With all top three seeds eliminated in the NCAA Tournament, who has the edge in the Final Four?
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It’s the last week of the 2023 NCAA Tournament as teams prepare for the Final Four on Saturday, April 1 at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.
Florida Atlantic, San Diego State and Miami have never made it this deep in the tournament, while Connecticut is vying for their first national championship since 2014. Sports Interaction is previewing both Final Four matchups with odds and analysis.
NCAA Tournament Final Four odds and schedule
It’s been one of the wildest NCAA Tournament’s in recent memory as every top three seed has been knocked out before the Final Four.
Connecticut, as the highest remaining seed, is now the tournament favourite at -133. San Diego State is next at +371, followed by Miami at +434 and Florida Atlantic at +573.
As the odds sit now, a $100 bet on any of these teams to win the tournament would have a total payout (including original stake) as follows:
Connecticut: $175.19
San Diego State: $471
Miami: $534
Florida Atlantic: $673
Final Four schedule (April 1):
NCAA Tournament championship game (April 3)
TBD vs. TBD (9 p.m. ET)
Make sure to check out Sports Interaction for a complete list of NCAA basketball game odds and NCAA basketball futures.
Florida Atlantic vs. San Diego State
Favourite: San Diego (-131)
Underdog: Florida Atlantic (+109)
Florida Atlantic is just the second No. 9 seed to reach the Final Four after Wichita State in 2013. Before this year, the Owls had never won an NCAA Tournament game. Victories over Memphis, Fairleigh Dickinson, Tennessee and Kansas State have extended FAU’s overall win streak to 11 games.
Three different players are averaging double-digit points for Florida Atlantic, but no one has been more valuable than Johnell Davis. The sophomore guard is averaging 13.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
San Diego State is the first Mountain West Conference school ever to reach the Final Four. The Aztecs followed up their Mountain West Tournament title with wins over Charleston, Furman, Alabama and Creighton in the first four rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
Lamont Butler and Jaedon LeDee have been the biggest contributors for San Diego. Butler scored a game-high 18 points in the Aztecs’ Elite Eight victory over Creighton, hitting double figures for the second time in the last three games. LeDee finished with 10 rebounds in the first round against Charleston and added 12 points and six boards in the Sweet 16 against Alabama.
Miami vs. Connecticut
Favourite: Connecticut (-237)
Underdog: Miami (+197)
The underdog role is familiar to Miami as they have been favoured just once this tournament. Their offence has heated up significantly at the right time, scoring 85 points, 89 points and 88 points in their last three games respectively.
The Hurricanes’ Isaiah Wong leads one of the nation’s best backcourts, with the ACC Player of the Year averaging just over 20 points across his last three games. Miami remains the lone school from a power five conference (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC) left in the tournament.
Connecticut has seemed unstoppable in this tournament, with their smallest margin of victory coming by 15 points. They have scored over 80 points in three of four games and have allowed an average of just 61.8 points.
The Huskies have a balanced team that is just as suffocating on defence as they are explosive on offence. UConn will also have a massive size advantage in this game thanks to 6-foot-9 Adama Sanogo and 7-foot-2 Donovan Clingan.
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