Wisconsin vs. Montana: 2025 NCAA Tournament Odds & Picks

by BettingPros Staff |
Mar 16, 2025

The 2025 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 2025 NCAA Tournament! We’re here to help as we’ll have picks and predictions for each of the first-round 2025 NCAA Tournament games. Here are our top picks and predictions for Wisconsin vs. Montana.

2025 NCAA Tournament Odds & Picks: Wisconsin vs. Montana

Let’s dive into our top picks and predictions for this opening-round NCAA Tournament matchup.

2025 NCAA Tournament Preview: Wisconsin vs. Montana

Wisconsin 2025 NCAA Tournament Preview

After a thrilling Big Ten Conference championship game, Wisconsin enters the tournament as one of the surprises of the season. Ranking outside the top-50 preseason by many websites and analysts, they now sit as a top-15 squad playing some of their best basketball. A big reason for their surprise is John Tonje. The Missouri transfer was not expected to be such an effective scorer and had a top-10 true shooting percentage in Big Ten play. John Blackwell joins him as a big part of the offense with both individuals getting to the charity stripe at a high rate, and converting at one of the highest percentages.

Defensively, Wisconsin won't force turnovers but that means they limit transition and don't allow anything easy. They'll stay disciplined without fouling and won't allow many second-chance looks. They also seriously step up in play, ranking ninth in the paper tiger Haslametrics number meaning they play much better against increased competition. This may put them under risk for the opening round but beyond that, they will compete with the best of them.

It's hard to say Wisconsin is a title-worthy team, but it's tough to poke holes in their play. Tonje has emerged as a true go-to option, and despite his play in the Big Ten championship, he was spectacular leading up to that, and he's easy to trust. Wisconsin is also the best free throw shooting team in the nation, so it's easy to lean on the fact that they can win close games late. This might be the best team Greg Gard has ever coached. Their offense can get hot and take them places, it's just a matter of avoiding slipping up early.

Montana 2025 NCAA Tournament Preview

Coming out of the Big Sky, Montana leads with their offense which ranked 38th in DI ball since January 19th where they went 14-1 to finish the season, storming through the conference tournament with no mercy to earn the auto bid. Four different players average double-digit scoring numbers lead by Money Williams with over 13 points a game. The shifty sophomore guard can score at all three levels and gets to the hoop while remaining a solid facilitator to the sharp shooters of Malik Moore and Brandon Whitney. Down low, Joe Pridgen and Te’Jon Sawyer make up a frontcourt that ranks 39th in near-proximity shooting percentage and 18th overall 2pt% in all of basketball. The first problem with Montana is that if they lack in efficiency, there isn’t much to fall back on. The Grizzlies rank outside the top 300 in field goal rate as they don’t grab many offensive boards and are middling at drawing fouls and taking care of the ball. The other clear issue is defense. Coach Travis DeCuire has built a program entirely focused on offense that the near 250th-ranked defense holds back. They won’t force turnovers, they might push teams off the perimeter but allow the 268th ranked 2pt shooting percentage to opponents and don’t have a big man over 6-8 who is a significant part of their rotation. The Big Sky has not fared well in NCAA Tournaments past. For Montana to break that pattern, they will have to lean on their offense and hope their opponent has an off night shooting. It’s hard to bank on that, but crazier things have happened.

2025 NCAA Tournament Predictions: Wisconsin vs. Montana

This is not the Wisconsin teams of old. The Badgers scored a school high points per game since 1970-71. The Badgers shot 48.1% of their attempts from 3-point range and were in the top half of the country by making those at a 34.9% clip. Where they really buttered their bread was at the free throw line, making a nations best 82.8%. Montana wasn’t a team that fouled very often, but they didn’t play many teams with Wisconsin’s size. When they did, against teams like Oregon and Tennessee, they lost by 31 and 35 points, respectively. The Grizzlies might be able to run Wisconsin off the 3-point line but if they do, the Badgers should be able to eat at the rim and on the free throw line.

2025 NCAA Tournament Picks: Wisconsin vs. Montana

Wisconsin -16.5 (-120)

Check out all of our 2025 NCAA Tournament Bracket & Betting Coverage >>

2025 NCAA Tournament Sports Betting Picks

For those looking to place bets on the matchups, let's take a look at the early odds and picks for the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

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