The Texas Tech Red Raiders and UNC Wilmington Seahawks face off in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Texas Tech is looking to exorcise their recent NCAA Tournament demons while UNC Wilmington is looking to make it to the Round of 32 for just the second time in program history.
Below, we will preview this March Madness college basketball game, giving the Texas Tech vs UNC Wilmington overview, trends and our expert pick! Which school will win and keep their hopes of winning the championship trophy alive?
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Texas Tech vs UNC Wilmington Prediction and March Madness Expert Picks
2025 NCAA Tournament
No. 3 Texas Tech Red Raiders (25-8) vs. No. 14 UNC Wilmington Seahawks (27-7)
Date: Thursday, March 20, 2025
Time: 10:10 PM EST
Venue: INTRUST Bank Arena — Wichita, KS
Coverage: TruTV
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Texas Tech vs UNC Wilmington March Madness Odds
All college basketball betting odds for Texas Tech vs UNC Wilmington can be found at BetUS Sportsbook.
Moneyline: TTU: (-1650) | UNCW: (+935)
Point Spread: TTU: -14.5 (-118) | UNCW: +14.5 (-102)
Total: 142.5 — Over: (-110) | Under: (-110)
KenPom Rankings | Bracketology
KenPom Rankings are from KenPom.com
| Team | Rk | AdjO | AdjD | AdjT |
| Texas Tech | 7 | 125.3 (6) | 97.2 (37) | 65.4 (281) |
| UNC Wilmington | 106 | 112.3 (85) | 107.1 (184) | 65.3 (284) |
Texas Tech vs UNC Wilmington College Basketball Trends
- Texas Tech is 4-1 in their last five games.
- UNC Wilmington is 5-0 in their last five games.
- Texas Tech is 10-3 in non-conference play this season.
- UNC Wilmington is 13-3 in non-conference play this season.
- Texas Tech is 6-1 against double-digit seeds since 2005.
- UNC Wilmington hasn’t won an NCAA Tournament game since 2002.
Texas Tech vs UNC Wilmington Prediction | March Madness Expert Picks
It is impossible to talk about this Red Raiders team without mentioning the force that is transfer forward JT Toppin. The former New Mexico player has averaged over 18 points and nine rebounds per game. Texas Tech has three other players that also average double-digit points per game. Texas Tech does a great job racking up the rebounds and they play some of the best defense in the entire country. They do struggle at times with size and protecting the rim, but UNC Wilmington does not any frontcourt players they can’t deal with fairly easily.
The Seahawks are a massive unknown in this tournament and are arguably the toughest team to project. That is thanks to the complete lack of talent they’ve faced as they matched up with a top-100 team just once this season. While that was a loss to Kansas in which they were only down by three at halftime, that’s hardly enough to project this game. The two things we do know about this team are that they can hit their free throws and grab offensive rebounds, both of which are predictors for success in this tournament.
This game will be closer than people expect. Don’t be surprised when Texas Tech is in a dogfight at halftime or even during the second half. UNC Wilmington matches up fairly well, but JT Toppin will just be too much for them.
For our Texas Tech vs UNC Wilmington prediction, we are picking the Texas Tech Red Raiders to win and move on in the NCAA Tournament.
