Can The Yale Bulldogs Pull off Another March Madness Stunner?
Last Year's National Finalists are Favored per Yale vs San Diego State Analysis
Unlikely Matchup In Final March Madness Second-Round Game
San Diego State went from being knocked out in the first round in its previous three NCAA tournaments to making an improbable run to the 2023 national title game.
Yale is coming off its second NCAA tournament win and first since 2016. When looking at the Yale vs San Diego State analysis, the Aztecs are favored for the seventh time in their last 10 NCAA tournament games.
Yale won the lone previous matchups 69-62 back in 1992. This is the first meeting between the teams in the NCAA tournament.
San Diego State is listed by the college basketball lines as the 5.5-point favorite watching the highest spread that San Diego State was favored by during its 2023 tournament run. San Diego State has -220 odds to win the game outright with Yale at +190 on the Moneyline.
San Diego State is priced at +4000 in the odds of winning March Madness with Yale well back at +15000 in the championship odds even after the men’s NCAA men’s tournament scores had the 78-76 win over Auburn as one of the signature moments of the first round of March Madness.
San Diego moved into the top 25 in both national polls with the Aztecs 24th in the Associated Press poll and 25th in the USA Today coaches poll.
Keep on reading for more on the matchup between No. 5 seed San Diego State and No. 12 seed Yale.
Bulldogs vs Aztecs 
Date & Time:
Records: Yale 23-9/San Diego State 25-10
Location: Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, Spokane, WA
Streaming: TBS
Looking to Follow Princeton’s Lead
After losing to Princeton in the 2023 Ivy League men’s basketball tournament as the top seed, Yale had to watch the Tigers pull off a pair of upsets against Arizona and Missouri to reach the regionals. Now the Bulldogs are looking to follow a similar script.
Yale stunned No. 4 seed Auburn 78-76 behind 28 points from junior John Poulakidas and a wild sequence when a pair of offensive rebounds gave Auburn a chance to either tie the game or win at the buzzer.
Yale’s challenging non-conference slate included losses to Gonzaga and Kansas and a win over a Colgate team that also played in the NCAA tournament. Keep that in mind when it comes to the Yale vs San Diego State analysis.
Yale is a win away from its first trip to the March Madness regionals and a potential matchup with UConn.
Yale has covered in five of its last six games.
More March Madness for The Aztecs?
With the loss of five of its top 10 scorers from a team that played for the national title including leading scorer Matt Bradley, it was hard to know what to expect from this San Diego State team.
Jaedon LeDee went from averaging 7.9 points and 5.3 rebounds in 18 minutes coming off the bench to becoming the go-to offensive player for San Diego State.
LeDee is averaging 21.4 points and 8.4 rebounds in 33 minutes per game after going off for 32 points in a first-round win over UAB. That followed the Mountain West tournament when he averaged 27 points in the three victories.
USC transfer Reese Waters is the only other double-digit scorer for the Aztecs. Lamont Waters is another college basketball player to watch after he averaged 10.5 points in the 2023 NCAA tournament. That could factor into the Yale vs San Diego State analysis.
San Diego State is 1-6 against the spread over the last seven games and 1-5 ATS in the last six games as the favorite.
Last Meeting
Yale led by as many as 16 points early in the second half on the way to a seven-point win at San Diego State in 1992 as part of two road games in California as the Bulldogs lost by four points to Gonzaga four days before the win over the Aztecs.
Yale vs San Diego State Betting Preview
After Auburn’s run to the SEC title, the Tigers were expected to be the NCAAB team to face defending national champion UConn in the East Regional semifinals.
Yale and San Diego State are happy to defy the odds with the Aztecs having a chance to meet up with UConn again after falling to the Huskies in the 2023 national title game.
When making NCAAB picks, keep in mind that San Diego State is 21-5 as the favorite this NCAAB season. Yale is 3-5 as the underdog.
The Bulldogs are 3-3 against the spread in neutral-site games with three of those games finishing over the total. The total is set at 128.5 in this game thanks to San Diego State being ranked ninth in defensive efficiency according to the Pomeroy college basketball database.
San Diego State has won five of its six neutral-site games with five of those NCAAB matchups landing over the total.
The total has gone over in five of Yale’s last six games.
Before the first-round win over Auburn, Yale’s last five games when listed as the underdog, went under the total.
This feels like a game that could go either way so taking Yale to cover as a 5.5-point underdog seems like the best way to proceed.
For betting news, NCAAB odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
