The Omaha Mavericks will take on the St. John’s Red Storm in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament on Thursday, March 20, 2025. This West Region matchup features the two-seed St. John’s, who won the Big East Tournament, and the 15-seed Mavericks who won the Summit League. St. John’s enters this game as a heavy favorite, but in March Madness an upset is always a possibility.
According to DraftKings Sportsbook, St. John’s is a 17.5-point favorite in this game from Providence, RI. Meanwhile, the total for the game stands at 145.5 points. Here, we break down Omaha vs St. John’s in the first round of March Madness and we make our best bet for this matchup between Summit League and Big East opponents.
Omaha Makes Division I Tourney Debut
Omaha was put into a weird spot in the Summit League championship game. They faced a St. Thomas team that was ineligible to participate in the NCAA Tournament, meaning that the Mavericks were guaranteed to play in March Madness no matter what happened in that game. But Omaha left no doubt who the best team in the conference was, winning the Summit League tournament final 85-75.
The Mavericks are led by a very talented player in forward Marquel Sutton. Sutton averages 19.1 points per game, putting him in the top-40 nationally in that department. Sutton will need to have a huge game here if his team is going to put their opponents on upset alert their first NCAA Tournament appearance as a Division I program.
Can St. John’s Continue Return to Prominence?
This season has marked a massive resurgence for the St. John’s Red Storm. Under Rick Pitino, the Red Storm went 30-4 and won both the regular season title and the conference tournament in the Big East. Now St. John’s will look to prove itself in the NCAA Tournament as they look to get their tournament started off on the right foot as a big favorite in round one.
One area where the Johnnies will be expected to have a massive edge in this contest is on the glass. The Red Storm enter this tournament in the top-10 in the country in rebounds per game, averaging 40.9 boards per contest, including 14.5 offensive rebounds per game. As long as they continue creating second chances and denying their opposition second chances, the Red Storm should have no trouble in the first round of March Madness.
Omaha vs St. John’s Prediction
St. John’s -17.5 (-110) over Omaha
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Claim Bonus - St. John’s has the number-one defense in college basketball according to Kenpom.
- The Mavericks are making their NCAA Tournament debut at the Division I level and should struggle here.
