March Madness is in full swing, which means all eyes are on the tournament. But what that also means is there are fewer eyes on college baseball and a market that is more viable to bet.
It’s full-on conference play season, and the ACC and SEC continue to churn out loaded slates. This weekend, we’ve got NC State-Florida State, Texas-Auburn and Oklahoma-LSU to lead.
But we also have great series where we’ll learn a lot about up-and-coming teams like Georgia Tech at Pitt.
Let’s dig into my college baseball picks and NCAA baseball predictions for the games on Friday, March 20.
College Baseball Picks, Predictions
The team logos in the table below represent each of the matchups that Action Network's Road to CFB is targeting from Friday's slate of NCAA Baseball games. Click on the team logos for any of the matchups below to navigate to a specific bet discussed in this article.
| Game | Time (ET) | Pick |
|---|---|---|
  | 6:30 p.m. | |
  | 7:05 p.m. | |
  | 8 p.m. | |
Specific betting recommendations come from the sportsbook offering preferred odds as of writing. Always shop for the best price using our NCAAF Odds page, which automatically surfaces the best lines for every game. | ||
UTSA vs FAU Pick
FAU's James Litman is a pretty darn good Friday night starter. He’s had his ups and downs — UMBC notched seven hits and scored four runs last week on him — but Litman’s best stuff is outstanding.
He shut Notre Dame down, striking out nine batters in his season debut, and his second-to-last start featured 10 strikeouts against FIU.
UTSA started the year 13-1 with a win over Coastal Carolina and a series sweep of DBU.
But the Roadrunners lost five of their last seven, and the pitching has been atrocious. In that seven-game stretch, UTSA allowed 9.9 runs per game, including 10 or more in four of its last five.
Christian Okerholm starts his second game for UTSA. The senior hasn’t gone more than three innings this season, and he has struggled to keep runners off the bases.
FAU is an average hitting team (96 wRC+), but if it gets aggressive early against the strike-throwing Okerholm, the Owls could build an early lead and then lean on a good bullpen to close things out.
At this price, I like taking the home 'dog.
Pick: FAU ML +140
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Charlotte vs Wichita State Pick
We successfully faded Wichita State on Wednesday, and we’re going back to the well.
It appears the Shockers are valued highly in the market against teams they probably shouldn’t be. It makes sense that they’d be seen favorably; after all, Wichita hung 77 runs on Butler in four games.
But against competent pitching, that production drops dramatically. In two games against Nebraska this past week, Wichita mustered just two total runs.
Enter Charlotte.
The 49ers are flying under the radar thanks to a strong slate of opponents that’s led to a 14-7 record against the 69th-ranked schedule, per Diamond Sports Ratings (DSR).
Charlotte ranks 44 spots higher than Wichita State, per Massey Ratings, and 71 spots higher in DSR (a more volatile but recent-form considering rating).
Right-hander Matthew Cuccias makes his fifth start for Wichita State, and his composite performance is pretty good (4.35 xFIP and 28.9% K). However, he allowed six earned runs on eight hits in his last two outings (10 IP), including against teams like West Georgia and Butler.
Before a disastrous outing against St. John’s last time out, Charlotte starter Eddie Copper had been terrific.
He allowed one or no runs in his first four starts — against some solid competition like Old Dominion and San Diego — before imploding for five earned runs in six innings last Friday.
I’d anticipate a regression to the mean after that outlier performance.
Pick: Charlotte ML +102
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College Baseball Parlay
- North Carolina vs. Louisville (8:30 p.m. ET · ACC Network)
- Oregon State vs. UC Irvine (9 p.m. · ESPN+)
Oregon State hits the road to face a quality UC Irvine club, while North Carolina hosts Louisville.
I like to have stock in Oregon State starter Dax Whitney whenever possible. No starter has been better this year, and Whitney stands second overall in the nation in xFIP (2.55); he’s also striking out batters at an alarming 48.2% clip, third-best nationally.
For a while, I wanted to bet Oregon State unders when Whitney was on the mound. However, the Beavers’ bats have fully awakened, blowing unders out of the water themselves.
I’m pairing Whitney’s start with North Carolina this Friday. I’ve faded Louisville in many spots this year and, against one of the best teams in the entire country, I’m fading the Cards again.
A 13-3 collapse against Virginia cheapened the price on the Tar Heels on Friday, and I’m not shying off.
UNC starter Jason DeCaro was shelled against the Hoos, but had a nice turnaround performance at Cal last Friday. His strikeout numbers won’t jump off the page, but DeCaro held the red-hot Golden Bears to just one run in six innings.
The formula for Louisville has been fairly straightforward: fade them against higher-quality competition (they’re just .500 against power conference foes).
Pick: UNC + Oregon State ML Parlay (+107)
