Six bets and an Eliminator pick for the first round of the men's tournament - ESPN

The 2026 men's basketball tournament is here! Throughout the tourney, Mark Zinno will provide his best bets for each round, as well as his picks for the new ESPN Men's Tournament Challenge Eliminator game.

Note: Odds by DraftKings Sportsbook and subject to change.

(12) High Point +10.5 (-115) vs. (5) Wisconsin
Game time: 1:50 p.m. ET

The committee loves to take lower-seeded teams' strengths and match them up with higher-seeded teams' weaknesses. That's what you have in this game. High Point averages more than 90 points per game. Of the top six teams in the Big Ten, Wisconsin's defense is the worst of them. The Badgers are middle of the road in effective field goal percentage defense and 3-point shooting defense. High Point will present all sorts of problems for the Badgers.

The Panthers have the nation's longest current winning streak at 14 games. They play with a ton of pace, and their ball movement allows them to get inside and make easy shots. Defensively, they are excellent on the perimeter, holding opponents to 31.9% shooting from 3-point range. The Badgers are immensely dependent on 3-point shots falling. High Point forces turnovers at the fifth-highest rate in the nation and could frustrate Wisconsin shooters. If there is a prototypical 12/5 upset this year, this is it. I think this is playable down to +9.5.

(2) Houston/(15) Idaho first half OVER 63.5 points (-105)
Game time: Approx. 10:10 p.m. ET

Sometimes it's just about the numbers. This first-half total is so low that two things need to happen here: Houston needs to score fewer than 40 points and Idaho needs to score fewer than 25. If only one of those happens, I think this gets over. Of course, the Cougars' defense can shut down Idaho. But there's shutting