the bet here. SMU hasn’t been great in recent weeks, losing five of their last six games coming into the Big Dance. The Miami Redhawks, meanwhile, have only lost once this year: last week in the MAC finals.

Miami is a very good three-point shooting team (39.2, 8th in the nation) and we believe that is going to travel here. Especially considering the Mustangs have been really poor away from the comforts of their home gym this season. SMU is just 5-9 away from home during this campaign. Hot shooting will carry the day, and we feel so good we won’t even bother taking the spread. This is March.

Best Bet: Miami (Ohio) Moneyline (+215)