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NCAA Basketball Final Four Best Bets: Saturday, April 1st
We have arrived at the semifinals of the big dance, and one of these four programs will be hoisting the hardware on Monday night. Our resident hoops expert Ej Garr will carry you through to the final game of the campaign that will crown an unexpected champion with a final four that no one could have anticipated. While your brackets got busted, you can still fancy a wager on the last three games of the season, so let’s get in gear and take a road trip to Houston, TX.
In this article:
- San Diego State Aztecs vs FAU Owls Preview
- San Diego State Aztecs vs FAU Owls Best Bet
- UConn Huskies vs Miami Hurricanes Preview
- UConn Huskies vs Miami Hurricanes Best Bet
San Diego State Aztecs vs FAU Owls Preview
April 1, 11:09 (UK time)
No one had San Diego State meeting the Florida Atlantic Owls in their brackets but it didn’t stop either of these programs to arrive in Houston for the Final Four!
Neither program has won a major title unless we go back to the 1940 season when the Aztecs won the NAIA Championship, but that hails in comparison to what’s at stake in 2023. Since the 2009-10 campaign, San Diego State has made 10 NCAA Tournament appearances but had yet to get past the Sweet Sixteen until this year’s event.
The Aztecs do have an NIT semifinal appearance from 2015-16, so we are used to seeing San Diego State in the post-season for quite some time now. Head Coach Brian Dutcher is in his sixth campaign with the Aztecs, although the three other appearances all led to early bow outs in the first round. Now, this program has gone from hoping just to win one damn game in the tourney, much less now having a title in sight with two more wins.
The Owls have never come close to this stage in program history, as the only post-season appearance the Owls have ever made came back in 2002. A first-round loss to Alabama as a 15-seed vs 2-seed marks the only time we have seen the Owls in the big dance, although FAU appeared in the 2011 NIT as well. That was another first-round early exit so history is being made at every step of this journey for FAU.
There were one CBI and one College Invitational appearance that also ended in first-round exits in 2019 and 2022.
What a campaign this program managed this year under Dusty May, who has set all kinds of school records this campaign. The 35 wins are by far a program record, and a stellar 35 – 3 record overall seemingly came out of nowhere after four pretty average previous seasons. A 19 – 15 record last year brought the best record May has mustered up until this year, and now he is on the brink of winning a National Championship with his Conference USA program.
How about the Conference USA programs this postseason? UAB and North Texas just played in the NIT Finals and now FAU is representing Conference USA in the semifinals of the big dance.
So now you have some facts about both teams’ history here, but let’s talk betting and lines now.
The Aztecs are -2.5 favourites and we see 132.5 being shown as the base total.
Johnell Davis put up a fantastic regular season and he has upped his game since the bright lights of the post-season became lit. Davis averaged 13.2 PPG and 5.2 boards per game to wrap up the regular season stats. Since the post-season has arrived the Owls have played 7 games (3 Conf Tourney matches en route to that conference title and 4 NCAA Tourney games), and Johnell is putting up 17 PPG and bringing in 6.7 rebounds a game to boot.
Alijah Martin has also boosted his output from his regular season numbers for the Owls, jumping from 12.6 to 15.1 PPG in the post-season.
The defence has been the strength of the Aztec program all season, and their physical nature has brought in 12 straight unders going back to the regular season. All 7 of their post-season affairs have been defensive battles and like white on rice, we can expect more of the same at the Final Four.
San Diego State Aztecs vs FAU Owls Best Bet
Who set this total at 132.5 and where can we go to leave them a tip? The line setters totally dropped the ball with this total and we are going to take full advantage of it. The bookmakers don’t like to give money away, but they just did setting this total at 132.5.
- Selection: Total Under 132.5
- Best odds: 1.90 (Pinnacle)
- Stakes 4/10
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UConn Huskies vs Miami Hurricanes Preview
April 2, 01:49 (UK time)
Well, well. Look who is in the Final Four, would you? That’s right, my Alma Mater is making another appearance at the Final Four, and both the Canes and Huskies are playing their best ball at the right time of the campaign.
This is a tough spot for me because of the line being shown on the handicap at +5.5 there is no way I am fading the Hurricanes at the Final Four. Having an allegiance to UConn and betting realistically on their games are two different things, and I just think this game will come down to the wire and I was getting +5 the other way I would be on that.
These two programs have been so impressive that I cannot even put them into words UConn has won 11 of their last 12 games and Coach Hurley, and has helped the Huskies reach their 6th Final Four in program history. The injury to Jordan Hawkins is the biggest concern for all of us Husky fans as he is being isolated at the team hotel according to Coach Hurley’s presser. He explained the concern of only having 30 hours to get Jordan ready for the Final Four but it does not look good for him to go. He is not feeling well on top of the injury, many talking about a possible covid-19 or flu caused the isolation as well so the 3 team Doctors that are travelling with the team are with him constantly.
Another factor folks may not be aware of is that a lot of the UConn players are fasting during all of this. Coach Hurley also spoke about Adama and most of the team fasting when you need that energy that food offers. That is a bit of a concern for me.
Adama Sanogo is the clear leader of this team and his 18.2 PPG and 9.2 boards a game tell that story in full.
UConn is happier to be off of the West Coast for the Final Four because Coach Hurley also spoke about the toll the time difference took on his squad.
Miami is all healthy and ready to give UConn all it can handle on Saturday, and as I said these points are just too nice to leave off the board. UConn is struggling with Hawkins’s condition and Sanogo can’t beat Miami by himself.
The Canes are shooting 3-point shots in droves throughout this tournament, and I expect more of the same to happen this weekend. Miami has six players shooting over 30% from behind the arc in the post-season, and nearly five Canes are averaging double-digits since the regular season ended.
UConn Huskies vs Miami Hurricanes Best Bet
We take a handful of points with Miami with a smile and I will be back with you on Monday for the final game of the campaign. Miami to cover the handicap is the best bet to make in this spot!
- Selection: Miami Hurricanes +5.5
- Best odds: 1.92 (Pinnacle)
- Stakes 4/10
Odds as of 9:00 am April 1, 2023. Odds may now differ.
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