2024 NCAA Tournament Spread Picks for Friday, March 22: Pro Projections College Basketball Best Bets

If you tailed PRO Projections top two college basketball bets Thursday, how can you not feel confident about Friday's picks?

Duquesne (+9.5) won outright; Gonzaga (-6.5), meanwhile, won by 21. And now, another surprise.

PRO Projections largest spread edge of the entire NCAA Tournament First Round goes off Friday — and our expert projections also green-lighted an additional three best bets. Overall the top NCAA Tournament spread picks Friday, sorted by strength, include juicy betting edges in a whopping four tilts.

• Northwestern vs. FAU
• Nebraska vs. Texas A&M
• Charleston vs. Alabama
• Colorado vs. Florida

PRO Projections tag all picks with a grade like A, B, C and so on. As a general rule of thumb, we suggest taking B grades or better when tailing projections.

All four spread picks Friday are locked and loaded with value, including a pair of 'A' picks. Also, a couple predictions below feature a scenario in which the wrong team is favored!

Let's start with the 8/9 showdown between FAU and Northwestern — or as PRO would tag it, the biggest point spread mismatch of any NCAA Tournament game in the opening round.

NCAA Tournament Spread Picks Friday · Pro Projections Best Bets

Northwestern vs. Florida Atlantic Spread Pick

Here's the big disagreement in the Round of 64 — our FAU vs. Northwestern line Friday is a full 6.5 points off the consensus Owls vs. Wildcats spread.

NCAA Basketball Odds: FAU -3.5

PRO Projections Spread: Northwestern -3

It's a clear-cut A+ suggestion to back the Big Ten program to not only cover, but perhaps trip up last year's underdog darlings and win outright.

PRO Prediction: Northwestern Spread

Charleston vs. Alabama Spread Pick

There's value on Charleston