The Hofstra Pride have arrived in March Madness as the No. 13 seed in the Midwest Regional, and they have the tall task of beating No. 4 seed Alabama to move on to the second round. The odds are not looking good for them, but this is March Madness, a tournament where shocking upsets have happened before, such as VCU taking down North Carolina last night.
This season, Hofstra has pulled off a big upset, and that was against the Syracuse Orange, so it shows that the Pride can step up and pull off those upsets if needed. However, the Alabama Crimson Tide, even though they have had their struggles this season, will be a much more difficult challenge.
With their 23-9 record, the Tide have beaten some of the best teams in this tournament this season, but they have also shown that they could lose to plucky underdogs, too. During the SEC Tournament, the No. 2 Crimson Tide lost to the second-lowest-seeded team in the tournament, Ole Miss, which was on a historic run at that time. While Ole Miss had the momentum, the Rebels showed that beating Alabama can be done by an underdog.
Alabama is coming in as the -11.5 (-110) favorites, making the Hofstra Pride the 11.5 (-110) underdogs with an over of 159.5 (-105) and an under of 159.5 (-115). The moneyline is -800 for Bama and +550 for Hofstra, which means the rewards for bettors are much higher if they bet for the Pride. The question now is, can they win?
Given the history of March Madness, yes, they can, as more lower-seeded teams have beaten much higher-seeded teams before. However, the odds of that happening are still pretty low, but that does not mean it would be impossible. In addition, the Pride have struggled to defend the perimeter, and Alabama is one of the best three-point shooting teams out there, so style-wise, they are at a disadvantage.
Hofstra Coach Addresses Matchup vs. Alabama
Hofstra Pride head coach Speedy Claxton is more than aware of the odds they have against Bama, but he knows his team’s strengths, which lie with his big men, 7-foot Silas Sunday and 6-foot-10 Victory Onuetu, to deliver. He noted that he likes his chances with his big men in play.
“I’m not worried about my bigs at all,” Claxton said. “Because honestly I believe we have bigs that are more suited to go up against high majors than mid-majors. When you play against a mid-major team that plays with a smaller five, that’s where we struggle as a team, and that’s where my bigs struggle guarding. So going up against a high major team, I like my bigs’ chances against those guys better quite honestly.”
If Hofstra stands a chance, it will be on the boards as Alabama has struggled in grabbing rebounds. Claxton knows this and is confident about what his bigs can do.
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