Wright State vs. Virginia First Round Game Preview, Picks, Betting Odds & Data

By Thom Cunningham | Mar 19, 2026, 5:13pm

The Virginia Cavaliers begin their March Madness campaign against the Wright State Raiders from the Horizon League. Let’s break down all the betting data, odds and trends to consider for this Midwest Region matchup from the city of brotherly love.

Wright State vs. Virginia Game Information

Date: Friday, Mar. 20, 2026
Time: 1:50 p.m. ET
Network: TBS
Region: Midwest
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Venue: Xfinity Mobile Arena

Wright State vs. Virginia Betting Resources

Wright State vs. Virginia Betting Odds

Wright State vs. Virginia Betting Data

Wright State Raiders

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

Seed: No. 14
Record: 23-11
Conference: Horizon League
PS/G: 80.7
PA/G: 73.4
ORtg: 116.5
DRtg: 106

Virginia Cavaliers

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

Seed: No. 3
Record: 29-5
Conference: ACC
PS/G: 80.6
PA/G: 68.4
ORtg: 119.1
DRtg: 101

Wright State vs. Virginia Key Players

Wright State Raiders

TJ Burch (SO) – 12.3 ppg
Michael Imariagbe (SR) – 11.8 ppg; 7 rpg

Virginia Cavaliers

Thijs De Ridder (FR) – 15.5 ppg; 6.2 rpg
Malik Thomas (SR) – 12.4 ppg
Sam Lewis (JR) – 10.8 ppg

Wright State vs. Virginia Betting Analysis

Wright State isn’t a bad look here, given Virginia’s historic struggles in March Madness but more importantly the Raiders solid ATS numbers. They are 3-1 ATS on a neutral court, also 7-2 ATS as an underdog. Away from home, Wright State is also 10-4 on the ATS – so this is a confident team in adverse environments. Virginia, though, is lethal and currently on a 3-0 ATS run entering the tournament.

Also note that Virginia is 5-2 ATS on a neutral court, so it’s very difficult to determine an ATS winner when both cover so well in the given situation. It doesn’t help that the spread is also a large 18-points, so we move to the total for our best play.

Wright State vs. Virginia Best Bet, Pick & Prediction

Because we are uncertain on the ATS market here, we’ll go Over the total as Wright State should actually eclipse 72 points. Even with the subtracted point projection, the score still goes Over. Also, Wright State has gone Over 146 total points in eight straight games during the daytime. Virginia is on a current 4-0 Over run, while Wright State has scored at least 66 points in 34 straight games.

Score Prediction: Virginia 77, Wright State 72
Best Bet: Over 145 (-110)

Photo Credit: AP/Colin Hackley

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.