Texas vs. NC State First Four Game Preview, Picks, Betting Odds & Data

By Thom Cunningham | Mar 17, 2026, 8:26pm

To cap off the First Four evening on Tuesday, March 17, we have an intriguing matchup between the SEC’s Texas Longhorns and the ACC’s NC State Wolfpack. Will Wade returns to the sideline of March Madness with a power conference school after departing McNeese a season ago. Let’s go through this No. 11 seed showdown with game odds, stats, predictions and other information.

Texas vs. NC State Game Information

Date: Tuesday, Mar. 17, 2026
Time: 9:15 p.m. ET
Network: truTV
Region: West
Location: Dayton, Ohio
Venue: UD Arena

Texas vs. NC State Betting Resources

Texas vs. NC State Betting Odds

Texas vs. NC State Betting Data

Texas Longhorns

Region Odds:
Sweet 16 Odds:
Elite Eight Odds:
Final Four Odds:
National Title Odds:

Seed: No. 11
Record: 18-14
Conference: SEC
PS/G: 83.8
PA/G: 76.8
ORtg: 120.1
DRtg: 110.1

NC State Wolfpack

Region Odds:
Sweet 16 Odds:
Elite Eight Odds:
Final Four Odds:
National Title Odds:

Seed: No. 11
Record: 20-13
Conference: ACC
PS/G: 83.7
PA/G: 76.5
ORtg: 119
DRtg: 108.8

Texas vs. NC State Key Players

Texas Longhorns

Dailyn Swain (JR) – 17.8 ppg; 7.6 rpg; 3.4 apg
Matas Vokietaitis (SO) – 15.5 ppg; 6.8 rpg
Tramon Mark (SR) – 13.5 ppg

NC State Wolfpack

Paul McNeil (SO) – 13.9 ppg
Quadir Copeland (SR) – 13.9 ppg; 6.6 apg
Ven-Allen Lubin (SR) – 13.9 ppg; 7.2 rpb

Texas vs. NC State Betting Analysis

Texas gets into the ‘Big Dance’ despite an 18-14 record, limping in from a betting stance with a current three-game skid in the ATS market. In fact, the Longhorns have dropped the spread in three of four games on a neutral court – but do pose an impressive 7-3 ATS mark away from Austin. From a point total standpoint, the Longhorns hold a 19-12 record, which makes sense with the 83 points per game averaged by the Texas offense.

NC State also averages about 83 points per game, so the scoring could be fruitful here. NC State is 21-12 on the O/U this season, so as we’ll explain below, the Over might be the best play here. The spread is near even money, meaning it could flip by the time the game starts. Currently, NC State is the -1.5-point favorite but if that line switches then consider Texas instead – as the Wolfpack hold a measly 1-5 ATS record as the underdog. Regardless of the favorite-underdog status, NC State has failed to cover nine of 11 games.

Texas vs. NC State Best Bet, Pick & Prediction

We mentioned the combined 40-26 O/U record between these schools above. Along with the ATS failures from each team entering, the total becomes our market of choice here. NC State is currently on a 5-0 Over run, while also scoring at least 81 total points in eight of nine games against non-AP ranked schools.

Score Prediction: Texas 81, NC State 80
Best Bet: Over 157.5 (-110)

Thom Cunningham

Thom Cunningham is the Lineups.com News Editor and has been involved with sports media for almost two decades at Spectrum, VegasInsider.com, Oddschecker, VSiN and much more as a content producer - focused on the betting and gaming space over the last decade tracking insights, data analytics and covering various markets from the NFL to the Oscars.