Troy vs. Nebraska First Round Game Preview, Picks, Betting Odds & Data

By Thom Cunningham | Mar 18, 2026, 5:16pm

The Nebraska Cornhuskers look for their first ever March Madness victory after a great season that saw Big Red win 20-straight games at one point. They face the Troy Trojans who won the Sun Belt to represent that conference in this year’s tournament. Let’s get you ready for this South Region game with betting odds, data, analysis and predictions below.

Troy vs. Nebraska Game Information

Date: Thursday, Mar. 19, 2026
Time: 12:40 p.m. ET
Network: truTV
Region: South
Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Venue: Paycom Center

Troy vs. Nebraska Betting Resources

Troy vs. Nebraska Betting Odds

Troy vs. Nebraska Betting Data

Troy Trojans

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

Seed: No. 13
Record: 22-11
Conference: Sun Belt
PS/G: 80.3
PA/G: 73.1
ORtg: 113.5
DRtg: 103.4

Nebraska Cornhuskers

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

Seed: No. 4
Record: 26-6
Conference: Big Ten
PS/G: 77.3
PA/G: 66.2
ORtg: 114
DRtg: 97.7

Troy vs. Nebraska Key Players

Troy Trojans

Victor Valdes (JR) – 14.8 ppg; 4 rpg; 4.6 apg
Thomas Dowd (JR) – 14.8 ppg; 10.1 rpg
Cooper Campbell (SO) – 12.7 ppg; 4.2 apg

Nebraska Cornhuskers

Pryce Sandfort (JR) – 17.8 ppg; 4.8 rpg
Rienk Mast (SR) – 13.5 ppg; 5.8 rpg
Braden Frager (FR) – 11.6 ppg

Troy vs. Nebraska Betting Analysis

The standout betting stat from these two schools is the point total for Nebraska, heavily favoring the Under at 10-22 while Troy also favors the Under slightly at 13-16-1. This is a concern because Troy has gone Over 138 total points in a remarkable 17 of 18 non-conference games when playing during the daytime. Our score projection below also indicates an Over – so it might be best to avoid the total market.

The spread is large enough to consider for the underdog, which is Troy, and as underdogs have covered five of seven games this season. Troy also finds themselves on a current 3-1 ATS run, but did drop the spread in four straight games prior to their run. The Cornhuskers have won 22 straight non-conference games outright, but are just 13-12-1 on the ATS when playing as the favorite.

Troy vs. Nebraska Best Bet, Pick & Prediction

The score projection indicates a closer game than the given +12.5-point spread, so we’ll try Troy’s 5-2 ATS mark as an underdog along with their 3-1 ATS mark over their last four games. Nebraska has also failed to cover three of four games away from Lincoln. The Over is still a viable play as well, but Nebraska’s 10-22 O/U record is why we’ll side with the spread instead.

Score Prediction: Nebraska 75, Troy 73
Best Bet: Troy +13.5 (-110)

Photo Credit: AP/Kayla Wolf

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.