The Bowling Green Falcons take on the Akron Zips in the MAC Tournament. Tip-off is set for 11 a.m. ET on ESPN+.
Akron is favored by 11.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -675. The total is set at 149.5 points.
Here are my Bowling Green vs. Akron predictions and college basketball picks for March 13, 2025.
Bowling Green vs Akron Prediction
My Pick: Akron -11.5
My Bowling Green vs Akron best bet is on the Zips spread, with the best odds currently available at DraftKings. For all of your college basketball bets, be sure to find the best lines by using our live NCAAB odds page.
Bowling Green vs Akron Odds
| Bowling Green Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+11.5 -102 | 149.5 -112o / -108u | +490 |
| Akron Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-11.5 -118 | 149.5 -112o / -108u | -675 |
- Bowling Green vs Akron spread: Akron -11.5
- Bowling Green vs Akron over/under: 149.5 points
- Bowling Green vs Akron moneyline: Akron -675, Bowling Green +490
- Bowling Green vs Akron best bet: Akron -11.5
Spread
I'm backing the Zips to cover the double-digit spread.
Moneyline
I'm passing on the moneyline.
Over/Under
I'm passing on the over/under.
My Pick: Akron -11.5
Bowling Green vs Akron College Basketball Betting Preview
The Zips enter MAC Madness as one of the nation’s hottest offenses.
Following Enrique Freeman’s graduation, John Groce transformed Akron into a spacing-and-shooting machine, throwing out four-guard lineups that can attack-and-kick while running off-ball screening actions on the perimeter.
Does Bowling Green have a shot at stopping that?
Well, the Falcons hung with Akron for 40 minutes in early January, losing by three in Bowling Green.
They’re also playing great basketball lately, entering the tournament having won seven of their past 10 games behind uber-entertaining big man Marcus Johnson.
That said, the Falcons play a ton of zone defense, and they’re among the worst catch-and-shoot denial defenses in the nation. They allow over 11 unguarded catch-and-shoot jumpers per game, the ninth-most nationally, behind a 44% 3-point rate allowed, the highest mark in the MAC.
Akron had no issues generating those shots against Bowling Green, but the Zips didn’t hit any. They attempted a whopping 42 triples and made only 12 (28%), with leading scorer Tavari Johnson shooting an uncharacteristic 1-for-7 after shooting 40% from 3 on the year.
Bowling Green runs more of a dribble-drive and isolation offense on the other end of the court. That’ll likely be a problem against Akron’s excellent ball-screen coverage (.80 PPP allowed, 91st percentile, per Synergy) and isolation (.77 PPP allowed, 77th percentile, per Synergy) defense.
It was in the first matchup. The Falcons shot 15-for-41 (37%) from inside the arc and got almost nothing in the paint (22 paint points, 17th percentile among single-game outcomes, per CBB Analytics).
I expect this game to play out similarly to how the first matchup did but with Akron hitting a bunch more of those perimeter shots en route to a double-digit win and cover.
