- The UConn Huskies are the -5.5 point favorites to beat the Miami Hurricanes in the second Final Four matchup.
- The San Diego State Aztecs are -1.5 point spread favorites over the Florida Atlantic University Owls in Saturday’s first Final Four game.
- UConn is the current -125 favorite to win the tournament while San Diego State is the second favorite at +365 odds.
The UConn Huskies and San Diego State Aztecs have opened as the betting favorites to win their respective Final Four assignments.
According to online sportsbook BetOnline, the Aztecs are the -1.5 point spread favorites to beat 8th-seeded Florida Atlantic Owls in the first Final Four match-up on Saturday night at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. It will mark the first-ever Final Four matchup between non-major conference teams.
Meanwhile, the Huskies are -5.5 point spread favorites to beat the Miami Hurricanes in the second game of the day. While the Huskies are no stranger to the Final Four, the Hurricanes have never gone this deep in the tournament before.
Miami Headed to its First-Ever Final Four Appearance
Miami overcame a 13-point second-half deficit to stun no. 2 Texas 88-81 as 3.5-point spread underdogs on Sunday. The Hurricanes trailed 65-41 with 13:29 left to go and it looked like the Longhorns would advance to their first Final Four in 20 years. But Texas suddenly went cold and Miami was able to get back in the game.
MIAMI IS HEADED TO ITS FIRST FINAL FOUR IN PROGRAM HISTORY‼️ pic.twitter.com/T6rBr9aeHo
— ESPN (@espn) March 26, 2023
Texas scored only 11 points in the final 13 minutes of the game as Miami staged a comeback. Marcus Carr’s alley-oop to Dillon Mitchell gave Texas a 10-point lead with 8:53 on the game clock. But instead of closing out the Hurricanes, that turned out to be the Longhorns’ only field goal during an 8-minute stretch.
The Hurricanes took the lead for good at 81-79 with one minute left in the game after Norchad Omier made two free throws after he was fouled by Brock Cunningham on a rebound play.
Interestingly, the initial call was a foul on Omier, which would have been his fifth, but it was changed after it was determined that Cunningham cleared out Omeir while in the air. Jordan Miller made all of his seven field goal attempts and all 13 of his free throws to lead Miami with 27 points.
UConn Blows Out Gonzaga
One day earlier, the Huskies booked their own seat to the tournament semifinals with an 82-54 blowout of Gonzaga. 4th seeded UConn turned a 39-22 score into a 23-point lead after Gonzaga’s Drew Timme committed his fourth foul early in the second half.
The Huskies controlled the usually efficient Bulldogs as they waltzed into their first Final Four appearance in nine years.
The win was UConn’s fourth straight by a winning margin of at least 15 points, becoming just the third team this century to accomplish the feat. The Huskies are also the first team since the 1996 Kentucky Wildcats to win their Sweet 16 and Elite 8 assignment by 20 or more points.
UConn opened the season with a 14-1 SU record and rose to the Top 2 in the AP rankings. However, they went on a stretch where they lost five of six games which dropped them out of the Big East title contention.
However, they found their groove during the final month of the regular season and are now peaking at the right time. The Huskies are the -125 betting favorites to win March Madness at BetOnline.
San Diego State is also Playing in its First-Ever Final Four
Just like Miami on Sunday, the San Diego State Aztecs are headed to their first-ever Final Four and are the first Mountain West team to go this far in the tournament. 5th-seeded San Diego State survived a stubborn 6th-seeded Creighton Bluejays 57-56 as +2.5 point underdogs.
Senior guard Darrion Trammell made the second of two free throws with 1.2 seconds left in the game to give the Aztecs the win.
(5) SAN DIEGO STATE IS GOING TO THE FINAL FOUR 👏
The Aztecs defeat (6) Creighton 57-56 and are headed to their first Final Four EVER! #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/Auh6hUjUG9
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 26, 2023
San Diego State began the tournament with a win over no.12 Charleston and 13th seed Furman. In the Sweet 16, the Aztecs stunned the top overall seed and previous betting favorite Alabama Crimson Tide 71-64.
SDSU was a +7 point spread underdog in a game where Brandon Miller shot just 3-19 from the floor with nine points and six turnovers.
This marks SDSU’s 10th appearance in the past 13 NCAA men’s basketball tournaments. The Aztecs were in line for a potential No.1 seed in the NCAA Tournament during the 2019-20 campaign after finishing the regular season with a 30-2 SU record. But the Tournament was canceled that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Florida Atlantic Defied Expectations
The Florida Atlantic Owls were predicted to finish 5th in the Conference USA preseason poll but they defied expectations by winning their regular season and tournament titles behind 5th-year head coach Dusty May.
The Owls finished with a winning percentage better than .500 during May’s first four seasons but never won 20 games in a single year. Now, they are 35-5 and are two wins from completing their Cinderella run.
No. 9 FAU was a +2.5 point underdog against No. 8 Memphis in the opening round and won that game 66-65. In the second round, they got a big break when they faced Fairleigh Dickinson. They then proceeded to knock off No. 4 Tennessee and No. 3 Kansas State.
Florida Atlantic has the longest current odds to cut down the Nets at +650 via BetOnline. Opponent San Diego State has the second-best odds to win March Madness at +365 while Miami is third among the four teams in the latest March Madness betting boards at +400 odds.
