Dan Angell is here to preview the NCAA Championship matchup between San Diego State and UConn.
Obviously, the players and coaches are completely different from that miracle run, but Larrañaga’s experience can’t be overlooked. Even though Dan Hurley’s a brilliant basketball mind, Larrañaga is the only coach here who has previously coached a Final Four game. Of the past 22 national champions, only five featured a coach making his first appearance in the Final Four.Â
It’s been a while since Texas failed to at least return a bet to its backers. The Longhorns have gone 5-0-1 ATS in Big 12 tournament and NCAA tournament play, and their last ATS loss came in February at Baylor. They’re an almost-perfect 7-0-1 ATS in March, and they ride a seven-game winning streak straight up.Â
You can pair two games per window, or pair regional games to create a winning bet. Given how most people’s brackets have turned out, pairing games from the same region might not be the way to go, so time slots look like the better choice here.
Between Duke, Tennessee, Kentucky, Kansas State, Michigan State and Marquette, there are no teams outside the Power 6 outside of the FDU-FAU matchup in the East.
Oral Roberts makes a dangerous No. 12 seed. The Golden Eagles can shoot it very well and have an experienced playmaker in Max Abmas. Duke’s defense tends to force opponents into shots they don’t want, but Oral Roberts has done this before and knows how to find good looks.
Since beating Duke at home last month, the Cavaliers haven’t looked quite right. They barely escaped Louisville and Notre Dame, then managed to get beaten by Boston College and North Carolina. But they have now won four straight, including a beatdown of Clemson.
A bit of the luster has come off this game, as Texas lost its chance to try to share the Big 12 regular season title with Kansas. The Longhorns could have tied the Jayhawks for first had they won at TCU last time out, but a two-point loss at Fort Worth left Texas two games adrift of Kansas with one to play.
Perhaps the two best players in the Big Ten face off again, as Indiana star Trayce Jackson-Davis and the Hoosiers head north to face Zach Edey and Purdue.