Best Bets For NIT Final Four: New Mexico Vs. Tulsa, Illinois State Vs. Auburn

Written By:

Sam Profeta

Published On:

March 31, 2026 11:12 AM

Best Bets For NIT Final Four: New Mexico Vs. Tulsa, Illinois State Vs. Auburn
  • Same Game Parlay: +260 odds for New Mexico to cover -3.5 and over 160.5 points to hit.
  • Spread Pick: Auburn is a 6.5-point favorite against Illinois State.

INDIANAPOLIS – We are down to the Final Four in the NIT with the New Mexico Lobos, Tulsa Golden Hurricanes, Illinois State Redbirds, and the Auburn Tigers all remaining.

It’ll be New Mexico going up against Tulsa, and Auburn against Illinois State. With that, we’re looking at bets for both games on legal sports betting sites that we see have tremendous value on them.

SGP For New Mexico vs. Tulsa

New Mexico vs. Tulsa

  • Moneyline: New Mexico (-175) vs. Tulsa (+145)
  • Spread: New Mexico -3.5
  • Total: 160.5

We’re taking both the Lobos to cover 3.5 points and over 160.5 points on the total for +260 odds. Starting with New Mexico covering, they’ve been one of the most dominant teams in the tournament, winning all three of their games by 15+ points. The Lobos are +4.08 on the net rating in Kenpom as well.

Moving on to the over, both offenses are pushing well over 160 ppg combined. New Mexico is putting up 81.5 ppg while Tulsa is averaging 85.4 ppg for a total of 166.9 ppg. Both of them have also gone over 160.5 points two times a piece in three tournament games.

Auburn Talent Gap Vs. Illinois State

Auburn Vs. Illinois State

  • Moneyline: Auburn (-300) vs. Illinois State (+240)
  • Spread: Auburn -6.5
  • Total: 148.5

Auburn is by far the stronger team on college basketball betting sites, and the talent gap between them and Illinois State shows on paper, pushing us towards them covering 6.5 points on the spread.

Auburn is averaging a +7.7 ppg differential over Illinois State on the season, with 82.6 ppg compared to the Redbirds 74.9 ppg. They’ve also won all three of their NIT games by at least six points to this point.

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Ben Fiore

Sam Profeta

Samuel has been writing professionally for 4 years. He comes from a sports writing background where he enjoys writing mostly about basketball and football both professional and collegiate. He is a recent graduate of Florida State University where he majored in Editing, Writing and Media with a minor in Communications. During his free time, you can find him watching or playing sports as well as playing videogames and listening to music.