Missouri (22-11) enters the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament having lost four of their last five games but with a high-powered offense and a tough, physical defense that finished .500 against Top 25 teams this season. The Tigers are led by a dynamic backcourt and have a well-rounded team capable of winning in a shootout against anyone.
Drake (30-3) is a veteran team that enters the tournament having won their last seven games. Junior point guard and MVC Player of the Year Bennett Stirtz executes first-year head coach Ben McCollum’s slow-tempo game plan perfectly. The Bulldogs are a trendy upset pick over the Tigers, especially if they can slow the game down and shoot at or near their season percentage (45.9% in their last ten games).
Lets dive into the matchup and offer some information and possibly a sweat or two.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch the opening tip, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
Game details & how to watch Drake vs. Missouri
- Date: Thursday, March 20, 2025
- Time: 7:35PM EST
- Site: INTRUST Bank Arena
- City: Wichita, KS
- Network/Streaming: truTV
Never miss a second of the action and stay up to date with all the latest scores and player news. Check out our day-by-day NCAA Basketball Schedule Page that includes live game updates.
Game odds for Drake vs. Missouri
The latest odds as of Wednesday courtesy of BetMGM:
- Odds: Drake Bulldogs (+230), Missouri Tigers (-295)
- Spread: Tigers -7.5
- Total: 132.5 points
Expert picks & predictions for Drake vs. Missouri
NBC Sports Bet Best Bet
Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the NCAA calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, injuries, and the schedule.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Thursday’s Bulldogs & Tigers game:
- Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play on Missouri on the Moneyline.
- Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the Drake Bulldogs +7.5.
- Total: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play on the Game Total OVER 132.5.
Drake vs. Missouri: Top betting trends and recent stats
- Drake is 4-3 against the spread in their last 7 games (all wins)
- Drake is 5-2 to the UNDER for those 7 games
- Missouri has lost 4 of its last 5 games
- Missouri is 1-4 against the spread in their last 5 games
If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our NCAA Basketball Top Trends Tool on NBCSports.com!
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· Jay Croucher (@croucherJD)
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· Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports)
· Brad Thomas (@MrBradThomas)
