The #5 seed Clemson Tigers will take on the #12 seed New Mexico State Aggies in a NCAA Tournament Midwest Region first round game on Friday night. The contest will take place at Viejas Arena in San Diego, California and there’s a slated opening tip time of 9:57 PM ET.

The current NCAA Tournament odds at Bookmaker is displaying Clemson as a 4.5-point favorite. The posted total is 133.5 across the top-rated offshore sportsbook landscape.

The winner of this game will advance to play either Auburn or Charleston on Sunday.

How New Mexico State Covers

New Mexico State enters the 2018 NCAA Tournament with an outstanding 28-5 record. The Aggies received an automatic bid resulting from winning the WAC Tournament championship. It certainly won’t be foreign territory for the Aggies. This will be their 4^th NCAA Tournament appearance in the last 5 years. Conversely, it will be a first time since 2011 that Clemson will be in the “Big Dance”. Don’t ever undervalue NCAA Tournament experience, and especially so when an underdog holds such a decided advantage.

New Mexico State didn’t just pad their record against weak Western Athletic Conference competition. They also had notable non-conference wins over New Mexico twice, Colorado State, Miami-Florida, and Davidson. The latter of those 2 came in the Diamond Heads Classic holiday tournament in Hawaii. They advanced to that tournament final where they dropped a narrow 5-point decision to USC.

The Aggies are a terrific defensive team. They’ve held opponents to a mere 63.8 points per game this season which ranks 10^th nationally in that category. Additionally, New Mexico State has been dominant on the glass this season. They possess a terrific +12 rebound per game differential throughout their first 33 contests. The Aggies have a less than inspiring 33.3% conversion rate on their 3-point attempts during this 2017-2018 college basketball campaign. However, over the last 5 games, their long-distance shooting has improved dramatically, while canning an outstanding 41.4% its attempts.

How Clemson Covers

Clemson has played in what’s arguably been the strongest conference in America. After all, the ACC had 8 teams receive NCAA Tournament invitations. They also have another 3 teams (Boston College, Notre Dame, Louisville) that accepted invites to the NIT. Furthermore, the Tigers have quality non-conference wins at Ohio State and over Florida on a neutral floor. You can never underestimate the advantages of playing against that stiff of competition when it comes to handicapping college basketball postseason tournaments.

When college basketball betting odds at major offshore sportsbooks displayed Clemson as a favorite this season, the Tigers went a very profitable 11-5 ATS (68.8%). Like their opponent on Friday, Clemson is stout defensively. The Tigers have held 6 of its last 9 opponents to 39.3% or worse shooting.

Clemson will be facing a New Mexico State team that averages 23 three-point attempts per game. The Tigers are 11-4 ATS this season when facing teams that average 21 or more 3-point attempts per game. They outscored those 15 opponents by a substantial average of 9.0 points per game. Considering what the college basketball betting odds are on this contest, you can’t ignore the previously mentioned team trend when deciding upon today’s NCAA Tournament picks.

Ross Benjamin is a top sports analyst and one of the sports industry's most respected handicappers. Follow him on Twitter: @RossBenjamin1 or visit his website at RBWins.com