Louisville vs Michigan Final 4 Betting!
I know I am supposed to write about Louisville but I have to throw some love to the Wichita State Shockers here. They pushed the Cardinals more than anybody expected and could easily have won the game.
I know I am supposed to write about Louisville but I have to throw some love to the Wichita State Shockers here. They pushed the Cardinals more than anybody expected and could easily have won the game.
The Orange were very impressive last week in earning their spot in the Final Four. They put forth two fantastic defensive games holding Indiana and Marquette to an average of just 45 points.
There was a lot of talk this season about how there wasn’t a dominant team in the college game. Louisville is making us second guess all of that rhetoric.
The final score of Louisville vs. Oregon probably didn’t tell the true story of the game. It looked kind of close but really the Cardinals were in control – no surprise.
NCAA Tournament – Midwest Bracket
#1 Louisville Cardinals (32-5) vs #2 Duke Blue Devils (30-5)
Sunday March 31
Lucas Oil Stadium – Indianapolis, IN
5:05PM
Moneyline: Louisville -175, Duke +155 at GTBets
Spread: Louisville -3.5
O/U: 137
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For bettors it was a disappointment as the Cards failed to cover for the first time in the tournament.
Now they square off against Duke, a team they lost to back in November…when they were missing center Georgui Dieng.
Guard Russ Smith was fantastic once again scoring 31 points even though he made just one three pointer. He made 12 of 14 from the free throw line showing the versatility to his game – I am not sure the Blue Devils have a good counter for him defensively.
It seems like every tournament game a new face steps forward for Louisville. Against the Ducks it was sophomore guard Kevin Ware, who more than doubled his seasonal average with 11 points.
To demonstrate how unlikely that was – it was his first double digit game since the first game of the season.
Louisville continues to roll and the fact that they did not beat Oregon by 20 probably makes them even more valuable in this one. They are playing great but you have to think that there are some who are going to see that loss to Duke and get on the Blue Devils to bring this one down further.
Let’s hope so.
I thought Friday night would be the end of the line for Duke. Michigan State fights you in a way that most teams don’t and I thought Duke wouldn’t be able to respond. I certainly did not see them being able to get the Spartans bigs off their games the way they did, holding them to 30% shooting from the field. [ad-6571516]
If they still have something left in their tank they are going to need it all to beat Louisville one more time and earn a trip to the Final Four.
Guard Seth Curry had a fantastic shooting game in leading the Dookies over MSU but I don’t see that happening against Louisville this time around. He was 3 for 11 in that early season victory, a game where center Mason Plumlee was the top scorer.
Plumlee will definitely find it harder this time around and the Blue Devils will likely need to get at least some production from their bench. In the victory over LU only 3 of 76 points came from subs.
It’s Duke so you can’t run your mouth off and say they can’t win…they almost always do. Still I think it will be much harder for them to do what they did again in this game.
Louisville is looking super hungry and their defense is better now than the last time they played.
It is hard to beat a team that good twice.
Spread Pick: Louisville -3.5
O/U Pick: Under
Score Prediction: Louisville 69 – Duke 62
The Buckeyes win against Arizona followed the same blueprint as their win against Ohio State. They were outplayed by the Wildcats for stretches, let them back into the ball game late, all before hitting a game winning three with almost no time left on the clock.
It is a little bit odd that Duke beat Creighton by a greater margin than they did Albany. I thought the Blue Jays would be able to push Duke but they shot horribly in a very disappointing performance.
Two games in and the Cardinals have won by 31 and 26 points. If that pattern holds than they should beat Oregon by 21 and might not be challenged until the Championship game.
The Buckeyes escaped their third round game against Iowa State with a victory. In my opinion they were outplayed but a win is a win.
I have long admired the Shockers program and I thought they would play well but I just didn’t see how they would beat Gonzaga. Even if they were able to shorten the game a little bit and play their guts out I still thought they would come up just a little bit short.
Ole Miss continued their spirited play, upsetting the Badgers in their opening round game of the tournament.
The Buckeyes were happy to let Iona set the pace and beat them at their own game, winning by 25 while scoring 95 points in their opener. Don’t let that number fool you as they are far from an elite offensive team.
Louisville was Russdiculous in their tournament opener beating overmatched North Carolina A&T by 31 points.
Despite Belmont being a perennial Cinderella pick, the Arizona Wildcats had little trouble dispatching them in their opening round game.
The Orange barely broke a sweat in beating Montana on Thursday. They may be a number 4 seed but they played like a one.
I was a little surprised that Kansas received the #1 seed but their resume passes the test. Another season, another regular season title (shared) and conference tournament title.
At one point Florida was in the conversation about the best teams in the nation. They sputtered for a while though which is why they have only a #3 next to their name. There were clearly the best team in the SEC but that might not be saying all that much, especially after they lost in the SEC tourney final to Ole Miss.