Today's picks: Why Marquette can cover against North Carolina, plus much more March Madness and an NHL best bet for Thursday

Host Allan Bell is joined by Mike McClure, Justin Perri and Micah Roberts on the Early Edge podcast, powered by SportsLine. Get highlighted plays for college basketball and NHL for Thursday, March 17, and you can stream the show live every morning on the SportsLine YouTube page.

The crew dives in with some talk about to the madness in Las Vegas during the NCAA Tournament, and Justin talks about how the single-elimination games can affect betting. With the desperation of winning to avoid going home, the late fouls might come earlier, which can impact college basketball bets on the spread and totals. "I think think there might be some opportunities here, take some late-game live overs," Perri says, "or just understand that these teams are really going to try to claw back and make the (spread) number as small as possible at the end."

Mike recommends looking at the college basketball models and predictions from the various sites to find leverage spots for your bets and brackets. Murray State is drawing huge numbers, so McClure says this is a great spot to pick against them in your brackets. Around 70 percent are taking Murray State to win its first-round game against San Francisco (9:40 p.m. ET) in their brackets, and you can position yourself well by going against the Racers.

Allan starts off the picks with the SportsLine Play of the Day, which is an NHL matchup, with Jeff Hochman taking the Hurricanes on the money line -110 at the Maple Leafs (7 p.m. ET). Carolina is 4-1 in its last five and putting tons of shots on net.

Micah has three college basketball picks, and he is going with St. Peter's +18 against Kentucky (7:10 p.m. ET). He says the line is "over-inflated by about four points." He also has St. Mary's -140 on the money line -140 against Indiana (7:20 p.m. ET) and is going Over 151.5 in the Marquette vs. North Carolina matchup (4:30 p.m. ET).

Justin loves Marquette +3.5 against the Tar Heels, and he says the line is too big. He says the Golden Eagles played in a better overall conference, and he thinks that strength of schedule and some recent tests are really going to help them Thursday. "They played a gauntlet of a schedule coming down the end of the season," Perri says. "I think they want to make a little noise, I think they get this win over UNC."

Perri also is taking Boise State +3 against Memphis (1:45 p.m. ET). He has the Broncos winning in his bracket, so he loves having the points. "I just think this is just too much for a Boise State team that grinds it out," Justin says. "We saw how Memphis does against teams with stout defenses," and Boise will give the Tigers trouble.  

Mike anchors the show, and he is on Michigan -1 against Colorado State (12:15 p.m. ET). "This is a team that I have hated most of the season," McClure says. "I don't think they're a great team. However, I think they're the better team here in this matchup." Colorado State has a serious size disadvantage, and the Wolverines have played on of the toughest schedules in the nation.  

Early Edge is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts. Enable push notifications so you always know when the latest episode is available! Every episode is also available on YouTube. Follow @SportsLine on Twitter and Instagram  

Follow our crew on Twitter: @AllanBell247, @Mike5754, @MicahRoberts7 and @JustinPerri8. You can listen to Early Edge on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Early Edge podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Early Edge podcast." For more betting picks and analysis, visit SportsLine.com. To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit CBSSports.com/podcasts.