McNeese vs Purdue Odds, Picks, Props & Betting Splits for NCAA Tournament

• The 12th-seeded McNeese Cowboys are 6-point underdogs vs the Purdue Boilermakers in Round of 32 NCAA Tournament play
• McNeese has won 12 games in a row
• See the McNeese vs Purdue odds, player props, and predictions for March 22

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The 12th-seeded McNeese Cowboys (28-6, 16-16-0 ATS) have started the coaster ride. We’re going to find out if they can sustain it Saturday at the NCAA Tournament when the take on the #4 Purdue Boilermakers (23-11, 18-16-0 ATS). McNeese, the Southland Champions, were the lowest seed to advance Thursday and ride a 12-game win streak into the Round of 32. But they’re still the clear underdog.

This matchup in the Midwest Region tips off on Saturday at 12:10pm ET from Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, RI with CBS providing the broadcast coverage.

Check below for the McNeese vs Purdue odds, player props plus my betting prediction.

McNeese vs Purdue Odds

The Cowboys enter as 6-point underdog in the college basketball odds, and a distant +210 on the moneyline. The total comes in at 142.5 points.

Odds as of March 22 at DraftKings. Read SBD’s guide to the March Madness betting strategy.

McNeese introduced themselves to the national audience with a 69-67 win over 5th-seeded Clemson Tigers, but they did a lot of the work early, building up a 31-13 halftime advantage, enough to steer home the upset victory.

Their overall numbers weren’t great, including shooting 4-for-19 from 3-point range, a 21.1% clip, while making only 11 of 22 free throws, but they were dogs on the glass, pulling down 18 offensive rebounds and winning the board matchup with Clemson by seven.

Purdue was steady with a 75-63 win over the 13th-seeded High Point Panthers. While the Boilermakers built up a 10-point halftime lead, the second half was fairly close and up for grabs until a late Purdue pull-away.

The Boilermakers’ glass work is also worth noting, as they pulled down 19 offensive rebounds, just five less than the Panthers’ total rebound number. That helped them take eight more field goals, and they doubled High Point’s trips to the free throw line, 22-11.

McNeese vs Purdue Public Betting Splits

The March Madness public betting splits are split for both schools. If we’re talking moneyline, 75% of the bets have are going on the Boilermakers to advance. However, though the Cowboys are only getting 25% of the bets, 74% of the money is on the upset bet.

Looking at the spread, McNeese is getting 53% of the bets, with 46% of the money, very close to Purdue, getting 47% of the bets and 54% of the money.

The game-total betting is crushing the Over: a whopping 92% of both bets and money is on the two teams cruising over the total of 142.5.

McNeese vs Purdue Prediction

It’s something bettors ask themselves every year when we see an upstart pull off a major upset: can they sustain the momentum?

Wiping out an ACC team suddenly makes McNeese legit, but they’ve been on some kind of roll lately. In winning the Southland Conference, the Cowboys led the conference in both scoring (77 points per game) and points allowed (64.1).

They put the vice grips on the Tigers in Round 1, holding them to 36.8% shooting from the field, and a paltry 9-for-30 from beyond the arc, just a 30% hit rate.

What also stood out against Clemson was their relentless work on the glass, but that came out of nowhere. McNeese ranked just sixth in both total rebounding and in offensive rebounding in the Southland.

But the same can be said for Purdue: they ranked 15th in rebounding in the Big Ten, and just 11th on the offensive glass.

Purdue with two big put-back slams 💪

The Boilermakers open up their largest lead of the day!#MarchMadness @BoilerBall pic.twitter.com/Sj8jGRND7u

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 20, 2025

That being said, the Boilermakers are battle tested, ranking seventh in KenPom’s strength of schedule, and sixth in offensive efficiency.

While McNeese’s defense will be spirited, I don’t think it can contain an offense that is that polished, and a roster of players who have played in more than one NCAA Tournament.

I believe the strategy then, is to put up points.

Purdue has cashed the Over in four of its last six games overall, and they’re also the best 3-ball shooting team in the Big Ten. They were held to just 5-for-15 against High Point.

McNeese was second in its conference shooting the moneyball, hitting at a 35.5% clip. Purdue isn’t exactly a get-right opponent for this, as they’ve held teams have to 30.9% from distance.

But this is March Madness. The Cowboys have hit the Over in four of their last seven, so let’s ride with the betting public and hammer the Over.

• McNeese vs Purdue pick: Over 142.5 points (-110)

McNeese vs Purdue Player Props

McNeese vs Purdue player props from bet365 on Mar 22. Claim the current bet365 bonus code to get a bonus for Saturday’s NCAAM slate.

Junior guard Quadir Copeland has shown he is ready for the big stage. He led all starters with 16 points against Clemson, adding seven rebounds and five assists.

This, after he went from 18 in the Southland Tournament final to the Lamar Cardinals. He’s been ultra efficient in both, staying under 10 field goal attempts in each game.

For the Boilermakers, junior Trey Kaufman-Renn has the highest scoring prop Saturday at 21.5 – a figure he’s topped in three of the last four games.

And junior Braden Smith has the second highest scoring total at 17.5. Smith went for 20 against High Point, the fourth time in six games he’s scored 18 or more points.