March Madness: Odds and Point Spread for the Final Four

Three teams are in the Final Four for the first time ever. See who’s favored and by how much for FAU-San Diego State and Miami-UConn.
March Madness: Odds and Point Spread for the Final Four
March Madness: Odds and Point Spread for the Final Four /

The Final Four is set and three of the participants are headed there for the first time in program history.

No. 5 Miami, No. 5 San Diego State and No. 9 Florida Atlantic will each be making its debut on college basketball’s biggest stage in Houston. No. 4 UConn, which has four championship banners, has been here before. Unless the Huskies—who are heavy favorites—are victorious, a first-time winner will be crowned next Monday.

This is the fourth time in the history of the men’s NCAA tournament in which no No. 1 seeds made it to the Final Four and the first time ever with no top-three seeds.

The early game Saturday pits FAU against SDSU while Miami plays Connecticut in the late game for a shot to advance to the national championship game two days later.

The Owls took down No. 4 Tennessee in the Sweet 16, 62-55, and defeated No. 3 Kansas State, 79-76, in the Elite Eight to capture the East Region. The Huskies blew out No. 8 Arkansas, 88-65, and similarly rolled past No. 2 Gonzaga, 82-54, in the West Region final.

The Aztecs scored a 71-64 upset win over No. 1 Alabama, which was the title favorite heading into the Sweet 16. And they followed that up with a 57-56 victory over No. 6 Creighton to take the South Region. A last-second foul call and subsequent free throw made the difference. The Hurricanes built on last year’s Elite Eight run by knocking off No. 1 Houston in the Sweet 16, 89-75, and then they came back to beat No. 2 Texas, 88-81, to clinch the Midwest Region.

Three games remain in March Madness. Below are the spreads for the Final Four matchups, via SI Sportsbook.

Odds for the Final Four Games in the Men's NCAA Tournament

Saturday, April 1

6:09 p.m. ET (CBS) No. 9 FAU vs. No. 5 San Diego State (-1.5)

8:49 p.m. ET (CBS): No. 5 Miami vs. No. 4 UConn (-5.5)


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Kyle Wood
KYLE WOOD

Kyle is based in Washington, D.C. He writes the Winners Club newsletter and is a fantasy and betting writer for SI. His work has appeared in the Tampa Bay Times, Orlando Sentinel, Miami Herald and Gainesville Sun.