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The Anaheim Ducks and Utah Mammoth meet Friday night at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, with puck drop set for 10:00 PM ET on ESPN+. This one matters. Anaheim enters at 37-28-4 and Utah is 35-27-6, with both clubs sitting on 78 points and playing like teams that know the margin is getting thin. Utah comes home after a 4-0 shutout win over Vegas on Thursday, while Anaheim is trying to recover after a 3-2 overtime loss to Philadelphia. This is also the third meeting of the season, and the first in Utah. Anaheim took the first matchup 3-2 in overtime back on Nov. 17, then Utah answered with a 7-0 blowout on Dec. 3. So, yes, there is

The West Region opens Friday night in St. Louis with a classic 2 vs 15 matchup as Queens (NC) takes on Purdue at Enterprise Center. Tipoff is set for 7:35 PM ET on truT, and the betting market has made Purdue a massive favorite at -25.5 with the total posted at 163.5. Queens gets here at 21-13 after a strong Atlantic Sun run, while Purdue enters at 27-8 after another tough Big Ten season and with the kind of profile that usually gives lower seeds real problems. There is still a betting conversation here, even with a spread this high. Queens can score, and that matters. The Royals have been one of the better mid-major offensive teams in the country,

California Baptist gets a real shot at bracket chaos on Friday night, but the path is not an easy one. The 13-seed Lancers arrive in San Diego at 25-8 after closing the WAC tournament with a tight 63-61 win over Utah Valley, while 4-seed Kansas enters at 23-10 after getting bounced by Houston in the Big 12 semifinals. Tipoff is set for 9:45 p.m. ET at Viejas Arena on CBS, and the number tells the story right away. Kansas is laying 14.5 in a matchup that pits a disciplined, rebounding-heavy mid-major against a more talented roster that has still looked uneven for stretches lately. There is a pretty clear betting question here. Can California Baptist drag this into the type

Furman opens the NCAA Tournament Friday night with a brutal draw against Connecticut in the East Region. The game tips at 10:00 PM ET from Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia and airs on TBS. Furman comes in as the No. 15 seed at 22-12 after winning the Southern Conference tournament, while UConn is the No. 2 seed at 29-5 and still looks like one of the more complete teams anywhere in this bracket. The Huskies are laying 20.5 points, which tells you exactly how the market sees the gap in size, depth, and two-way reliability. There is some intrigue, though. Furman is not walking in cold after a random league title run. The Paladins have real shooting, decent offensive balance,