Georgia vs. Saint Louis: NCAA Tournament Predictions & Preview

by BettingPros Staff |
Mar 15, 2026

The 2026 NCAA Tournament is officially here! The March Madness Bracket is set, and first-round NCAA Tournament matchups are in place. It’s time to make your picks and predictions for the first round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament! We’re here to help as we’ll have picks and predictions for each of the first round 2026 NCAA Tournament games. Here are our NCAA Tournament predictions and preview for Georgia vs. Saint Louis.

2026 NCAA Tournament Predictions & Preview: Georgia vs. Saint Louis

Here are the odds for this opening-round matchup of the 2026 NCAA Tournament. Let’s dive into our preview and predictions for this NCAA Tournament matchup.

Georgia 2026 NCAA Tournament Preview

Mike White has done something remarkable in Athens. The Bulldogs have reached 20 wins for the third straight season, setting a program record with 22 regular-season victories, the most in 121 years of Georgia basketball. This team is explosive in ways that are genuinely entertaining to watch. Georgia leads the nation in dunks by percentage, Somto Cyril is the individual leader in dunks nationwide, and Georgia averages nearly 90 points per game, a program record. The offense runs through relentless rim attacks and guard creativity from Marcus Millender, Blue Cain, and leading scorer Jeremiah Wilkinson, with a pace that simply suffocates teams that can’t match their energy.

Georgia’s late-season surge should be noted. The Bulldogs had dropped five of six games before rattling off wins over Kentucky, Texas, Alabama, South Carolina, and Mississippi State down the stretch to close at 10-8 in the SEC. The bubble sweats are over. The question now is ceiling. Georgia is 6-7 in Quad 1 and hasn’t beaten a true title contender this year. The Bulldogs rank higher in non-conference games than overall, but their non-con strength of schedule ranked outside the top-300.

The defense is solid enough, with Cyril blocking shots at a top-20 rate nationally, but it’s not elite, and teams with real perimeter shooting can exploit their aggressiveness. Kanon Catchings can kick it from deep as a 39% perimeter shooter, but the Bulldogs rank outside the top 150 from deep, limiting them against slow-paced, pack-line defenses. In a first-round matchup, Georgia can be a real problem. Past that, it depends on whether the offense can sustain the pace against better athletes.

Saint Louis 2026 NCAA Tournament Preview

Josh Schertz’s Billikens come into the tournament carrying a five-out offense that shoots 41% from three as a team. They lost to Dayton 70-69 in the A-10 semis, in a game that had three lead changes in the final 11 seconds. A 28-5 season and one of the more analytically compelling profiles in the non-power conference field still safely put them in the tournament.

Robbie Avila is the A-10 Player of the Year and the hub from which everything operates. The senior center averages 13 points and 4.4 assists, sets screens and opens space for shooters all over the floor, and has been battling plantar fasciitis for the final stretch of the season. That's important to note in case something flares up for the tournament. When Avila is healthy and functioning as the offensive engine, this team is difficult to guard because there is no obvious hole to attack. Kellen Thames shot 66% from the field on the season, the best single-season mark in school history, and provides the kind of rim-running energy that compounds what Avila sets up. Trey Green and Amari McCottry are productive backcourt players who shoot it well and compete. The team went 19-0 at home and set a program record with 15 conference wins.

The concern is the finish, which included a 29-point blowout loss to George Mason in the regular-season finale and inconsistency in moments when Avila came off the floor. In 11 games since Feb. 1, the Billikens rank outside the top 100, and when sorting for away-from-home games, SLU falls outside the top 50 with a sub-80 offense. Their slow starts should also be noted. They rank 41st overall in the first half while picking it up in the second half with a 21st overall net rating. Look for them to make some comebacks if they fall behind early. It's hard to say the Billikens are playing their best basketball, and their offense takes a hit when playing up in competition. But a team with a 28-5 record and this sort of all-around profile is not one to dismiss in March.

More NCAA Tournament Predictions & Previews

#1 Duke vs. #16 Siena
#8 Ohio State vs. #9 TCU
#5 St. John’s vs. #12 Northern Iowa
#4 Kansas vs. #13 Cal Baptist
#6 Louisville vs. #11 South Florida
#3 Michigan State vs. #14 North Dakota State
#7 UCLA vs. #10 UCF
#2 UConn vs. #15 Furman

#1 Arizona vs. #16 LIU
#8 Villanova vs. #9 Utah State
#5 Wisconsin vs. #12 High Point
#4 Arkansas vs. #13 Hawai’i
#11 Texas vs. North Carolina State
#3 Gonzaga vs. #14 Kennesaw State
#7 Miami (FL) vs. #10 Missouri
#2 Purdue vs. #15 Queens

#16 UMBC vs. Howard
#8 Georgia vs. #9 Saint Louis
#5 Texas Tech vs. #12 Akron
#4 Alabama vs. #13 Hofstra
#11 Miami OH vs. SMU
#3 Virginia vs. #14 Wright State
#7 Kentucky vs. #10 Santa Clara
#2 Iowa State vs. #15 Tennessee State

#16 Prairie View A&M vs. Lehigh
#8 Clemson vs. #9 Iowa
#5 Vanderbilt vs. #12 McNeese
#4 Nebraska vs. #13 Troy
#6 North Carolina vs. #11 VCU
#3 Illinois vs. #14 Penn
#7 Saint Mary’s vs. #10 Texas A&M
#2 Houston vs. #15 Idaho

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