Free Pick | NIT | Sunday | March 23

Nelly’s is on a 33-21 NCAA Tournament run since 2022 – we have two releases for Sunday’s Round of 32!

#879 UAB + over Santa Clara 8:00 PM CT

UAB was a few plays away from making the NCAA Tournament, losing a tight AAC Final against Memphis, with the 12-point final score a misleading result. The Blazers were in a potentially dangerous spot with a quick turnaround and a NIT road game on Wednesday but UAB survived with a 69-65 win at Saint Joseph’s, even without a strong shooting performance. UAB dominated the rebounding in that game and the Blazers grade as one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the nation. UAB has a very low turnover rate and shoots well at the free throw line for appealing underdog traits heading into this road game at Santa Clara. Herb Sendek’s Broncos had a nice season, but this was the fourth place team in a down year for the WCC, even with the expansion to add two former Pac-12 teams. Santa Clara did win at Gonzaga in January but the Broncos are 7-10 vs. top 125 teams this season. Santa Clara has great 3-point shooting numbers this season, but the team’s most prolific 3-point shooter Adama-Alpha Bal didn’t play in the NIT win over UC Riverside and is questionable for Sunday, likely taking a 38 percent 3-point shooter off the floor and also hurting the size edge the Broncos should have in this matchup. Santa Clara dominated its opening NIT game but also shot over 59 percent from 3-point range for an extreme outlier result against an overmatched team that grades several tiers below the Blazers. UAB was a NCAA Tournament team in 2024 and 2022 and made the NIT Final in 2023 as Andy Kennedy’s team has performed at a high level and this is his best offensive team in the past three years.