You did not predict this Final Four, the experts didn’t predict this Final Four, because no one could have predicted this Final Four.
Three of the four teams playing this weekend in Houston have never been here before. The four coaches in the Final Four have never won a championship. Forget about all the talk of blue bloods. This is new blood, and it’s setting us up for a wild and unpredictable weekend of college basketball.
Connecticut Huskies (-125)
The one team that has been here before is Connecticut, and they are naturally the favorites to win it all. UConn has four National Championships to their credit, with the most recent win coming in 2014. This visit to Houston is their sixth Final Four appearance in school history.
The Huskies have won each of their four games in the NCAA Tournament by 15 points, and they are the first team to win its Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games by at least 20 points since Kentucky in 1996.
San Diego State Aztecs (+400)
While the Aztecs have never been to the Final Four before, they aren’t a pushover. They are champions of the Mountain West Conference, and they have been to the NCAA Tournament in three straight years. This year’s success is unprecedented, but the team as a whole is quite good.
San Diego State is here on the back of a great defense that handled No. 1 ranked Alabama, forcing 14 turnovers and holding the Crimson Tide to 17 points below their season average.
Miami Hurricanes (+450)
Miami was in the Elite Eight just 12 months ago before losing to eventual National Champion Kansas. And this year they are making their first trip to the Final Four. With seven wins in their last eight NCAA Tournament Games, they are the most successful collection of players of the four teams left standing.
Miami beat No. 1 seed Houston in the Sweet 16, and then ousted No. 2 Texas in the Elite Eight, so they might not be the most popular team in town this weekend.
Florida Atlantic Owls (+625)
Like San Diego State and Miami, Florida Atlantic is a conference champion. They won both the Conference USA regular season and tournament titles after being picked to finish fifth in the preseason poll. This is the first Final Four appearance in school history, and just the second NCAA Tournament appearance in 30 seasons at Division I.
The Owls’ path to Houston was opened up when Fairleigh Dickinson knocked out Purdue. But FAU did have to take out Memphis, Tennessee, and Kansas State, and on the back of some great three-point shooting. Their 9.6 made three-pointers a game is 12th best in the nation.
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