Wisconsin vs Montana Prediction, Preview & Odds: NCAA Tournament First Round

Originally posted on College Football News
By Pete Fiutak | Last updated Mar 18, 2025 11:14 PM ET

Wisconsin is a whole lot more fun to watch than it used to be. The former slow, stodgy, five-passes-every-possession team fires away from everywhere, scores a ton, and has the pop and firepower to make a deep run in the tournament.

Montana, though, is dangerous - it won both the Big Sky regular season and tournament championships.

The Grizzlies are on a 14-1 winning run since mid-January, and now they’re looking for their first NCAA Tournament win since 2013.

The winner gets the BYU or VCU next on Saturday.

Wisconsin vs Montana Game Preview

Wisconsin vs Montana How To Watch

Date: Thursday, March 20
Venue: Ball Arena, Denver, CO
Time: 1:30 pm ET
TV: TNT
Teams: (14) Montana (20-12), (3) Wisconsin (20-12)
Region: NCAA Tournament Schedule, Predictions, Previews

Why Montana Will Win

To beat Wisconsin you HAVE to stop the three. Montana isn’t lights out at that, but it’s good enough. The Badgers don’t live off of threes, but they rely on them like a soft, warm blanket a little too often.

Montana is better from the outside, nasty on the inside - it’s No. 2 in the nation in field goal percentage - and wonderful at creating the extra pass for points. It has the scoring chops to keep up the pace, but …

Why Wisconsin Will Win

Wisconsin doesn’t always lose when it’s not hitting the three, but it has a way of allowing opponents to hang around when the threes aren’t falling for a stretch.

The stats for Montana are bit of a lie when it comes to rebounds - is scores so effectively that there aren’t any chances for offensive boards - but it’s not great overall coming up with big boards.

The Grizzlies will make their share of shots, but the Badgers are terrific on the defensive glass. And …

Wisconsin vs Montana: Who Will Win?

As good as Montana was all year, it had a few problems against the good teams.

It gave up 95 to Utah State in a loss, lost by 35 to Tennessee, and got dropped by 31 against Oregon. The Grizzlies were 0-4 in Quad 1 games.

They’ll be 0-5, but Wisconsin will have to rise up in the second half to make it comfortable.

Wisconsin vs Montana Prediction, Betting Lines

Prediction: Wisconsin 84, Montana 65
Wisconsin vs Montana Betting Lines
BetMGM Line: Wisconsin -17.5, o/u: 151.5
DraftKings Line: Wisconsin -17.5, o/u: 152.5
FanDuel Line: Wisconsin -16.5, o/u: 151.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 3.5

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