2019 NCAA Tournament national championship game: Virginia vs. Texas Tech expert picks, predictions, odds, line
Our experts are split on who wins when the Cavaliers face the Red Raiders in Monday's title game
By
CBS Sports Staff
•
3 min read
MINNEAPOLIS -- A new champion will be crowned Monday night as both Virginia and Texas Tech are looking for the first national championship in school history. This is a battle between two of the top defenses in the country. Virginia sports the No. 1 scoring defense in the country, while Texas Tech ranks third.
Both teams had thrilling victories in the Final Four. No. 1 seed Virginia trailed four points with 10 seconds left before Kyle Guy scored six points, including three free throws with 0.6 seconds left, to defeat No. 5 seed Auburn 63-62. No. 3 seed Texas Texas beat No. 2 seed Michigan State 61-51, but it was a one-point game with two-and-a-half minutes remaining. Jarrett Culver, the team's leading scorer this season, struggled for much of the game, but scored seven of his 10 points down the stretch. The Red Raiders finished the game on a 9-0 run.
The Cavaliers opened up a 1-point favorite at the Westgate Las Vegas Superbook on Saturday night with the over/under set at 120.
Who wins Texas Tech vs. Virginia? And which side of the spread hits over 50 percent of the time? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the Texas Tech vs. Virginia spread you should be all over, all from the model that has crushed its college basketball picks, and find out.
Here's how the CBS Sports experts see the game going.
No. 3 Texas Tech vs. No. 1 Virginia
- When: Monday, 9:20 p.m.
- Where: U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis
- TV: CBS
- Streaming: March Madness Live and fuboTV (try for free)
Gary Parrish's pick: Texas Tech has, in this NCAA Tournament, already beaten the teams ranked No. 2 (Gonzaga), No. 3 (Michigan State) and No. 6 (Michigan) at KenPom -- meaning the Red Raiders have topped three teams better than any team Virginia has beaten. And Texas Tech, unlike Virginia, hasn't had to get lucky in the final moments of any of its wins the way Virginia has been fortunate twice -- which is why I'm prepared to type a sentence I've never previously typed, and that sentence is this: Texas Tech is about to win a national championship in Division I men's basketball. Crazy as it sounds on a surface-level, it's true. Texas Tech 58, Virginia 56
Matt Norlander's pick: Let's get this out of the way immediately: I will not bail on Virginia. I've rated the Wahoos as the best team in college basketball since December. The metrics have supported that most of the way. Tony Bennett's team is yet to play a complete game in this tournament, I know. It's not been as impressive as Texas Tech, I know. But it's still got a much better offense, a better roster and, though the margins are slim and practically indecipherable, the better coach. TTU has the best defense in the KenPom era, but to ask the Red Raiders to put up another huge game against an elite opponent is a tall task. It should be a good game, a close game, probably a great game. But Virginia will complete the circle and write an unforgettable story. Kyle Guy wins Final Four MOP and Bennett becomes a national champion. Virginia 59, Texas Tech 56.
Kyle Boone's pick: Texas Tech has been the most impressive team in this year's NCAA Tournament, and it's not particularly close. More impressive: it has been dominant by facing the highest possible seed in every round except the national semifinal against No. 2 seed Michigan State. Only once has it not won by double digits. The way this defense is playing, the way this team is coming together, I'm picking the Red Raiders not only to cover the spread, but to win it straight up. Texas Tech 63, Virginia 60
