March Madness First-Round Odds – Spread, Moneyline, Total for All 2025 NCAA Tournament Games
By Sascha Paruk in College Basketball
Updated: March 20, 2025 at 10:34 am EDTPublished:
- The 68-team NCAA Tournament field is set and first-round matchups are on the board
- One double-digit seed is favored in its first-round matchup
- See the odds for all available 2025 March Madness first-round games, below
The odds are out for all the first-round and first four matchups at the 2025 NCAA Tournament. The table below lists the opening spread, moneyline and game total for all 32 games currently on the board. Under the table find notes on the biggest spreads and highest/lowest totals for the round of 64.
March Madness First-Round Odds for All Games
After it was announced that Cooper Flagg’s ankle injury would not keep him out of the NCAA Tournament, the Duke Blue Devils went back to being the outright favorites in the 2025 March Madness odds.
#12 Colorado State Favored Over #5 Memphis
The only double-digit seed that is a betting favorite over its first-round opponent is the #12 Colorado State Rams, who went 25-9 (16-4 Mountain West), laying 3.5 points against the #5 Memphis Tigers, who are 29-5 (16-2 AAC). This line actually opened at CSU -2.5 but was immediately bet up by a full point to 3.5.
This spread is entirely motivated by analytics sites like KenPom, Torvik, and Haslametrics, which all rate the Rams higher than the Tigers. At the latter two, Colorado State is in the high 30s, while Memphis is in the mid 60s.
Biggest First-Round Spreads: SIU Edwardsville vs Houston
The biggest spread of the first round is a whopper. The South #1 Houston Cougars are laying 27.5 points against the #16 SIUE Cougars, despite the total being the lowest on the board (more on this later) at 127.5.
The second-biggest spread is the West #1 Florida Gators laying 26.5 points against the #16 Norfolk State Spartans. Florida has been arguably the best team in the nation the last month of the season, and they cruised to the SEC Tournament title, winning all three games by at least nine points.
Highest First-Round Total: Akron vs Arizona
The highest total on the board is 167.5 in #13 Akron Zips vs #4 Arizona Wildcats. These are two up-temp teams. Arizona plays at the 54th-fastest tempo in DI and Akron is even faster at 16th. Both teams are also considerably better on offense than they are on defense. The Wildcats have the #12 offense per KenPom’s efficiency ratings and #33 defense. Akron sits at #68 on offense and a concerning #183 on defense.
Arizona went 19-15 over/under this season, while Arkon was one of the better over bets in the nation all year, going 19-12-1 O/U, a profitable 61.3% cover rate for over bettors.
Lowest First-Round Total: SIU Edwardsville vs Houston
At the other end of the spectrum from Akron/Zona is what’s sure to be a slow-paced game between #16 SIU Edwardsville Cougars and #1 Houston Cougars, which has a total of just 127.5. Houston has the top-rated defense in the country and plays at the fifth-slowest pace of all 364 DI teams. SIUE has an anemic offense (rated #255) and plays at a slower-than average pace (261st).
KenPom projects a lopsided 75-51 Houston victory.
Houston is 14-19-1 O/U on the season. SIUE is 15-16.
BETMGM SPORTSBOOKUSE CODE SBD1500 & GET $1,500 BACK IN BONUS BETS
BET365 SPORTSBOOKBET $5 & GET $150 IN BONUS BETS WITH CODE DIME365
FANATICS SPORTSBOOKBET & GET UP TO $1,000 IN BONUS BETS!
DRAFTKINGS SPORTSBOOKBET $5 & GET $200 IN BONUS BETS INSTANTLY!
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOKBET $5 & GET $250 IF YOUR BET WINS
CAESARS SPORTSBOOKUSE CODE SBD2DYW & BET $1 TO DOUBLE THE WINNINGS ON YOUR FIRST 10 BETS!
Must be 21+. GAMBLING PROBLEM? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (CO, IL, KS, KY, MD, MI, NC, NJ, OH, PA, TN, VA, VT, WV, WY); (800) 327-5050 or gamblinghelplinema.org (MA); (877) 8-HOPENY (NY); 1-800-NEXT-STEP (AZ); (888) 789-7777 (CT); 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA); 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN); mdgamblinghelp.org (MD); morethanagame.nc.gov (NC); 1800gambler.net (WV)
Managing Editor
Sascha has been working in the sports-betting industry since 2014, and quickly paired his strong writing skills with a burgeoning knowledge of probability and statistics. He holds an undergraduate degree in linguistics and a Juris Doctor from the University of British Columbia.
