Afirst-time champion will be crowned on Monday night when the No.1-seed Virginia Cavaliers play the 3-seed Texas Tech Raiders in the 2019 NCAA Tournament national championship game.It’s a 9:20 p.m.ET tipoff from U.S.Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.Texas Tech looked dominant in upsetting Michigan State, 61-51 on Saturday, while Virginia benefited from a last-second controversial call to edge Auburn, 63-62.Neither team has been in the National Championship before.Bookmakers list the Cavaliers as 1.5-point favorites in the latest Virginia vs.Texas Tech odds, with the over-under for total points set at 117.5as two stout defenses collide.Before you make any Texas Tech vs.Virginia picks or 2019 March Madness championship game predictions, see what the SportsLine Projection Model has to say.This model, which simulates every game 10,000 times, has raked in the winnings for those following its picks.Over the past two years, the SportsLine Projection Model has returned over $4,000 to $100 players on its top-rated college basketball picks.It entered the postseason on an 11-5 run on top-rated plays, and It’s been spot-on in the 2019 NCAA Tournament, calling Auburn’s huge upset of Kentucky in the Elite 8 and nailing 14 Sweet 16 teams.Anyone who has followed it is way up.Now, the model has crunched the numbers for Texas Tech vs.Virginia.We can tell you the model is leaning over, but it has also generated an against-the-spread pick that hits in over 50 percent of simulations.That pick is available only at SportsLine.The model knows Virginia (34-3) continues to rely on its elite defense, which held Auburn to 38.2percent shooting overall, 29 percent from beyond the arc and just nine assists.The Tigers wanted to run, but the Cavaliers turned the national semifinal into a grinder.Virginia is giving up 58.6points per game in the NCAA Tournament 2019.Virginia boasts three lethal scorers, a stark contrast from previous years when the Cavaliers were limited offensively.Against Auburn, Ty Jerome went off for 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting, adding nine rebounds, six assists and a block.Plus, the Cavaliers had covered 16 of their last 21 games following an against the spread loss.But just because the Cavaliers have a top-shelf defense doesn’t mean they’ll cover the Texas Tech vs.Virginia spread on Monday.The model also knows that no team is as hot as the Red Raiders, who have won 14 of their last 15 and covered 11 straight versus winning teams.Texas Tech, which leads the nation in defensive efficiency, has held four of its five 2019 NCAA Tournament opponents to 58 or fewer points and just harassed Michigan State into 31.9percent shooting from the floor, the Spartans’ season-low.Leading scorer Jarrett Culver was held to 10 points in the national semifinal, but senior Matt Mooney matched his season high with 22 points as he drained 4-of-8 three-pointers.While UVA’s last three wins have been decided by five or fewer points, the Red Raiders’ closest call was a six-point win over a

Comments

Comments are disabled for this post.